News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in July 2021
Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, as well as notable awards and accomplishments, from the last month.
Comings & Goings
Courtesy Charlotte Ballet
Hope Muir
has been named artistic director of National Ballet of Canada, beginning Jan. 1. She succeeds Karen Kain, who stepped down to become artistic director emerita on June 30.
Dionne D. Figgins
has been named artistic director of Ballet Tech, succeeding founder Eliot Feld on August 1.
Matthew Gardiner
has been appointed artistic director of Signature Theatre.
Mena Mark Hanna
has been appointed general director of Spoleto Festival USA, succeeding Nigel Redden in October.
Christian Spuck
will join Staatsballett Berlin as artistic director beginning with the 2023–24 season.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has appointed Shanta Thake chief artistic officer, a new position replacing the artistic director role previously held by Jane Moss until 2020.
Gregory Kramer, Courtesy Lincoln Center
Carolyn Adam
s has been named director of education at the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation.
American Ballet Theatre executive director Kara Medoff Barnett will step down this fall.
At Sarasota Ballet, Marijana Dominis and Yuri Marques have been promoted to soloist.
At Oklahoma City Ballet, Alejandro González has been promoted to soloist. Nikolas Gaifullin and Benjamin Tucker have joined as soloists.
Gustavo Ribeiro
has joined Oregon Ballet Theatre as a soloist.
Hi-ARTS has named Alexander Lambie, Tanika I. Williams, Kirya Traber and Sissi Lu, Sydnie L. Mosley Dances and LINDALA fall 2021 artists in residence.
Penny Saunders
has been named artist in residence at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.
Amar Ramasar
will retire from New York City Ballet at the end of the 2021–22 season. His final performance is scheduled for May 29.
Awards & Honors
Winners of the UK National Dance Awards included César Morales (Best Male Dancer), Simone Damberg Würtz (Best Female Dancer), Richard Alston Dance Company (Outstanding Company), English National Ballet (Best Company Response to the Pandemic), Acosta Danza (Best Independent Company), Cathy Marston (Best Classical Choreography, for The Cellist), Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young (Best Modern Choreography, for Revisor), Wim Vandekeybus (Best Digital Choreography, for Draw From Within), Alleyne Dance (Best Short Dance Film, for “(Re)United”), Arielle Smith (Emerging Artist Award), Begoña Cao (Outstanding Female Classical Performance, for Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan), Lauren Cuthbertson (Outstanding Female Classical Performance, for The Cellist), Dada Masilo (Outstanding Female Modern Performance, for Giselle), Marcelino Sambé (Outstanding Male Classical Performance, for The Cellist), Jermaine Spivey (Outstanding Male Modern Performance, for Revisor), John Macfarlane (Outstanding Creative Contribution) and Ronald Hynd (De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement).
Collage Dance Collective
, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, EMERGE125, KanKouran West African Dance Company and Step Afrika! are the International Association of Blacks in Dance’s 2021 Comprehensive Organizational Health Initiative | Managing Organizational Vitality and Endurance cohort. Each organization will receive $150,000 over the next three years.
New Funding Opportunities
The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Mertz Gilmore Seed Fund for Dance will award $5,000 grants to support 16 dance projects taking place in Upper Manhattan between January 1, 2022–February 28, 2023. The application deadline is September 8 at 5 pm ET. More information can be found here.
