4. Mentoring future choreographers: Cranko was a mentor to several renowned dancers and choreographers during his tenure as director, including John Neumeier, Jiří Kylián, and William Forsythe.

• ​Forsythe joined Cranko’s Stuttgart Ballet in 1973 just before Cranko’s untimely death. During the time that they overlapped as mentor and student, Cranko encouraged Forsythe to choreograph in earnest. Forsythe was appointed resident choreographer of Stuttgart Ballet just three years later, becoming one of the most prolific choreographic voices of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Boston Ballet has performed many of Forsythe’s notable works, including The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, The Second Detail, and In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, and will present the company premiere of Pas/Parts 2016 this spring, Mar 9–Apr 7.
• Cranko offered Kylián his first professional ballet contract with Stuttgart Ballet in the 1960s, and encouraged him to create some of his first contemporary pieces for the company. After Cranko’s death, Kylián created Return to a Strange Land as a dedication to his memory. Kylián is now credited with over 100 choreographic pieces of his own, including Wings of Wax and Bella Figura, and names Cranko as one of his first influences.
• Neumeier has served as Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Cranko offered him a contract with Stuttgart Ballet in 1963, where he created his first ballets. Neumeier’s signature story ballets like Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream highlight the influence Cranko had on his choreographic ideas.

5. His commitment to the next generation of dancers: After being appointed ballet director of Stuttgart Ballet, Cranko focused on starting a school to train future generations of dancers in close relation with the professional company. In 1971, the John Cranko School was founded—the first boarding school for ballet in Germany to offer a complete classical dance education with a state diploma.