News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in April 2021

May 4, 2021

Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, as well as notable awards and accomplishments, from the last month.

Comings & Goings

Alexandra Damiani
has been named artistic director of BJM-Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, succeeding Louis Robitaille in June.

Sarah Sumbrum
has been appointed artistic director of DANCECleveland.

Felipe Oyarzun Moltedo
has been named associate director of Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company.

At Theater Münster, Lillian Stillwell has been named dance director beginning with the 2022–23 season.

A bare chested male dancer in white tights lunges as he holds a female dancer's arms from behind. She faces away from him as she balances in a six o'clock penchu00e9 on relevu00e9, arms stretched back to grasp her partner's wrists.

Ballet West’s Hadriel Diniz and Katlyn Addison in Africa Guzmán’s Sweet and Bitter

Beau Pearson, Courtesy Ballet West

At Ballet West
, Katlyn Addison and Hadriel Diniz have been promoted to principal artist for the 2021–22 season. Katherine Lawrence and Arolyn Williams will retire at the end of the current season.

At Paris Opéra Ballet, Camille Bon, Clémence Gross, Andréa Sarri and Nikolaus Tudorin have been promoted to sujet, Bleuenn Battistoni, Jack Gasztowtt, Chun-Wing Lam, Inès McIntosh and Nine Seropian and to coryphée.

Hofesh Shechter
has been named artist in residence of Gauthier Dance.

Shane Jewell
has been named general manager of Gibney Company.

At the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, Kyle Abraham has been appointed the Claude and Alfred Mann Endowed Professor in Dance, beginning this fall. He succeeds William Forsythe, who concludes his tenure at the end of the spring semester.

Laura Tisserand
and Jerome Tisserand will leave Pacific Northwest Ballet at the end of the current season to join Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.

Peggy Baker Dance Projects
will wind down in 2023.

Awards & Honors

Tommie-Waheed Evans
, Maureen Fleming, Christopher L. Huggins, José Ome Navarrete Mazatl, Helen Simoneau and Christopher Williams have been named 2021 Guggenheim Fellows in the field of choreography.

The Asian American Arts Alliance has awarded Annie Heath its 2021 Jadin Wong Fellowship, which includes a $6,000 unrestricted grant. Selina Shida Hack was recognized with a newly created Artist of Exceptional Merit award.

Alejandra Duque Cifuentes
was named to Crain’s New York Business‘ list of 2021 Notables in Nonprofits and Philanthropy.

Helen Simoneau, a young, white brunette woman, looks questioningly at the camera, dressed in all black as she sits with her legs crossed, a hand caressing her chin.
Helen Simoneau

Olly Yung, Courtesy Michelle Tabnick Public Relations

New Funding Opportunities

New York Foundation for the Arts has announced the launch of The Barbara and Carl Zydney Grant for Artists with Disabilities, which will distribute $1,000 unrestricted grants to New York City–based artists who have experienced financial hardship due to COVID-19. Applications are open now through June 15.