Edward Villella News

Jacob's Pillow, in partnership with the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) and the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), invites early career dance presenters to apply for an immersive professional development experience at Jacob's Pillow, August 5-8, 2020. The third annual Forum, reinstated in July 2018 in response to field-wide interest, is developed in collaboration with key partners from across the U.S. and designed to be a catalytic opportunity for early career dance presenters.

New Jersey Ballet's seasonal presentation of the holiday classic Nutcracker comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center for 14 performances beginning Friday, December 13 at 7:30 pm. New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will provide live orchestral accompaniment. Tickets are $29-69.  (all dates listed below)

The School at Jacob's Pillow, a world-renowned center for artistic growth and excellence, announces 2020 professional advancement programs in Contemporary Ballet, Street & Club Dances, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Dance; and professional development programs in Choreography and Dance Photography. Situated in the heart of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the longest-running dance festival in the United States, The School has been instrumental in furthering the careers of dance artists for over 80 years and offers innovative programs each year with its roster of renowned and sought-after choreographers and dance leaders who serve as faculty. Dancers selected to attend The School at Jacob's Pillow join one of the most influential international dance networks in the field. 

I think I've seen Jewels at least 200 times in my life. Notwithstanding all the performances-excellent, good, mediocre, or just beyond mention, the ballet always yields rewards in its seemingly abundant outpouring of music and dance. We all know Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky from so many Balanchine ballets. Who would have thought of Gabriel Fauré?

Words On Dance returns to the New York stage with two evenings featuring conversations with luminaries of dance, theater and film. The programs, Oct. 21 and Nov. 11, are presented in association with Symphony Space, the performing arts center at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.

Mark Morris Dance Group & Music Ensemble returns to Jacob's Pillow's Ted Shawn Theatre, July 17-21, restaging both new and beloved repertory. 'A tour de force of artistic storytelling' (The Los Angeles Times), this audience favorite is renowned for deeply witty and poetic dance and has amassed one of the most extensive Pillow performance records of any artist. Mark Morris Dance Group & Music Ensemble performs Prelude and Prelude-a work that has not been performed anywhere since 1992-the new work Sport, excerpts from Words, and the company classic Grand Duo.

A Celebration of Italian and International Dance Artists with guests from the U.S. and Italy, Thursday August 15 at 8 PM Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55 Street Tickets: $40; $20 for students and seniors; $90 for performance and cast party Reservations: www.eventbrite.com

The School Of American Ballet hosted their Alumni Cocktail Reception at Lincoln Center on Friday, May 31th. See photos from the event below!

The School Of American Ballet is hosting their Alumni Cocktail Reception at Lincoln Center on Friday, May 31th. This event is for SAB alums who will toast the 2019 Annual Workshop Performances.

Since 2012 today's subject Lourdes Lopez has been living her theatre life as the Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet. The company is performing May 31st through June 2nd at the Kennedy Center as part of Ballet Across America. The May 31st performance is a shared program with Dance Theatre of Harlem who will be performing May 28th through the 30th.

Empowered women run the show at XAOC Contemporary Ballet, which presents its third full evening of work on April 7, 2019 at 7pm at the NY City Center Studios. The evening will feature the all-female company in seven original ballets by artistic director and choreographer Eryn Renee Young and a live piano performance of Schubert's Fantasie in F minor.

Bryan Arias, Artistic Director of ARIAS Company, receives the Jacob's Pillow Fellowship at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post. The fellowship includes a $15,000 grant, a residency at the Pillow Lab, and a residency at LIU Tilles Center. The newly established Fellowship represents a shared vision between the two organizations to broaden resources that allow artists to thrive and bring new work to stages in Massachusetts, New York, and beyond.

The wait is finally over!!! An artistic director for New York City Ballet has been named. Or should I say, two artistic directors?

In advance of the full Festival announcement in mid-December, Jacob's Pillow announces four companies that will be presented in 2019. Following the record-breaking ticket sales of Festival 2018 and amidst a robust season of artist residencies in the Pillow Lab and new programming which serves Berkshire County's year-round population, America's longest-running dance festival gears up for its 87th consecutive summer, June 19-August 25. Compañia Irene Rodriguez brings a particular vision of flamenco that is both Spanish and Cuban, featuring a world premiere; Caleb Teicher & Company presents More Forever, a highly anticipated new collaboration with innovative composer/pianist Conrad Tao; the Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates female power with Graham classics, a suite of Lamentation Variations, and a new work by Maxine Doyle and Bobbi Jene Smith; and Boston Ballet returns for the first time in over a decade with works by William Forsythe, resident choreographer Jorma Elo, and twentieth century Russian choreographer Leonid Yakobson.

Exploring the breadth and depth of artistry within American ballet, the Kennedy Center's Ballet Across America series returns May 28-June 2 for seven performances in the Opera House. This season's engagement features deeper looks at companies led by distinguished Artistic Directors Virginia Johnson and Lourdes Lopez with their respective companies, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) and Miami City Ballet (MCB). Each company will present a full program while a one-night-only celebration on May 31 features a shared program that includes both companies in a world premiere Kennedy Center commission by renowned choreographer Pam Tanowitz.

New Jersey Ballet's seasonal presentation of the holiday classic Nutcracker comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center for 14 performances beginning Friday, December 14 at 7:30 pm. New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will provide live orchestral accompaniment. Tickets are $29-69.  (all dates listed below)

Fancy Free established Jerome Robbins' as a groundbreaking American choreographer. In this installment of Anatomy of a Dance, Corps de Ballet Member Sebastian Villarini-Velez talks about his showy solo as a debonair sailor.

New York City's leading center for complete ballet education, Ballet Academy East (BAE) today announced the appointment of Jenna Lavin as Principal of the BAE Pre-Professional Division. A BAE faculty member since 2003, Lavin has been teaching ballet to young dancers throughout her career and has choreographed over 20 ballets for Ballet Academy East.

Director/producer ANTONIO FINI, native of Calabria and recent guest artist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, announces the closing event of his International Dance Festival - a Gala Celebration of Italian and international artists, with performances by guest companies from Florence, Marche, Pescara and Turin, Italy, along with U.S. based companies with an Italian connection.