Judith Fugate

I trained at the School of American Ballet in New York and went on to join the New York City Ballet at the age of 17, rising to the rank of Principal Ballerina. During my 23 years with that company, I had the honor to perform in works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins and counted among my partners Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Martins and Peter Boal. It was a dream come true for a little girl from New Jersey!

After leaving the company, I was still very physical staging ballets for companies around the world.

I started developing pain in my right hip that got increasingly worse and was threatening my career. So I sought out Dr. Douglas Padgett at HSS who advised me that I needed total hip replacement. Not something to take lightly as I had many years ahead of me in the dance world, but I was in so much pain, I knew I needed to do it.

My whole experience with HSS and Dr. Padgett was an incredible one; from the preparations heading into surgery, to post surgery care in the hospital and follow-up visits. I am thrilled to say that 14 years later, I am still demonstrating and teaching ballets (my passion in life), not mention little things like walking and bending over, all with no pain whatsoever!