News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in March 2023
Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, as well as notable awards and accomplishments, from March 2023.
Comings & Goings
At Boston Ballet, Chisako Oga has been promoted to principal; Sun Woo Lee to soloist; Tyson Clark, Louise Hautefeuille, Sage Humphries, Sangmin Lee and Daniel Rubin to second soloist.
At Paris Opéra Ballet, Guillaume Diop, Hannah O’Neill and Marc Moreau have been promoted to étoile. Diop is the first Black étoile in the company’s history.
At Scottish Ballet, Rimbaud Patron and Melissa Parsons have been promoted to soloist, Amy McEntee, Anna Williams, Eado Turgeman, Harvey Littlefield and Rishan Benjamin to first artist.
At National Ballet of Canada, Spencer Hack has been promoted to principal. First soloist Tanya Howard will retire at the end of the season in June. Ethan Colangelo has been appointed a choreographic associate, beginning in July.
Birmingham Royal Ballet principal Brandon Lawrence will depart the company to join Ballet Zurich in August. His final BRB performance is slated for June.
Kinsun Chan will become the director of Dresden Semperoper Ballet beginning with the 2024–25 season.
West Australian Ballet Company artistic director Aurélian Scannella will depart the company at the end of the 2023 season. David McAllister will serve as guest artistic director for the 2024 season.
Emad M. Salem has been named executive director of Battery Dance.
Robert van Leer has been appointed executive director and CEO of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, effective April 1.
Michael McStraw will step down as executive director of Giordano Dance Chicago at the end of the current season.
Jenny Schlenzka will step down as executive artistic director of Performance Space New York this summer.
Aaron Mattocks joined the Fisher Center at Bard as chief operating officer in January.
Stella Abrera has been named artistic director of American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, where she has served as acting artistic director since August 2022.
Awards & Honors
The International Association of Blacks in Dance received a 2021 National Medal of Arts. The ceremony was delayed to this month due to the pandemic.
Misty Copeland will receive the 2023 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, which includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant, on June 24.
The Dance/USA 2023 Honorees are Virginia Johnson (Honor Award), Judy Tyrus (‘Ernie’ Award), Nena Gilreath and Waverly T. Lucas, II, on behalf of Ballethnic Dance Company (Champion Award), and Douglas Scott (Champion Award).
