Pilates by Sarah James
Born and raised in New York City, Nancy Richer began taking ballet lessons at the age of three. She began her formal ballet training at Ballet Academy East in Manhattan, where she studied intensively for six years. In 2004, she was accepted into the San Francisco Ballet School where she completed her studies on a full merit scholarship.
Richer made her debut at The Los Angeles Ballet in 2006, where she performed leading roles in Balanchine’s ‘Tarantella,’ ‘Serenade,’ ‘Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no 2.,’ as well as leading roles in The Nutcracker and the Bournonville repertory and originating roles in works by So You Think You Can Dance choreographers Mandy Moore and Travis Wall. In 2012, she joined The Suzanne Farrell Ballet at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., performing a principal part in ’Divertimento no. 15’ as well as soloist roles in ‘Danses Concertantes’ and ‘Valse Fantaisie.’
In 2013 and 2014, Richer performed with former New York City Ballet soloist Tom Gold’s company. Richer also danced with Intermezzo Dance Company, directed by American Ballet Theater soloist Craig Salstein, and originated roles in works by Marcelo Gomes, Gemma Bond, and Claudia Schreier.
In 2015, Richer worked with Twyla Tharp in New York City on the creation of two new works, Preludes and Fugues and Yowzie, in preparation for Tharp’s fiftieth anniversary tour. Most recently, she danced with The Royal Danish Ballet in the premier of Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe’s Swan Lake in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Richer also works as a fitness and dancewear model. In 2015, she appeared in an Under Armour commercial as part of the company’s Rule Yourself campaign with American Ballet Theater’s Misty Copeland. She has modeled for Allure magazine’s YouTube channel, and appeared as herself in Jay Z’s 2013 performance of "Picasso Baby" at the Pace Gallery in New York City. For the past two years, she has also worked as a model and product consultant for the dancewear company Bloch, and traveled to their factory in Thailand to give feedback on the development of their ballet shoes.
Richer has taught dance extensively throughout her career. She taught ballet at the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, NY as well as Ballet Academy East in Manhattan. In addition, she served as guest faculty at the Los Angeles Ballet School where she taught ballet, pointe, and variations, and was a faculty member at MNR Dance Factory in Los Angeles, California. She continues to give master classes and workshops across the country to children and adults.