Metropolitan Opera's Samuel Ramey Joins AMERICA DANCES!, Career Transition For Dancers? 24th Anniversary Jubilee

Rolex presents “America Dances! Celebrating Our Sparkling Heritage – Broadway, TV & Film”- Career Transition For Dancers’ 24th  Anniversary Jubilee  on Monday, November 2, 2009 at 7:00 pm at New York City Center, 131 West 55 Street (bet. 7 & 6 Aves) NYC.  Samuel Ramey joins the Gala, which will be the entertainment-dance event of the new season.  Mr. Ramey appears courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera. The Rolex Dance Award will be given to Patrick Swayze.  Lawrence Herbert and the Lloyd E. Rigler - Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation will receive the Career Transition For Dancers' Awards for Outstanding Contributions to the World of Dance.

For over three decades, Samuel Ramey has reigned as one of the music world’s foremost interpreters of bass and bass-baritone operatic and concert repertoire. He commands an impressive breadth of repertoire encompassing virtually every musical style.  The unique expressiveness of his bass voice has inspired many composers to assign the portrayal of devils and villains to basses, and it is in this repertoire that Mr. Ramey has established a reputation unequaled in the musical world.  He has appeared on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Vienna Staatsoper, Opéra de Paris, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, the operas of Munich, Hamburg, Geneva, Florence, Zürich and Amsterdam, among others. In concert, he has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, La Scala Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and the symphonies of Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and San Francisco.  Throughout his career, Mr. Ramey has worked with every major conductor and he holds the distinction of being the most recorded bass in history with more than eighty recordings; and they have garnered nearly every major award including three Grammy Awards, Gran Prix du Disc Awards, and “Best of the Year” citations from journals including Stereo Review and Opera News. His exposure on television and video is no less impressive. He is seen frequently on television in appearances with “Live from the Met” and “Live from Lincoln Center” as well as other productions taped for PBS.

 “America Dances! Celebrating Our Sparkling Heritage – Broadway, TV & Film” celebrates a variety of entertainment that defines our American culture—Past, Present and Future. This eclectic evening is an assimilation and fusion of styles that move from theater to concert dance, to television and film, in a vibrant homage to an array of dance genres. It will  play tribute to the crazes and evolution of American dance.  Some of the talent for the show will include: American Ballet Theatre’s Ethan Stiefel, Laura Benanti, Bob Fosse’s Dancin, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, “Dancing with the Stars,” DJ Activephaze, Electric Boogaloo’s Mr. Wiggles, Nicole Fosse, Lombard Twins, Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company, Kathleen Marshall, Melanie LaPatin and Tony Meredith’s Dance Times Square, Metropoliton Opera’s Samuel Ramey, New York City Ballet’s Ashley Bouder & Andrew Veyette, PopMaster Fabel, Rock Steady Crew, “So You Think You Can Dance,” Sophisticated Ladies - a Tribute to Duke Ellington, Jock Soto, “Step UP 3”, Tap City Youth Ensemble, and Sonya Tayeh Dance with other stars and surprises. TBA. Artists and program subject to change without notice.  For more information, visit www.careertransition.org.

Career Transition For Dancers with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago has helped over 4,100 professional dancers identify their unique talents in preparation for establishing new careers when dance is no longer an option. Since its founding in 1985, the organization has provided more than 40,000 hours (equivalent to $4 million) of one-on-one career counseling and program services - at no cost - and has awarded millions of dollars in scholarships for education and entrepreneurial grants. CTFD also provides dancers with specialized services that include transition seminars and workshops, peer support groups, resource centers, a toll-free national career counseling hotline, a website, and a National Career Network.  Gala tickets are $600, $750 & $1,200 each, which include the performance and a post-performance “Anniversary Supper with the Stars”, live auction and dancing at The Grand Ballroom at The Hilton New York. Sponsorships and tables are also available, as well as Jubilee Journal ads.  For gala tickets, please call Marjorie Horne, McEvoy & Assocs. at 212 228-7446 x33 and for Group Sales please call 718 499-9691. Show only tickets are $130, $75, $55 and $45 at CityTix - 212 581 1212 .