Mikhail Baryshnikov, ABT's artistic director at the time, pulled Jaffe out of the corps de ballet to replace Gelsey Kirkland in a gala performance.

Jaffe has worked with and performed the repertoire of many of the 20th century's most prominent choreographers, including George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Kenneth MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Roland Petit, Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato, Jiří Kylián, and James Kudelka.

She has been featured multiple times on the PBS series Dance in America; in the movie, Angie, starring Geena Davis; and in the Frederick Wiseman documentary Ballet.

In 2012, Jaffe choreographed a new pas de deux called "Blue" for American Ballet Theatre's gala for the opening night of their Metropolitan Opera House Season.

The year 2013 brought a new contemporary work created for the students at University of North Carolina's School of the Arts by Jaffe, Polovtsian Dances, which premiered in Chapel Hill's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Rite of Spring.