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March 31st: SIA Foundation Grants, April 1st: Harkness Foundation for Dance Grant Proposal, April 1st: The Democracy Cycle, April 10th: Amplifi Napa Valley - Emerging Artists Grant, April 30th: Oconee Performing Arts Society, May 1st: Small Plates Choreography Festival, July 31st: Community Engagement Artists and Creatives Grant, September 16th: The Awesome Foundation Micro Grants, December 31st: New England Presenter Travel Fund, December 31st: Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Scholarship, December 31st: 24 Seven Dance Convention, December 31st: National Theater Project Presenter Travel Grant, December 31st: Breck Creek Artist-in-Residence Program, December 31st: Breck Creek Artist-in-Residence Program

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"The Devil Ties My Tongue" by Amy Seiwert performed for the SKETCH Series, 2013. Photo by David DeSilva. Courtesy of Amy Seiwert's Imagery

Alexei Ratmansky stirs debate on social media

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It doesn’t take much to stir the pot. And Alexei Ratmansky did just that.
Last week, American Ballet Theatre’s resident choreographer lit a firestorm on social media after posting on his  Facebook page that “there’s no such thing as equality in ballet,” hinting that leading roles in classical ballets should be defined as they’ve always been: between a man and woman.

Whether Ratmansky knew that his post would draw swift backlash was besides the point. What he likely knew for certain was that people would notice. Dance Magazine wrote about it. So did the New York Times, which took Ratmansky to task in an article written by Gia Kourlas.

For his part, Ratmansky defended his comments, telling the Times that he was simply pointing out that he holds a deep a reverence for tradition.

Dance Magazine: The gender equality debate continues: Ratmansky responds

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Author: Jennifer Stahl

“Last week we wrote about how choreographer Alexei Ratmansky set off a Facebook firestorm with a post proclaiming that ‘there is no such thing as equality in ballet’ when it comes to gender roles. Coming from one of today’s foremost choreographers in ballet, his words unsurprisingly drew hundreds of heated reactions.

And maybe that was part of the point.”

Read the complete article here

NY Times: When two men fall in love on the ballet stage, and why it matters

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Author: Gia Kourlas

“Ballet is slower to change than most art forms, but in the span of just two weeks, New York City Ballet, one of the world’s premier companies, will have shown two ballets featuring significant same-sex duets.”

Read the complete article here

Dance Magazine: This choreographer just said ‘There is no such thing as equality in ballet’

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Author: Lauren Wingenroth

“And if that statement rubs you the wrong way—particularly coming from a highly acclaimed white male choreographer—you’re not alone.

On Sunday, American Ballet Theatre artist in residence and international ballet choreographer Alexei Ratmansky posted this on his Facebook page:

Read the complete article here

Caroline Miller steps away from Orlando Ballet

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Orlando Ballet is searching for its eighth leader in six years following the departure of  former executive director Caroline Miller, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Miller’s tenure at Orlando Ballet was short but productive. The U.K. native is credited with improving the company’s financial struggles by prioritizing marketing and cultivating a new leadership team. She was recruited to the job by former Kennedy Center Executive Director Michael Kaiser.

Jonathan Ledden, president of the ballet’s board of directors, is set to oversee the organization’s daily operations on an interim basis. 

New York City Ballet opens new season with world premiere by Lauren Lovette

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Tonight marks the opening of New York City Ballet’s new season, and with it, the second world premiere by NYCB Principal Dancer Lauren Lovette.
Lovette, a principal with the company since 2015, studied ballet at the Cary Ballet Conservatory in Cary, North Carolina, later attending summer courses at the School of American Ballet in the summers of 2004 and 2005. She enrolled at SAB as a full-time student in 2006, and joined the main company in 2010.

Her piece for the Fall Gala, which coincides with New York Fashion Week, pits Lovette and designers  Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim together for a collaboration that’s as much about style as it is dance.

Lovette began choreographing while a student at SAB where she participated in the School’s Choreography Workshops in 2008 and 2009. In the summer of 2010, Lovette also participated in a working session of the New York Choreographic Institute, and her first work for NYCB, For Clara, was created for the 2016 Fall Gala.

New York City Ballet commissions new work from SAB alumna

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Gianna Reisen, a graduate of the School of American Ballet and currently an apprentice with Ballet Semperoper Dresden, is set to stage her first-ever work for New York City Ballet during the company’s annual Fall Gala, making her the  youngest commissioned choreographer in the company’s long history. 
The 18-year-old Reisen began studying at SAB in 2011 and took part in the School’s Student Choreography workshop in 2015.  She staged a new work as part of the New York Choreographic Institute fall session in 2016, at the recommendation of NYCB artistic director Peter Martins.

Reisen’s world premiere for NYCB features six men and six women, danced to Three American Pieces by Lukas Foss. The twelve-minute piece will be performed alongside works by Lauren Lovette, Justin Peck, Troy Schumacher and Martins at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater on Thursday, September 28. 

Needless to say, Reisen’s in good company. 

Dance pioneer Ritha Devi has died

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Ritha Devi, a pioneer of Indian classical dance, has died, according to the New York Times.
Devi was instrumental in reviving the classical Indian technique known as Odissi, which had fallen out of favor in India in the 1940s and 1950s. By the 1960s, Devi helped introduce the form on a wider scale in her native India, and later in the United States.

Devi performed around the world and during tours in the U.S. in the 1970s. On one of those tours, Devi was approached by a professor at New York University, where she taught from 1972 to 1982.

Devi made her U.S. debut at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1968, dancing multiple roles in telling the legend of Ahalya, “a story of passion, revenge and redemption revolving around the chaste and beautiful wife of a Hindu sage,” the Times wrote. Devi died on September 12. 

Harris Theater names new president and CEO

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Patricia Barretto — formerly interim President and CEO  of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance — will assume the post on a full-time basis, effective immediately, according to an announcement from the Theater’s Board of Trustees.
Baretto joined the Harris in 2015 as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. In 2016, she took on an expanded role as Executive Vice President of External Affairs, overseeing the marketing, development and community engagement programs.

Under Barretto’s leadership, the Harris has exceeded its sales goals for two consecutive seasons and achieved its highest annual fundraising level in five years, according to a statement from the Harris.  The Harris, now in its 14th year, opens its 2017-2018 Presenting Series on October 12 with Monteverdi 450: L’Orfeo, in part a commemoration of the 450th anniversary since the Venetian composer’s birth.

Barretto was previously Executive Director of Toronto’s Opera Atelier. She was also a panel member of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council.

The Harris Theater’s executive leadership team also includes Laura Hanssel, Chief Financial Officer, and Lori Dimun, who was recently appointed Chief Operating Officer; the Harris can count itself as one of the few organizations led solely by female executives. 

Ballet West has a new executive director

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Michael Scolamiero will lead Ballet West as its newest Executive Director, following a six-month international search led by Michael Kaiser, President Emeritus of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. 
Scolamiero was formerly the Executive Director of Pennsylvania Ballet, where he oversaw a $12 million campaign to boost the company’s size and fund new ballets. Most recently, Scolamiero served as Executive Director of Miami City Ballet, one of the nation’s largest ballet companies. During his tenure, the Company set records for contributed revenue, recorded operating surpluses of $2.6 million in two years, and reduced debt by more than $2 million.  

Scolamiero will assume his new post in October, before the annual Ballet West Gala.