News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in April 2022
Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, as well as notable awards and accomplishments, from April 2022. Also of note: new or newly available funding opportunities for dance artists.
Comings & Goings
Alejandro Cerrudo has been named artistic director of Charlotte Ballet, beginning at the post May 1.
Steven Melendez will succeed Diana Byer as artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet in May.
Rob Jones has been appointed associate artistic director of Sadler’s Wells, beginning in August.
Chicago Dancers United has appointed Julia Hinojosa general manager.
Igor Zelensky has stepped down as director of Bayerisches Staatsballett.
Aaron Mattocks will step down as director of programming at The Joyce Theater, effective July 15.
At Paris Opéra Ballet, François Alu has been promoted to étoile.
At Royal Danish Ballet, Alexander Bozinoff and Emma Riis-Kofoed have been promoted to principal.
David Motta Soares has joined Staatsballett Berlin as a principal, Bruna Fernanda Cantanhede Gaglianone as a demi-soloist.
Macarena Gimenez and Maximiliano Iglesias will join Sarasota Ballet as principal dancers at the start of the 2022–23 season.
Brendan Saye will depart National Ballet of Canada to join Wiener Staatsballett as a principal at the end of the current season.
Ulrik Birkkjaer gave his final performance as a San Francisco Ballet principal on April 16. Principals Julian MacKay and Benjamin Freemantle and soloist Madison Keesler will also depart the company at the conclusion of this season.
Rainer Krenstetter gave his final performance as a Miami City Ballet principal on April 24.
Sarasota Ballet principal Victoria Hulland has retired. She gave her final performances April 29–30.
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre principal Alexandra Kochis will retire at the end of the current season. Her final performance is scheduled for May 14.
Carolyn Judson will retire from Texas Ballet Theater after 19 years with the company. Her final performances are scheduled for May.
Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist Joshua Grant will retire at the end of the current season. His final performance is scheduled for June 12.
New York City Ballet principal Sterling Hyltin will retire during the 2022–23 season. Her final performance is scheduled for December.
Awards & Honors
The 2022 Guggenheim Fellows in the field of Choreography are Gary Abbott, Anne Bluethenthal, Silvana Cardell, Moriah Evans, Ishmael Houston-Jones and Cynthia Oliver.
NAKA Dance Theater is a recipient of a 2022 Rainin Fellowship, which includes a $100,000 unrestricted grant.
Judith Jamison will receive the National Arts Club Medal of Honor at a ceremony on May 18.
Shen Wei will be presented with the 2022 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award in July. He had been slated to receive the honor in 2020 before ADF’s cancellation due to COVID-19. Dr. Kariamu Welsh will posthumously be awarded the 2022 Balasaraswati/Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching at a ceremony scheduled for June 19.
Bill T. Jones won the 2022 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Choreography for his work on Black No More.
Winners at the Olivier Awards included Kathleen Marshall (Best Theatre Choreographer, Anything Goes), Arielle Smith (Outstanding Achievement in Dance, Jolly Folly in Reunion for English National Ballet) and Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young (Best New Dance Production, Revisor).
New Funding Opportunities
Applications for the 2022 Coronavirus Relief Fund: New York State Edition for small-budget dance organizations are now being accepted. Dance/NYC plans to award one-time grants of $2,500–$5,000 to 45–60 dance-making organizations or fiscally sponsored groups with budgets between $10,000–$250,000 based in New York State. Applications are open until May 18; more information here. Tier I applications, for individual dancemakers, continue to be accepted through May 4.
Applications are open for the 2022–23 Changing Times Tap Initiative, which will award $1,000–$5,000 stipends to tap projects taking place between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. The application deadline is May 31.
