George Balanchine News

Segerstrom Center for the Arts has announced the faculty for its American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School that begins its full 36-week school year on September 14, 2015 and runs through June 11, 2016. The Center has added classes to accommodate the growing enrollment.

New York City Ballet announced today the promotion of three of the Company's dancers. Soloists Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley have been promoted to the rank of principal dancer, and corps de ballet member Ashly Isaacs has been promoted to soloist.

The School of American Ballet's Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 raised more than $890,000 for scholarships and school programs. The evening began with cocktails at 5:30pm in Juilliard's Morse Hall, followed by the performance at 7pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center, and concluded with a seated dinner at 9pm at the Mandarin Oriental. The evening celebrated the legendary Rudolf Nureyev and commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Scholarship.

On Sunday, June 31, 2015, New York City Ballet offered the sweet, the mundane, and the historical. If I were a lyricist I could write a song about this, but since my iambic pentameter is almost non-existent, and my Stephen Sondheim thesaurus nowhere to be found, I guess I'll have to push forward in everyday prose.

Philadelphia, PA (June 1, 2015) – Pennsylvania Ballet and Artistic Director Angel Corella are pleased to announce that Soloist Alexander Peters has been promoted to Principal Dancer, the highest rank in the Company, for the 2015-2016 Season. 

The School of American Ballet announces the Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 tonight, June 2, 2015.

SAB's annual Workshop performances have been a treasured staple on NYC dance lovers' calendars ever since 1965 when the legendary Alexandra Danilova, then a faculty member, initiated the iconic spring ritual. The event is not a graduation ceremony, but rather a tantalizing glimpse of what the future of dance may hold. This year, not only the school's most promising advanced students but also a group of prodigiously talented nine to 14-year-olds took the stage in fully costumed performances of excerpts from the New York City Ballet repertory, danced to live orchestral accompaniment.

(May 28, 2015) Joffrey Ballet Artistic Director Ashley Wheater will be awarded the prestigious University of Chicago Jesse L. Rosenberger Medal at UChicago's 523rd Convocation, Saturday, June 13.

The curtain comes down on Pacific Northwest Ballet's 42nd season with its annual Season Encore Performance, a crowd-pleasing reprise of some of PNB's greatest hits.  An evening of thrilling selections and inspired performances, the program will feature PNB's entire Company, along with the mighty PNB Orchestra (now celebrating its 25th Anniversary) under the baton of Music Director/Principal Conductor Emil de Cou.  The evening also celebrates the extraordinary careers of PNB's departing dancers with George Balanchine's Serenade and selections from his Jewels, the local premiere of a work by former PNB Company member Andrew Bartee, a sneak preview of Jessica Lang's The Calling(to be presented as part of PNB's 2015-2016 season) and others.  The Season Encore Performance will be presented one night only, Sunday, June 7 at 6:30 pm at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street at Seattle Center.

Manhattan Youth Ballet presents WITH REGARD... In Practice & Performance this weekend, May 29 - 30, 2015 and A Gala Benefit honoring Marina Stavitskaya on Sunday, May 31, 2015 at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center.

Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking attendance of Festival 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival opens its 2015 season in June.

May 26, 2015 - (Becket, MA) Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking attendance of Festival 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival opens its 2015 season in June. Highlights of Festival 2015 include Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, a special dance and radio stage production starring Ira Glass, host of This American Life; the return of Nederlands Dans Theater 2; the world premiere of American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Daniil Simkin's INTENSIO; Cuban contemporary ensemble Malpaso Dance Company, performing with GRAMMY Award-winning pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble; and the launch of Martha Graham Dance Company's 90th Anniversary, including a world premiere by eminent choreographer Mats Ek. 

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. is thrilled to present the New York debut of the Polish National Ballet, Poland's leading ballet company based in Warsaw, from June 16-21. The company, under the artistic direction of Krzysztof Pastor, will present a program of three works: two by Pastor (Adagio & Scherzo, a US Premiere and Moving Rooms, a New York Premiere) and Emanuel Gat's acclaimed Rite of Spring.  Tickets range in price from $10-$49 ($26-$37 for Joyce Theater members), and can be purchased through JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or via the internet at www.joyce.org.  The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.

The Juilliard School will confer honorary doctorates on five remarkable artists during its 110th Commencement Ceremony today, May 22, 2015 at 11 a.m. in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center (Broadway at 65th Street, New York City). Suzanne Farrell, Nicholas Hytner (pictured, left), Murray Perahia, Dianne Reeves, and Peter Sellars will be honored at Juilliard's May 2015 Commencement Ceremony.

ABT's 75th Anniversary Gala, a balletomane's dream of a performance on May 18th 2015 at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center, treated the nearly sold-out audience to a joyous celebration in dance and archival images of the American Ballet Theatre's seven-and-a-half decade reign as 'America's National Ballet Company'. That designation became official with an act of Congress on April 27th 2006, but the troupe founded by Richard Pleasant with Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith as Co-Directors in 1940 had embraced the ethos of this country right from the start.

The School of American Ballet announces the Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. The evening begins with cocktails at 5:30pm in Juilliard's Morse Hall, followed by the performance at 7pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center. A seated dinner at 9pm at the Mandarin Oriental will conclude the evening. For more information, please contact the special events office at SAB at

Vienna Festival Ballet is currently in the midst of its 35th Anniversary Gala UK tour which celebrates their extensive repertoire and wonderful performers. I had the privilege of speaking to the company's principal female dancer, Emily-Joy Smith, who is presently enjoying performing some of her favourite characters all in one show!