Fernando Schaffenburg, who danced with New York ballet companies and taught at Texas Christian University, died March 6 at his Pueblo home. He would have been 84 this week.
Schaffenburg danced with the American Ballet Theater in New York City in the late 1940s and did two American tours and one European tour with the company.
He danced with the New York-based Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as a soloist and before that he was a premier dancer with the Ballet of the City of Mexico.
In the 1950s he danced in several Broadway shows, including “My Fair Lady,” “Paint Your Wagon” and “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”
Much of the rest of his life he was a teacher and choreographer. He taught ballet in El Paso and in Dallas, eventually becoming head of the theatre arts department, ballet division, at Texas Christian University.
During his tenure at TCU it became “one of the best training grounds in the nation for ballet and modern dance,” said John Gaston, former adjunct professor at TCU and a longtime friend.
From there Schaffenburg directed the Fort Worth Ballet Association, which later became the Texas Ballet Theatre. After retiring, he moved to Pueblo, where he headed the Sangre de Cristo School of Dance.
“Students said that his (ballet) classes were the hardest classes they ever took,” said Gaston, but “he turned out many professional dancers.”
“He was a good guy, but he could be intimidating to kids and grown-ups,” said his son, Kurt Schaffenburg of Dallas. “He had that director persona.”
“Students respected him and took his classes seriously,” said another son, Carl Schaffenburg of Philadelphia.
Schaffenburg taught until February of this year.
Fernando Schaffenburg was born in Mexico City on April 2, 1925, and began ballet training in the 1930s.
He had planned to become an architect, said his wife, Karen Schaffenburg, but after seeing a touring ballet group in Mexico City he told his family, “That’s what I want to do.”
He came to New York City in the early 1920s with $100 in his pocket, his wife said.
Born of Mexican and German parents, Schaffenburg was fluent in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.
He married ballerina Nancy Benson in 1954 and they had two sons. They later divorced, and he married ballerina Karen Pedersen in 1976 and they had a daughter, Ingrid Schaffenburg of Los Angeles.
In addition to his wife, daughter and sons he is survived by his brother, Karl Schaffenburg of Washington, D.C.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
