He attended summer intensives at the School of American Ballet in 1996 and 1997, then stayed in New York City as a full-time student.
[3] In December 2017, Peter Martins, then ballet master in chief of NYCB, took a leave of absence and later left after he was accused of sexual abuse.
That month, Stafford was chosen to lead the interim leadership team, which also included ballet masters Craig Hall and Rebecca Krohn, and resident choreographer Justin Peck.
The two said they intended to work as partners, Stafford would be in charge of artistic operations while Whelan supervises programming.
[9] Stafford graduated summa cum laude from the Fordham School of Professional and Continuing Studies with a B.A.