The Richmond Ballet and Richmond CenterStage Foundation Present 'Glass Slipper Ceiling' Seminar, 4/28

The Richmond Ballet and Richmond CenterStage Foundation are the co-sponsor of "The Glass Slipper Ceiling" as part of the statewide arts event, MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts. The seminar will be held April 28, 2010, at Richmond CenterStage and focuses on the rarity of female artistic directors at major ballet companies and how the traditionally male-dominated field may be changing.

This special event will be a couple of weeks after the return engagement of The Richmond Ballet, the acclaimed company under the artistic direction of Stoner Winslett, April 6 - 11, 2010 to The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street). Riding the wave of critical and popular acclaim for its previous performances, the company is returning exactly five years after their NYC debut. Celebrated for its diverse repertory and extremely versatile dancers, Richmond Ballet will present their most popular commissioned works, all pieces will be making their Manhattan debut in two mixed programs.

Joining Richmond Ballet Artistic Director Stoner Winslett for the special event will be Suzanne Farrell (The Suzanne Farrell Ballet of Washington, DC), Celia Fushille (Smuin Ballet of San Francisco), Victoria Morgan (Cincinnati Ballet), and Dorothy Gunther Pugh (Ballet Memphis). Former New York Times Chief Dance Critic Anna Kisselgoff will moderate the panel discussion. Dance/USA Executive Director Andrea Snyder will make the official introductions.

The idea for the seminar was inspired by a 2007 New York Times article by Claudia La Rocco entitled, "Often on Point but Rarely in Charge." In the article, Ms. Winslett was named as one of only four women in the country that held the sole artistic leadership position of a ballet company with a budget of at least two million dollars.

Suzanne Farrell is best known as the ballerina who was New York City Ballet founder and choreographer George Balanchine's long-time muse. The company operates under the aegis of The Kennedy Center. The company has recently formed partnerships with Ballet Austin and Cincinnati Ballet, presenting joint performances with both companies. Formerly with San Francisco Ballet, Celia Fushille in 1993 was invited by Michael Smuin to join his company. She also served as ballet mistress and was named associate director in 1998. Following Smuin's death in 2007, Ms. Fushille was named to the director's position. Victoria Morgan has served as Artistic Director of Cincinnati Ballet since 1997. A former principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet and Ballet West, she has recently taken on the job of CEO in addition to her artistic responsibilities. Ballet Memphis was founded by Dorothy Gunther Pugh in 1986. Her ballet training includes studying with the Royal Academy of Dancing in London and David Howard in New York.

Stoner Winslett will soon be celebrating her 30th anniversary as artistic director of Richmond Ballet. In that time she has built Richmond Ballet from a fine student performance group to the State Ballet of Virginia and one of the major regional professional dance companies in America today. She attended American Ballet Theatre School and North Carolina School of the Arts on scholarship. After knee injuries curtailed her performing career, she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1980 from Smith College. Ms. Winslett has served as a panelist and site visitor for several state arts commissions and for the National Endowment for the Arts. She was a vice-chair of DanceUSA and is currently serving as president of the John Butler Foundation. www.richmondballet.com

Anna Kisselgoff was named chief dance critic of the New York Times in 1977 and continued in that position until the end of 2005. Ms. Kisselgoff left her full-time position at the Times in 2006, but remains a contributor to the newspaper. She also writes for the Voice of Dance website. Since 200, Andrea Snyder has been the executive director at Dance/USA, and has held administrative positions with Laura Dean Dancers, the Cunningham Dance Foundation, The Dance Notation Bureau and the Tisch School of the Arts Dance Department, among others. She has also served as assistant director of the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Program and the Pew Charitable Trust's grant program, the National Initiative to Preserve America's Dance (NIPAD).
The seminar is free and open to the public; however, tickets are needed for entry. For further information on securing tickets for "The Glass Slipper Ceiling," please contact the Richmond Ballet Box Office at 804.344.0906 ext. 224. For more information about other MINDS WIDE OPEN events please visit www.vamindswideopen.org. For more information regarding Richmond CenterStage and CenterStage Foundation please visit www.richmondcenterstage.com.

 

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