Comings & Goings
BalletMet Columbus artistic director Gerard Charles will become the ballet master of the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago this July. Charles served as the head of BalletMet for over a decade and has been with the company for 26 years. He will continue to work with BalletMet in order to launch its 2012–13 season this August. —posted 5/3/2012
The Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin has left the company, effective immediately. Polunin trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined the company in 2007. He originated the lead role of Jack/Knave of Hearts in Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Polunin is scheduled to perform at the Youth America Grand Prix gala in NYC in April. —posted 1/24/2012
Christopher Hampson
has been appointed artistic director designate of the Scottish Ballet. A former dancer with the English National Ballet, Hampson has choreographed extensively for that company, as well as Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Ballet Black, and Atlanta Ballet. He will replace outgoing director Ashley Page in August 2012. —posted 11/1/2011
Paul Lightfoot
has been named artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater effectively immediately. Lightfoot will continue to be NDT’s resident choreographer, a position he’s held with his partner Sol Léon since 2002. Jim Vincent, who has been NDT’s artistic director since 2009, will transition out of his position, first as co-artistic director through December of this year, and then artistic advisor through the end of the 2011–2012 season. Managing director Robert van Leer cited state budget cuts. —posted 9/12/2011
In addition to new principal Francis Veyette and new soloist Lauren Fadeley (see below), Pennsylvania Ballet has announced additions and promotions for the 2011–2012 season. Joining the corps de ballet are Samantha Barczak (from BalletFleming), Lorin Mathis (Boston Ballet), and Jong Suk Park (The Washington Ballet Studio Company). PB II member Rachel Jambois and apprentices Edward Barnes, Lillian Di Piazza, and Alex Ratcliffe-Lee have been promoted to corps members. Alexandra Hughes (School of American Ballet) and Alexander Peters (Kansas City Ballet) have been named apprentices, in addition to Lara Clemens, Elizabeth Mateer, and Eric Trope from PB II. Phoebe Gavula, Jake Helgenberg, Harrison Monaco, and Allison Pierce join the second company. Former principal dancer Alexander Iziliaev is now PAB’s photographer and videographer. —posted 9/9/2011
The Washington Ballet has announced new members and promotions for its 2011–2012 season: Emily Ellis (from Dutch National Ballet) and Audra Johnson (American Repertory Ballet) have joined the company, and Kara Cooper (TWB guest dancer) and Aurora Dickie (former TWB apprentice and most recently of São Paulo Companhia de Dança) return to the company. Apprentice Andile Ndlovu has been promoted to the main company. Ayano Kimura (TWB Studio Company) and Amber Lewis (TWB School) will be apprentices. —posted 8/30/2011
The Suzanne Farrell Ballet has announced promotions its 2011–12 season: Violeta Angelova and Kirk Henning, both of whom joined the company in 2006, will become soloists, and apprentices Jane Morgan and Jordyn Richter have been promoted to the corps de ballet. —posted 8/17/2011
The Joffrey Ballet has announced eight new company members: Ogulcan Borova (formerly of Ballet Internationale Indianapolis), Katherine Bruno (seasonal contract with the Joffrey), Rory Hohenstein (Morphoses and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company), Dara Holmes (Joffrey trainee), Jeraldine Mendoza (San Francisco Ballet trainee), Katherine Minor (Oregon Ballet Theatre apprentice), Alberto Velazquez (ABT II), and Mahallia Ward (Joffrey trainee). In addition, Nicolas Blanc, a former principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet and ballet master of the Scottish Ballet, will be the Joffrey’s new ballet master. —posted 8/17/2011
Boston Ballet has announced promotions and new members for its 2011–12 season: Company dancer Paulo Arrais and second soloists Dalay Parrondo, Jeffrey Cirio, and Whitney Jensen—a 2010 “25 to Watch” who appeared on the January cover—have been named soloists. Company dancer Bo Busby has been promoted to second soloist and Lawrence Rines and Patrick Yocum of Boston Ballet II move into the main company. Boyko Dossev, who danced with The Washington Ballet in 2010–11, will return as a company member. Newcomers include Ashley Ellis (ABT) as second soloist, and Diana Albrecht (TWB), Olga Malinovskaya (Estonian National Ballet), Artyom Maksakov (Estonian National Ballet), and Irlan Silva (ABT II) as company members. Joining BB II this season are Lauren Herfindalh, Olivia Lipnick, Ileana Riveron, and Matthew Slattery. —posted 8/16/2011
Houston Ballet has announced promotions and additions for the 2011–2012 season: Danielle Rowe, who joined the company last season from The Australian Ballet, has been named principal, and Jessica Collado, a 2009 “25 to Watch” who has been with the company since 2004, has been named soloist. Apprentices Beth Miller, Madison Morris, Aaron Sharratt, Brian Waldrep, and Liao Xiang will join the company as members of the corps. Luke Ingham, who joined the company in May as a demi soloist from The Australian Ballet, enters his first full season with HB. —posted 8/8/2011
Stanford Makishi
has been named director of programs at the Asian Cultural Council, which supports artistic exchange between the U.S. and Asia. In the newly created position, he will oversee A.C.C.’s grant-making process. Formerly executive director of Baryshnikov Arts Center, he currently serves on the board of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, where he was a dancer, as well as artistic advisor to NYC’s Fall for Dance festival. —posted 8/1/2011
Pacific Northwest Ballet has announced three new company members: Leta Biasucci (Oregon Ballet Theatre), Elizabeth Murphy (Ballet West), and Matthew Renko (Suzanne Farrell Ballet) have joined the corps de ballet. In September, PNB School students Steven Loch and Sarah Pasch will become apprentices. —posted 7/18/2011
New York CIty Ballet has announced two promotions: corps members Chase Finlay and Anthony Huxley have been named soloists. Fonlay, who joined the company in 2009, made his debut in the title role of Apollo last spring, and Huxley, who joined in 2007, had his first performance of Dances at a Gathering in this month’s Saratoga season. —posted 7/16/2011
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has announced nine new members: Alicia Graf Mack, a former star with the Ailey company, Sarah Daley (Ailey II), Jacqueline Green (Ailey II), Kelly Robotham (Ailey II), Renaldo Gardner (Ailey II), Kanji Segawa (Ailey II, Battleworks), Sean Carmon (Ailey/Fordham BFA, La Cage Aux Folles), Belen Estrada (Camille A. Brown and Dancers), and Michael Jackson, Jr. (Philadanco). The dancers give their first performances on the company’s 10-week European tour, beginning next week. —posted 6/15/2011
National Ballet of Canada has announced promotions for the 2011-2012 season. First soloist Jillian Vanstone, who recently performed the lead role in Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, has been named principal. Second soloists Elena Lobsanova, McGee Maddox, Robert Stephen, and Brett van Sickle will be first soloists, and corps members Naoya Ebe and Cheisy Meiss will be second soloists. Apprentices Skylar Campbell, Shaila D’Onofrio and Jackson Dwyer will join the corps de ballet. —posted 6/13/2011
Isabella Boylston
has been promoted to soloist at American Ballet Theatre. She joined the Studio Company (now ABT II) in 2005 and has been a corps member since 2007. In the 2011 Met Season, she created leading roles in Ratmansky’s Dumbarton and Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions. —posted 6/7/2011
Pennsylvania Ballet has announced two promotions for the 2011–2012 season: soloist Francis Veyette has been named principal and corps member Lauren Fadeley will become a soloist. Veyette and Fadeley debuted as Siegfried and Odette/Odile in March in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake and are engaged to be married. Veyette joined the company in 1999 after a two-year apprenticeship and Fadeley was a member of New York City Ballet before joining PAB in 2007. —posted 5/31/2011
Oregon Ballet Theatre has announced 10 additions and 3 promotions for the 2011–2012 season: Haiyin Wu and Yang Zou, formerly of Miami City Ballet, and Xuan Cheng and Ye Li, formerly of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, join OBT as principal dancers. Kate Odekirk (Tulsa Ballet), Michael Linsmeier (Milwaukee Ballet), Michael Breedon (MCB), and Neil Marshall (MCB) join OBT as artists. Soloist Brett Bauer will become a principal dancer and artists Lucas Threefoot and Brian Simcoe will be soloists. Apprentices Adam Hartley and Olivia Ornelas will join the company as artists. —posted 5/27/2011
Paul Taylor Dance Company welcomes two new members: Heather McGinley, formerly of Martha Graham Dance Company, and George Smallwood, who danced with Battleworks, the Graham company, and Parsons Dance. —posted 5/16/2011
Jill Johnson
has been appointed Harvard University’s dance director. The former Frankfurt Ballet principal dancer and renowned stager of William Forsythe’s work will assume the position on July 1. She replaces Elizabeth Weil Bergmann, who retired as director after 11 years. —posted 5/6/2011
Bridgett Zehr
and Zdenek Konvalina, principal dancers with National Ballet of Canada, have announced that they will join English National Ballet for the 2011/2012 season. The couple, DM‘s June 2010 cover story, will continue to dance in Toronto as NBC guest artists. —posted 5/4/2011
Ballet West has announced promotions for the 2011–12 season: senior soloist Katherine Lawrence will become a principal artist, demi-soloists Beau Pearson and Arolyn Williams have been named soloists, artists Emily Adams and Allison DeBona have been promoted to demi-soloists, and apprentice Tyler Gum and Ballet West II members Beckanne Sisk and Kathryn Hein join the company as artists. Ballet West welcomes soloist Ronnie Underwood from Oklahoma City Ballet and artist Katlyn Addison from Houston Ballet. —posted 4/22/2011
Kristy Edmunds
has been named executive and artistic director of UCLA Live. Edmunds was most recently deputy dean of the School of performing Arts in the Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne. She has served as the director of the Melbourne International Arts Festival and was the founding executive and artistic director of the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. She will assume her new role May 1 and will continue to serve as consulting artistic director for the Park Avenue Armory in NYC through 2012. —posted 4/5/2011
The Royal Danish Ballet’s Marcin Kupinski has been promoted to principal dancer. Born in Poland, Kupinski trained at the National Ballet School in Gdansk and has been with RDB since 2002. —posted 3/12/2011
Pacific Northwest Ballet has announced that corps de ballet dancer Stacy Lowenberg will retire at the end of the season in June. She has danced with the company for 14 years. She will continue to teach ballet and Pilates, and choreograph. —posted 1/24/2011
Dayton Ballet has announced that Dermot Burke will step down from his position as artistic and executive director of the company. Operations manager Kathy Reed will become executive director and Karen Russo, choreographer and Burke’s wife, will be artistic director. —posted 1/19/2011
Houston Ballet has announced the promotions of demi-soloist Katharine Precourt to soloist and corps member Lauren Ciobanu to demi-soloist. —posted 1/19/2011
Miami City Ballet has announced promotions, effective Jan. 1. Jennifer Lauren and Renan Cerdeiro have been named soloists; Nathalia Arja, Adrienne Carter, Skyler Lubin, Alexandre Ferreira, and Kleber Rebello have joined the corps de ballet; and Andrei Chagas has been named company apprentice. —posted 1/5/2011
American Ballet Theatre’s Cory Stearns has been named principal. Stearns joined ABT II (then ABT Studio company) in 2004. —posted 1/5/2011
Jared Redick
has been selected as the new artistic director of New Haven Ballet. A former dancer with San Francisco Ballet and Miami City Ballet, Redick recently retired after seven years with Boston Ballet and served as the principal of Boston Ballet School’s Norwell Studio. He will assume the director position in January 2011. —posted 12/9/2010
Cincinnati Ballet has promoted two dancers: senior soloist Sarah Hairston has been named principal dancers and corps de ballet member Liang Fu has been named soloist. —posted 11/2/2010
The Australian Ballet has announced promotions for 15 dancers effective January: soloists Juliet Burnett, Tzu-Chao Chou, and Ty King-Wall will become senior artists; coryphées Ben Davis, Amy Harris, Rudy Hawkes, Robyn Hendricks, Brett Simon, Jacob Sofer, and Andrew Wright will become soloists, and corps de ballet members Chengwu Guo, Halaina Hills, Jarryd Madden, Heidi Martin, and Garry Stocks will become coryphées. Soloists Gina Brescianini, Jane Casson, and Luke Ingham; coryphées Jia Yin Du and Stephanie Williams; and corps de ballet member Victor Esguerra will leave The Australian Ballet at the end of 2010. —posted 9/28/2010
Tracy Inman
and Melanie Person have been named the new co-directors of The Ailey School. Inman and Person will continue their current roles as co-directors of the junior division. Inman was named the associate director of The Ailey School in 2009 and Person was named chair of the ballet department in 2000. —posted 8/27/2010
Patricia Barker
will take over as Interim Artistic Director of Michigan’s Grand Rapids Ballet Company for the 2010-2011 season. Barker, a former principal with Pacific Northwest Ballet, will work with the Grand Rapids company and school while the search for a new Artistic Director takes place. —posted 7/26/2010
San Francisco Ballet welcomes twelve new dancers. Artem Yachmennikov, who will be a principal, comes from Het National Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. Vito Mazzeo, who will be a soloist, comes from The Royal Ballet and Teatro dell’Opera. Daniel Baker, from Miami City Ballet, will join the corps, along with former apprentices Kimberly Braylock, Myles Thatcher, and Sylvie Volosov; SFB School students Nicole Ciapponi and Koto Ishihara; and Elena Kazakova (Bolshoi Ballet), Dustin Shane (Washington Ballet), Sebastian Vinet (Houston Ballet), and Lonnie Weeks (Texas Ballet Theater). Former SFB School students Evan Hewer, Patricia Keleher, and Raymond Tilton, along with Caroline Wilson (John Cranko Ballet School) will be apprentices. —posted 7/22/2010
Nilas Martins
has quietly retired from New York City Ballet. Martins joined NYCB in 1986 and was a principal for 17 years. Martins has been accepted as a fellow at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. —posted 7/22/2010
Houston Ballet welcomes four new dancers: Junshuang Huang, Karina Gonzalez, Melissa Hough, and Rupert Edwards III. Huang, who will be a principal, comes from Guangzhou Ballet Theater in China. Gonzalez, from Tulsa Ballet, and Hough, from Boston Ballet, will be soloists. Edwards, from Tulsa Ballet, will join the corps, along with former apprentices William Newton, Garrett Smith, Megumi Takeda, and Natalie Varnum. From the HB Academy, Beth Miller, Madison Morris, Aaron Sharratt, and Liao Xiang will be apprentices. —posted 7/21/2010
Former NYCB principal Monique Meunier has been appointed ballet mistress for The Washington Ballet. She succeeds the late John Goding, who passed away in 2009. —posted 7/15/2010
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater welcomes four new dancers into the Company. Ghrai DeVore, Daniel Harder, Demetia Hopkins, and Jermaine Terry are all graduates of The Ailey School and former members of Ailey II. —posted 7/12/2010
Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Peter Boal, has announced six dancer promotions for the 2010-2011 season. Seth Orza, corps de ballet member since 2007, has been promoted to principal. Current corps member Laura Gilbreath, who joined as an apprentice in 2003, will become a soloist, as will Sarah Richard Orza, a member of the corps since 2007. Chelsea Adomaitis, Ryan Cardea, and Ezra Thomson, who joined as apprentices in 2009, have been promoted to the corps. —posted 7/8/2010
American Ballet Theatre dancer Hee Seo is to be promoted to the rank of Soloist, effective August 2010. Seo joined the ABT Studio Company in 2004, became an apprentice with the company in 2005 and was promoted to the corps de ballet in 2006. —posted 7/6/2010
Former American Repertory Ballet principal dancer and ballet master Douglas Martin will replace Graham Lustig as director. —posted 6/21/2010
National Ballet of Canada’s Jordana Daumec and McGee Maddox have been promoted to second soloist from the corps de ballet. Daumec has been with NBC since 2004; Maddox since 2009. Apprentices Giorgio Galli, Ji Min Hong, Jaclyn Oakley, and Dylan Tedaldi will join the corps de ballet. —posted 6/21/2010
Milwaukee Ballet welcomes three new dancers: Julianne Kepley, Joshua Reynolds, and Tanner Schwartz. Kepley, who will be a leading artist, has danced with Atlanta Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and is a former guest artist with MB. Reynolds, from Atlanta Ballet, and Schwartz, from Joffrey Ballet, will join as artists. —posted 5/24/2010
Brett Conway
, who has been with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet for eight years, will leave the company for Nederlands Dans Theater in the fall. —posted 4/15/2010
John Killacky
, current program officer for the San Francisco Foundation, will become the chief executive officer of the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, VT, effective June 1, 2010. —posted 4/15/2010
Beth Krasna
, former president of the finance committee and member of the board of trustees, is the new president of the Prix de Lausanne. —posted 3/1/2010
San Francisco Ballet’s Frances Chung has been promoted to principal dancer, effective immediately. Chung joined SFB in 2001. —posted 12/22
American Ballet Theatre’s Simone Messmer has been promoted to soloist, effective January 1. Messmer joined ABT as an apprentice in 2002. —posted 12/11
Pacific Northwest Ballet has promoted soloists Maria Chapman and Karel Cruz to the rank of principal and corps de ballet dancer Lindsi Dec to the rank of soloist. Apprentices Andrew Bartee, Amanda Clark, Kyle Davis, Emma Love, Margaret Mullin, and Sean Rollofson have been promoted to the rank of corps de ballet. PNB welcomes two new apprentices: Chelsea Adomaitis from the PNB school and Ezra Thomson from Orlando Ballet. -posted 9/25/09
Ballet West has promoted apprentices Allison DeBona, Aidan DeYoung, and Rex Tiltonto the rank of artist, and Ballet West II dancers Whitney Heull and Alexander MacFarlan to the rank of apprentice. Eduardo Permuy (Cincinatti Ballet) joins the company as an artist. -posted 9/16/09
Kansas City Ballet welcomes three new dancers: Gabriel Davidsson, from the Kirov Academy of Ballet, Michael Davis, from Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Adam Rogers, from Sarasota Ballet. -posted 9/15/09
The Martha Hill Dance Fund Award winners have been announced. Beverly Blossom will receive the Lifetime Acheivement Award, Virginia Johnson is the Mid-Career Award recipient, and Hortense Lieberthal Zera will receive a Special Citation. -posted 9/14/09
Former Paul Taylor principal Rachel Berman is the new company manager of Company C Contemporary Ballet. The Bay Area-based company also welcomes Edilsa Armendariz (Nevada Ballet Theater), Robert Dekkers (ODC/SF), Taurean Green (PNB), Patricia Perez (SFB), and Kristin Lindsay (Ballet Florida). -posted 9/14/09
Samuel Lariviere, Laurie Lou Garside,
and Benjamin Tucker join Richmond Ballet as apprentices. Alison Dubsky joins RB as a company member after four seasons with Sarasota Ballet. -posted 8/31/09
The Joffrey Ballet welcomes nine new dancers: Miguel Blanco, Yumelia Garcia, Dylan Gutierrez, Jaime Hickey, Amber Neumann, Ricardo Santos de Paula, Tanner Schwatrz, Jenny Winton, and Kara Zimmerman. The dancers join the Joffrey with support from the Boeing Company. -posted 8/31/09
The 2009 Princess Grace Awardees in Dance are Isabella Boylston of American Ballet Theatre, Jeffrey Cirio of Boston Ballet, Sarah Murphy of The Juilliard School-Dance Division, Katie Scherman of Dominican University/LINES Ballet, Corey Scott-Gilbert of Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and Joseph Walsh of Houston Ballet. Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s Jae Man Joo, Ballet Hispanico’s Andrea Miller, and PARADIGM’s Kate Weare were named choreography fellows. 1998 PGA winner Gillian Murphy of ABT has received a $25,000 Statue Award. -posted 8/27/09
Maurice Hines
, actor, director, jazz singer, and choreographer, has been named the new Honorary Chair of DANCE POWER, the longest running arts/community partnership in New Jersey. His first event will be Chance to Dance – A Scholarship Benefit for DANCE POWER on Oct. 2. -posted 8/13/09
President Obama has named 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. Among the awardees is actress, singer and dancer, Chita Rivera. Rivera has won two Tony awards and became the first Hispanic recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002. -posted 7/30/09
The Central Pennslyvania Youth Ballet has appointed Alan Hineline as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Hineline returns to CPYB after being CEO of Ballet Philippines. -posted 7/28/09
Ricardo Bustamente
and Bruce Sansom have been appointed to the shared title of Ballet Master and Assistant to the Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet. Ashley Wheater, former Ballet Master and Assistant to the Artistic Director, was appointed Artistic Director of the Joffrey Ballet in fall 2007. Prior to the appointment, Bustamente served as Ballet Master for San Francisco Ballet and Sansom was Director of London’s Central School of Ballet. -posted 7/27/09
Gabriela Poler-Buzali
has been named Executive Director of the Limón Dance Company. Poler-Buzali was Executive Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) for the past three years. She will replace Lisa Barnes who has been acting as Interim Executive Director of the Limón Dance Company for the past nine months. -posted 7/20/09
Australian Ballet soloist, Paul Knobloch, will join the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. Knobloch will make his debut with the Béjart Ballet Lausanne performing at the Palais Garniere in Paris with four of Béjart’s most pivotal works. – posted 7/13/09
John Magnus
, former Artistic Director of New York’s Joffrey Ballet school, is now the Artistic Director of the Portland Festival Ballet. – posted 7/13/09
Edward Villella
, Founding Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of Miami City Ballet, was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. – posted 7/9/09
Ballet BC
has appointed an interim artistic director to lead the fiancially troubled company. Ballet BC principal dancer Emily Molnar has taken over the company after artistic director John Alleyne stepped down last month. Molnar’s first project with the company will be a fundraising gala on September 30 which will feature new work by Molnar. -posted 7/8/09
Christopher Fleming
, former member of the New York City Ballet, has been appointed Artistic Associate of The Rebecca Davis Dance Company in Philadelphia. -posted 7/2/09
At the World Ballet Competition, gold medals in the Professional Category went to Gleidson Vasconcelos and Jordan Elizabeth Long. In the Pre-Professional Category, gold medals were awarded to Jeffrey Cirio and Carina Brown. – posted 7/2/09
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
has awarded a $120,000 grant to DANCECleveland, Dance Affiliates (Philadelphia) and Dance St. Louis for a pilot program to build a national network of new dance-presenting venues. -posted 7/2/09
Greer Reed
, a former member of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company replaces Beth Corning as executive director of Pittsburgh-based Dance Alloy Theater. -posted 7/2/09
Founder and Executive Director of the New York International Ballet Competition, Ilona Copen has announced her retirement. Richard Chen See, former principal with the Paul Taylor Dance Company now takes over as Executive Director. At this year’s competition, an honorary gold medal was awarded to Eleanor D’Antuono, Artistic Director of NYIBC. The silver went to Amber Neumann and John Mark Giragosian, and the bronze went to Yong Jung Rhee, Olga Malinovskaya, Ricardo Santos, and Artjom Maksakov. -posted 7/2/09
The North Carolina Dance Theatre has received a $100,000 grant from the US Airways Community Foundation. The grant will help fund the theatre’s new Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance.-posted 6/30/09
Scottish Ballet soloist Paul Liburd has been named Member of the British Empire for Services to Dance. –posted 6/24/09
San Fransico Ballet artistic director Helgi Tomasson received the Iceland Theatre Association Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation ceremony at Reykjavik City Theatre was televised nationally in Iceland. –posted 6/23/09
The North Carolina Dance Theatre has named its new facility after the theatre’s artistic leaders, Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. The facility, which broke ground last April, will feature six dance studios, a costume shop, administrative offices and meeting spaces. The grand opening is scheduled for fall 2010. –posted 6/17/09
Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, Karen Kain, announced the promotions of the 2009-2010 season. Bridgett Zehr was promoted from First Soloist to Principal Dancer. Zehr originally joined the company in 2006 after previously dancing with the Houston Ballet. Tina Pereira and Jonathan Renna were promoted to First Soloists. Promotions to Second Soloists were announced for Elena Lobsanova, Noah Long, Jenna Savella, Robert Stephen and Brett van Sickle. Joining the company as members of the Corps de Ballet are Ryan Booth, Shino Mori and Brendan Saye. The winners of the 2009 David Tory Award were presented to First Soloist Etienne Lavigne and Corps de Ballet member Lise-Marie Jourdain. Each will receive $2,500. And lastly, Corps de Ballet members Chelsy Meiss and Christopher Stalzer were awarded the Patron Award of Merit by the Patron’s Council Committee of The National Ballet of Canada. –posted 6/16/09
For the 2009-2010 season, Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s Laura Guerra is relocating to Tennessee where she will dance with the Nashville Ballet. Damien Patterson will be added to Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s roster. Patterson has previously danced with Ballet Memphis and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. –posted 6/8/09
The José Limón Dance Foundation, home of the Limón Dance Company, has announced the appointment of Gabriela Poler-Buzali as executive director. Poler-Buzali was formerly executive director of Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA). –posted 6/8/09
Six Minnesota Dance Artists were selected to receive the 2009 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers. The choreographer recipients are Emily Johnson, Morgan Thorson and Vanessa Voskuil. The dancer recipients are Sam Feipel, Justin Leaf and Karen Sherman. Each Fellow will receive a $25,000 fellowship award. -posted 6/3/09
The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company has announced the appointments of Charlotte Boye-Christensen as the new artistic director and Jena Woodbury as the new associate managing director. Boye-Christensen was formerly the associate artistic director and Woodbury will continue her role as company touring manager . This is the first time that a new artistic director has been named since Joan Woodbury and Shirley Ririe founded the Company in 1964. –posted 6/2/09
The 2009 Astaire Award recipients are Peter Darling, Best Broadway Choreographer for Billy Elliot, Longines Fernandes, Best Film Choreographer for Slumdog Millionaire, Pia Glenn, Best Female Dancer for You’re Welcome America, A Final Night With George W. Bush and David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish, Best Male Dancer for Billy Elliot. –posted 6/2/09
The Women’s Impact Fund has awarded North Carolina Dance Theatre a $78,000 grant to launch a three-year Community Outreach Dance Program for underserved children in Mecklenburg County. –posted 6/2/09
Ballet San Jose has announced that Stephanie Ziesel is the new executive director of the company. She was formerly the associate director of development at San Francisco Ballet. –posted 5/1/09
The Herb Alpert Foundation and California Institute of the Arts have announced choreographer/performer Reggie Wilson as a recipient of the 2009 Alpert Award, for which he’ll recieve a grant of $75,000. –posted 4/27/09
The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has announced the election of leaders in the arts. The 2009 fellows for dance are Bill T. Jones, Trisha Brown and Edward Villella. –posted 4/23/09
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has announced promotions and departures for the 2009-2010 season. Julia Erickson and Alexandra Kochis have been promoted to the rank of principal and Eva Trapp has been promoted to the rank of soloist. Leaving the company will be principal dancers Maribel Modrono, Christopher Rendall-Jackson, Daisuke Takeuchi and soloist Kaori Ogasawara. -posted 4/14/09
The recipients of the 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship Awards in choreography are Ralph Lemon, Sarah Michelson, Tamar Rogoff, Yasuko Yokoshi and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. -posted 4/14/09
American Ballet Theatre has announced the promotion of Veronika Part to the rank of principal effective May 18, 2009. -posted 4/14/09
The American Dance Festival will award dancer and choreographer Ohad Naharin with the 2009 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement on June 25th at the Durham Performing Arts Center. -posted 4/7/09
River North Chicago Dance Company has named Gail Kalver as interim executive director. -posted 4/7/09
Houston Ballet has announced the promotions of Jessica Collado, James Gotesky and Lauren Majewski from the corps de ballet to the rank of demi soloist. -posted 4/7/09
Atlanta Ballet has named Virginia Hepner as interim executive director. -posted 4/7/09
The 23rd annual Isadora Duncan Dance Awards have been announced. Individual performance honors went to San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Maria Kochetkova and Circo Zero aerialist Emily Leap. Ensemble performance honors went to Laurel Keen and Brett Conway of Lines Ballet as well as Rodney Bell and Sonsheree Giles of Axis Dance Company. Joe Goode won the choreography award for his work with Axis Dance Company and Shinichi Momo Ivoa-Koga’s Butoh collective inkBoat won the company performance catagory. -posted 3/31/09
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School has named two of its pre-professional students, Ted Henderson and Bradley Wong, as recipients of the Rudolf Nureyev Achievement Award. The award provides scholarship opprotunities for male dancers through a grant from the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation. -posted 3/31/09
The Hong Kong Ballet has announced the appointment of Madeleine Onne as the new artistic director effective May 2009. – posted 3/24/09
The recipients of the 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards in dance are The Royal Ballet of Flanders for “Outstanding Acheivement in Dance” for their production of Impressing the Czar and “Best New Dance Production” for Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal’s Café Muller/Rite of Spring. – posted 3/19/09
Elena Lobsanova
of The National Ballet of Canada and Cory Stearns of American Ballet Theatre won the Eigth International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize. Matjash Mrozewski won the new Choreographic Prize. – posted 3/19/09
Boston Ballet has announced the promotion of four company dancers to the rank of principal. Kathleen Breen Combes, Melissa Hough, Misa Kuranaga and James Whiteside have all been with the company for more than five seasons. – posted 3/16/09
Barry C. Hughson
will leave his post as executive director of Atlanta Ballet to become the executive director of Boston Ballet for the 2009/2010 season. – posted 3/16/09
Gregg Gustafson
has been named to succeed Ben Hodge as executive director of Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago effective March 1, 2009. -posted 3/9/09
The New Orleans Recreation Department and the New Orleans Ballet Association (NORD/NOBA) have received a Creative Aging Grant from the MetLife Foundation for their innovative program dedicated to teaching social dance, stretching and ballet skills to older adults. -posted 3/9/09
The Vail International Dance Festival
has received a grant from the Nureyev Dance Foundation for this summer’s residency by Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. -posted 3/9/09
Navada Ballet Theatre has appointed Oregon Ballet Theatre’s founding artistic director, James Canfield as their new artistic director. -posted 3/9/09
The Foundation for Contemporary Arts has announced their 2009 Grants to Artists recipients. The dance recipients are Foofwa d’Imobilité and Maria Hassabi. -posted 3/9/09
Texas Dance Theatre has announced the addition of two new dancers to their roster. Lauren Collier and Tyler Patterson will begin dancing with the company in their upcoming April performance. -posted 3/9/09
Jim Vincent
, currently the artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC), has been appointed the next artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). He will complete the HSDC season in August 2009 before leaving to join NDT. -posted 2/23/09
San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Maria Kochetkova was awarded the gold medal in the soloist category on the season finale of NBC’s “Superstars of Dance”. Kochetkova competed for her native Russia, performing variations from Don Quixote and Le Corsaire. -posted 2/23/09
The Gerald Arpino Foundation has been formed to lease rights to Arpino and Joffrey Ballets. Former Joffrey Ballet General Manager Harriet Ross will serve as Director of the Foundation which has been organized to ensure both artists’ legacies and the quality of their ballets are upheld. -posted 2/23/09
Henning Rübsam
is the first dance artist to recieve the Distinguished Artist Award presented by the Bergen Community College in New Jersey. The choreographer received the award on February 4, 2009 after performing at the college with his company, SENSEDANCE. -posted 2/23/09
ABT announced that Anne Milewski has been named Jennifer Alexader Dancer for 2009. The Jennifer Alexander Fund was established to honnor the late Jennifer Alexander, a beloved member of ABT’s corps de ballet. A senior member of the corps is a awarded the honor annually. -posted 2/23/09
Choreographer Jodi Gates has been named the Altria/ABT Choreography Fellow for 2009. The Fellows program is designed to identify and nurture female choreographers. Gates will be creating a new work for ABT II which will be performed in New York as well as at tour venues. -posted 2/23/09
Dance/USA has announced the 2009 recipiants of the Dance/USA Honors. Dancer, choreographer and Ballet Hispanico founder Tina Ramirez will receive the Dance/USA Honor and preservationist, advocate and writer Sali Ann Kriegsman will receive the “Ernie” award. Both awards will be presented on June 4,2009 durring the Dance/USA Honors at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. – posted 2/19/09
Cory Stearns
has been promoted to soloist with American Ballet Theatre effective immediately.- posted 2/19/09
Violette Verdy
has been given France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor. She will receive the medal in Paris in June from the French President. Nicolas Sarkozy.—posted 2/9/09
New York City Ballet’s Adrian Danchig-Waring has been promoted to a soloist. —posted 2/9/09
Dance Advance gave a total of $917,000 in grants to 26 artists, companies, and organizations. Individual grants were given to Jaye Allison, Jacelyn Biondo, Marianela Boan, Lisa Kraus, Jaamil Kosoko, Janet Pilla, Merian Soto, and Kate Watson-Wallace. Bryn Mawr College, Community Education Center, Kimmel Center, Montgomery County Community College, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia Dance Projects, Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe, and Raices Culturales LatinoAmericanas were given grants as presenters. The company grants were given to Eleone Dance Theatre, Headlong Dance Theater, Koresh Dance Company, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Leah Stein Dance Company, Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, Philadelphia Folklore Project, and Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. —posted 2/9/09
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Creative Exploration Fund at MAP, a program to benefit individual artists in development of new work, will award $10,000 to individual artists who received two or more MAP grants in a five-year period, beginning with 2003-2008, and rolling forward through 2010. The Inaugural Grantees include: Ann Carlson, DD Dorvillier, Neil Greenberg, John Jasperse, Noémi Lafrance, Sarah Michelson, Jennifer Monson, and Donna Uchizono.— posted 2/3/09
The winners of the 2008 Critics Circle National Dance Awards have been announced: Richard Alston received the De Valois Award for outstanding achievement in dance; Edward Watson of The Royal Ballet received the Dancing Times Award for best male dancer; Agnes Oaks of the English National Ballet received the Richard Sherrington Award for best female dancer; The English National Ballet received the Dance Europe Award for outstanding company; Christopher Wheeldon’s Electric Counterpoint for The Royal Ballet was named Best Classical Choreography; Hofesh Shechter’s in your rooms was named Best Modern Choreography; Northern Ballet Theatre received the Patron’s Award; New York City Ballet received the Artsworld Presentations Award for Best Foreign Dance Company; The Classical Male Spotlight Award was given to Martin Harvey of The Royal Ballet; The Classical Female Spotlight Award was given to Yuhui Choe of The Royal Ballet; The Modern Male Spotlight Award was given to Anh Ngoc Nguyen of Random Dance; The Modern Female Spotlight Award was given to Kate Coyne of the Michael Clark Company and freelance; The Billy Elliot Award was given to Michael Guihot-Jouffray; and the Dance UK Industry Award was given to Janet Smith of Scottish Dance Theatre.—posted 1/26/09
Atlanta Ballet apprentices Alessa Rogers and Jesse Tyler have been promoted to the full time dancers with the company.—posted 1/26/09
After dancing for 12 years with the Stuttgart Ballet, Jason Reilly is returning to his hometown, Toronto, to join the National Ballet of Canada. He will be a principal in the 2009-10 season, and prior to that will dance with the company as a guest artist in Romeo and Juliet this March.—posted 1/26/09
Former director of the Kirov Ballet, Makhar Vaziev will now direct the Teatro alla Scalla Ballet Company. Elisabetta Terabust has left her role as director after a two year collaboration for personal reasons.—posted 1/26/09
Dwight Hutton
is the new executive director of Louisville Ballet as of January 19. He has worked with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, and most recently was the Managing Director of Smuin Ballet in San Francisco.—posted 1/26/09
The Foundation for Contemporary Arts has awarded $25,000 grants to Foofwa d’Imobilité of Geneva, Switzerland and Maria Hassabi of NYC.—posted 1/26/09
