John Selya

Call it habit, anticipation, excitement. But on the night of February 13th, I arrived to The Joyce early because only Twyla Tharp can bring out the singular energy that was in the room. The air was crackling with enthusiasm, as audience goers bubbled and gushed about the evening ahead.

Presenting a program of two world premieres and one classic work, her sensational company of dancers, Twyla Tharp Dance, will play The Joyce Theater from February 13-25. 

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) – the world’s largest ballet scholarship competition – is hosting  its 2022 Season Finals and Benefit Gala in Tampa, FL through April 19th, 2022.

Leap into the New Year with two new ballets: “The Story of Ferdinand” and “Robin Hood.”

Metropolitan Ballet Company is holding auditions for its renowned Boys' Scholarship Dance Program on Saturday, June 5, 2021 at 9:00 AM, at the Metropolitan Ballet Academy, 700 N. Cedar Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046. Boys, ages 7-11 and 12-18 are eligible to receive free, weekly dance classes plus performance opportunities from September 2021 through June 2022.

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) – the world's largest ballet scholarship organization – presents YAGP's Pas de Deux Virtual Competition. Over 12,000 aspiring dancers – ages 9 to 19 – danced at YAGP's 2020 regional auditions around the globe; 34 cities in 14 countries. 

Acclaimed dancer and Tony nominee, John Selya, is teaching at Metropolitan Ballet Company this fall, as part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of Metropolitan's ground-breaking Boys' Scholarship Program. Over the past 20 years, MET has provided tuition-free classical training to more than 300 boys, totaling over $1 million in scholarships. This year there are 50 boys, ages 6 - 18, dancing at Metropolitan.

Intermediate and advanced dance students in the greater Philadelphia region will have a unique opportunity to learn with acclaimed guest artists John Selya, Olga Kostritzky and Levi Marsman during 'The Bridge' master class series, presented by Metropolitan Ballet Academy (MBA) from June 6-12, 2018.

Three hundred and sixty three ballet dancers - ages 9 to 19 - from the Philadelphia area will be auditioning for the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) regional semi-finals. Throughout the weekend, the students will attend workshops, competitions, and dance classes.

Casting updates have been announced for The Joyce Theater Foundation's upcoming Ballet Festival, a two-week festival of ballet showcasing some of America's most exciting contemporary companies and choreographers with Joyce commissions on each program. Co-curated by Curatorial Associate John Selya, the Festival -- July 19-29 -- is designed to recognize dancers and choreographers who are creating work outside the traditional large company setting and, in many. 

Casting updates have been announced for The Joyce Theater Foundation's upcoming Ballet Festival, a two-week festival of ballet showcasing some of America's most exciting contemporary companies and choreographers with Joyce commissions on each program. Co-curated by Curatorial Associate John Selya, the Festival -- July 19-29 -- is designed to recognize dancers and choreographers who are creating work outside the traditional large company setting and, in many. 

Following successful, sold-out ballet festivals in 2013 and 2015, The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to once again present a two-week festival of ballet showcasing some of America's most exciting contemporary companies and choreographers with Joyce commissions on each program. The remarkable Ballet Festival, co-curated by Curatorial Associate John Selya, is designed to recognize dancers and choreographers who are creating work outside the traditional large company setting - and, in many cases, forming their own companies - will take place from July 18 - 29 at The Joyce Theater.

Today's guest is John Selya. John grew up in NYC and trained in the School of American Ballet before joining the American Ballet Theatre. We talk about John's love for surfing, and he tells a great story about his time working with one of my heroes, Mikhail Baryshnikov. We also talk about how he got started working with Twyla Tharp, and a whole lot more!

MBC launches into 2017 with the creation of three new works and welcomes young artists from Settlement Music School and Pennsylvania Ballet 2.

Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize in Literature 'for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.' Dylan is the first American to win the esteemed prize since Toni Morrison in 1993.

Twyla Tharp and Three Dances, the previously announced program conceived and directed by Twyla Tharp and featuring two classics and one premiere, will be presented by The Joyce Theater Foundation for two weeks next month, July 10-23, in its intimate Chelsea home, located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.

Twyla Tharp and Three Dances, the previously announced program conceived and directed by Twyla Tharp and featuring two classics and one premiere, will be presented by The Joyce Theater Foundation for two weeks next month, July 10-23, in its intimate Chelsea home, located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. Part of the Pathways to Dance Upstate/Downstate initiative, Twyla Tharp and Three Dances will feature a company of long-time Tharp dancers along with new members.  John Selya, Matthew Dibble, Daniel Baker, Ramona Kelley, Amy Ruggiero, Eva Trapp, Nicholas Coppula, Kaitlyn Gilliland and Reed Tankersley make up the company. On the program are two Tharp classics, Brahms Paganini and Country Dances, and a new work, Beethoven Opus 130, set to Beethoven's Opus of the same title having its world premiere at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on June 30. This presentation, one of the must-see cultural events of the summer, marks the first time Tharp's company will perform on The Joyce's stage in almost 12 years. Tickets range in price from $10-$75 and can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.

Twyla Tharp, the award-winning choreographer who has rightfully become a dance legend in her own time, capped her multi-city 50th Anniversary Tour with performances from November 17th to 22nd 2015 at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, presented by The Joyce Theater. Yet perhaps precisely because the run has been so eagerly anticipated by those of us who have followed Tharp's evolution during a stellar career that spans half a century, the double bill of premieres she created for the tour was not entirely satisfying.

The Twyla Tharp Fiftieth Anniversary Tour concludes its 10-weeks of cross-country performances with a week-long season at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, tonight, November 17-22, where it will present a double bill of New York premieres: 'Preludes and Fugues' and 'Yowzie.' Both works were commissioned in part by The Joyce Theater, which is presenting the Tharp season at The Koch.

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University presents Twyla Tharp – 50th Anniversary Tour including two Chicago premieres, “Preludes and Fugues” and “Yowzie” this week, November 5 – 8, at the historic Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Parkway. In a momentous co-commission with Ravinia Festival, as well as four other dance presenters in four other cities, the Auditorium is thrilled to present these two new works by world-renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp. The performance schedule is Today, Nov. 5 – Saturday, Nov. 7 at  7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. Tickets are priced $33 - $103 and are available online at AuditoriumTheatre.org by calling (312) 341-2300 or in-person at the Auditorium Theatre's Box Office, 50 E. Congress Parkway. Subscriptions for the Auditorium Theatre's 2015 - 2016 season and discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more are also on sale. For more information visit AuditoriumTheatre.org.