Wendy Whelan News

Rediscover world-class grace and virtuosity, from titans of the repertoire to innovative original voices, as part of the 2019-2020 ballet and contemporary dance season at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The upcoming season-among the nation's most robust and dynamic-features the breadth of iconic and cutting-edge choreography performed by today's foremost companies.

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

The Boards of Directors of New York City Ballet (NYCB) and its affiliate training academy, the School of American Ballet (SAB), today announced the appointment of Jonathan Stafford as Artistic Director of NYCB and SAB, and Wendy Whelan as Associate Artistic Director of NYCB, establishing the esteemed former NYCB dancers, SAB alumni, and prominent industry notables as the next generation of artistic leadership at two of the world's most acclaimed and storied dance institutions.

Juilliard Dance, led by director Alicia Graf Mack, continues its season with Spring Dances, a repertory program featuring Martha Graham's The Rite of Spring, Bill T. Jones' D-Man in the Waters (Part 1); and Alejandro Cerrudo's Little mortal jump.

The NYCB's five-part 'Classic NYCB' program, performed this past Wednesday, February 6th at Lincoln Center, featured a broad choreographic landscape. Through the work of four choreographers and spanning four decades, the evening featured not only the 'Classic NYCB,' as promised by the program title, but also a rare brand of 'Iconoclastic NYCB.' While some audiences might be nostalgic for the glory of 50's Balanchine, this evening proved that perhaps the best is yet to come and that even Balanchine did not shy away from experimentation as he reached towards artistic relevancy.

Verb Ballets, Northeast Ohio's premiere contemporary ballet company, celebrates the life and work of Ian Horvath (1943-1990) on February 9, 2019 in an evening titled Dance Legacy: Celebrating the Life of Ian Horvath. The three-part performance will honor Horvath's impact on dance in Cleveland and will recognize his work as an AIDS advocate. Tragically, he lost his battle to AIDS at the age of 46.

National Dance Institute (NDI), the non-profit arts education organization that has transformed the lives of millions of public school children through the arts, will host Jacques' Art Nest XVIII: Balanchine's Ballerinas on Monday, February 4th at the NDI Center in Harlem. Merrill Ashley, Gloria Govrin, Allegra Kent, and Kay Mazzo, four shining stars in a brilliant constellation of ballerinas who danced for George Balanchine, will take center stage in this next installment of Jacques' Art Nest. Moderated by Wendy Whelan, they will discuss what it was like to work with Mr. B, and will share their memories of the master and their time touched by his genius. The extraordinary Isabella Boylston, Sterling Hyltin, and Teresa Reichlen, with Jared Angle and Daniel Ulbricht, will perform the iconic roles made famous by our guests of honor. And, of course, no event would be complete without the exuberant dancing children of NDI!

The Joyce Theater Foundation(Linda Shelton, Executive Director) continues its long-standing tradition of showcasing international dance with the return of its Cuba Festival from January 9-20 at The Joyce Theater. Featuring three distinct companies over the course of 10 days, this year's festival celebrates the return of two audience favorites-Malpaso Dance Company andCompañia Irene Rodriguez-and the U.S. debut of LOS HIJOS DEL DIRECTOR. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$50, 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 West 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.

Wendy Whelan and William Ivey Long recently visited The Girl With The Alkaline Eyes, where he posed for some photos with the cast backstage.

The Joyce Theater Foundation(Linda Shelton, Executive Director) continues its long-standing tradition of showcasing international dance with the return of its Cuba Festival from January 9-20 at The Joyce Theater. Featuring three distinct companies over the course of 10 days, this year's festival celebrates the return of two audience favorites-Malpaso Dance Company andCompañia Irene Rodriguez-and the U.S. debut of LOS HIJOS DEL DIRECTOR. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$50, 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 West 19th Street. For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.

Linda Shelton, Executive Director of The Joyce Theater Foundation, announced today the New York City dance organization's programming for its Spring/Summer '19 season. Featuring a host of New York and world premieres, as well as iconic works from lauded companies, The Joyce Theater fulfills its mission of promoting the richness and variety of the performing arts to embrace the entire spectrum of movement styles and traditions. the upcoming Joyce season is poised to deliver engaging pieces for dance aficionados and newcomers alike.

Jacob's Pillow announces the full season lineup of Festival 2019 including world premieres, new commissions, international artists, anniversary celebrations, Pillow-exclusive engagements, and work developed at the Pillow Lab. Entering its 87th consecutive summer, Jacob's Pillow is home to the longest-running dance festival in the United States, a National Historic Landmark, a National Medal of Arts recipient, and has steadily expanded its reach in the field and its local community as a year-round center for dance research and development. Festival 2019 opens June 19, attracting audiences both on and off its site in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, through August 25.

Ann Marie DeAngelo has an illustrious professional career as an International  Director, Choreographer, Producer, Teacher and performer that spans over three decades. Ann Marie DeAngelo is at the forefront of her field and is an expert in all types of dance. She has worked around the world as a former dancer, and now as an in demand choreographer, director, and producer. A former star of the Joffrey Ballet, she was featured in TIME Magazine as one of America's most outstanding ballerinas. 

Verb Ballets, Northeast Ohio's premiere contemporary ballet company, celebrates the life and work of Ian Horvath (1943-1990) on February 9, 2019 in an evening titled Dance Legacy: Celebrating the Life of Ian Horvath. The three-part performance will honor Horvath's impact on dance in Cleveland and will recognize his work as an AIDS advocate. Tragically, he lost his battle to AIDS at the age of 46.

Jack Ferver's critically acclaimed Everything Is Imaginable returns to New York Live Arts' mainstage as the finale to the 2019 Live Arteryplatform during the annual Association of Performing Arts Professionals conference, January 7, 2019 at 10pm and January 8-12 at 8pm. Presented in collaboration withAmerican Realness, Ferver's radiant and evocative dance-theater piece juxtaposes the lives, virtuosity, and fantasies of its five queer performers.

October 31, Halloween. I was walking to City Center for the opening of 'Balanchine: The City Center Years.' But then I began thinking of Stephen Sondheim's 'Follies.' You must all know the musical. Everyone returns for a reunion, only to be met with ghosts and remembrances of their past lives. After all, City Center is where New York City Ballet began in 1948. I wondered who I would encounter? I saw Allegra Kent. I think I saw two other members of the company who danced on New York City Ballet's opening night 70 years ago? But perhaps I'd encounter some of the other principal dancers of that time: Maria Tallchief on the stairs? Or Tanaquil Le Clercq at the bar? Or Frank Hobi? Francisco Moncion? Nicholas Magallenes? Yvonne Mounsey? Diana Adams?

The School at Jacob's Pillow, a world-renowned center for professional advancement in artistic excellence, announces 2019 programs in Contemporary Ballet, Flamenco, Contemporary, Tap, 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 to the careers of dance artists for over 80 years, connecting them to highly-acclaimed choreographers of the day in a curriculum made current by one of the most influential international dance networks in the field-a network dancers join as School alumni.  

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to present, in association with its Joyce Theater Productions initiative, the world premiere of The Tenant, a new dance play directed by choreographer Arthur Pita and starring American Ballet Theatre (ABT) principal James Whiteside, with ABT soloist Cassandra Trenary, and Kibrea Carmichael. Based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Roland Topor, The Tenant will be presented at The Joyce Theater, from November 6-11.

WNET, parent company of New York's PBS stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, is pleased to announce the launch of ALL ARTS - an unprecedented streaming platform and broadcast channel that offers access to all forms of creative expression from New York and around the world. Presenting exceptional cultural content, ALL ARTS is a place for creators to learn from one another and for artists from all disciplines to reach audiences across the tri-state area. Select programming is now available on the Web, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The full network, including the TV channel and streaming apps on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV, will launch in January 28, 2019.

Following a successful 4-city tour of Florida that included a well-received appearance at the Forward Motion Physically Integrated Dance Festival in Miami, the company brings its vaunted skill set back to the Bay Area with select performances that include a newly reconceived staging of Robert Dekkers' Flutter, along with AXIS Artistic Director Marc Brew's Quartet No.1 to the Berkeley Ballet Theater, that will then be followed by a collaboration with Crowded Fire Theater, Star Finch, and Ensemble Mik Nawooj at the Bay View Opera House in San Francisco entitled Death Become Life: Banish Darkness, all before segueing to its 2019-20 season that will include a special Oakland-based educational event for Dance Access Day in February, as well as the world premiere of Alice in Oakland-their ambitious and much anticipated collaboration with Arthur Pita-coming to and co-presented by Z Space in San Francisco, November 2019