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WELCOME LETTER
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DANCING FOR JOY Carla Körbes returns to Vail as Artist-In-Residence.
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A DARING JOURNEY BalletX presents Sunset, o639 Hours, a new full-length ballet inspired by a 1937 newspaper article.
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Savion Glover & The Otherz
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Dance House
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Sunset, o639 Hours
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Ballet Blast
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NOW: Premieres
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UpClose: Apollo
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International Evenings of Dance I & II
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Balanchine Celebration
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Dance for $20.15
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Underwriters and Donors
VENUES Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail and Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
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Fringe Festival Dance Companies
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Festival Artists
A NOTE FROM THE ARTIST Illustrator Andrea Selby joins the Fesival as Artist-In-Residence.
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Thank You
CELEBRATING BALANCHINE The wide-ranging program is built upon works that span the inimitable choreographer’s entire career.
60 A SENSE OF ADVENTURE NOW: Premieres highlights the passion and energy of some of today’s most gifted choreographers.
WELCOME BACK Misty Copeland returns to Vail for the Festival.
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CELEBRATE THE BEAT Festival outreach brings dance into local schools. SCENE Support. Connect. Experience. Network. Enjoy.
HOME-GROWN PERFORMERS Colorado provides a solid foundation for Festival performers.
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VAIL INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL OFFICIAL PROGRAM
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NEW FACES IN VAIL Artists visiting the Festival for the first time speak to their inspirations, processes, histories and more.
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DREAMING BIG Three of the Festival’s acclaimed artists share their paths to the world’s greatest stages.
OUR IDEA OF LUXURY THE ALL-NEW XC90 #VAILDANCE
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WELCOME TO THE VAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION’S
2015 VAIL INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL Dear Friends, It is our pleasure to welcome you to the 2015 Vail International Dance Festival. Each year, Vail transforms into an Olympic village for the arts, with dancers and musicians gathering from all around the world to explore new possibilities on our stages at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater and the Vilar Performing Arts Center.
ENJOY A
GLASS OF WINE AND APPETIZER ON OUR
SUNNY PATIO GRAB AND GO ON THE WAY TO THE SHOW Breakfast and Lunch served all day Offering crepes, cheese and charcuterie plates, along with local microbrews and wines on special
Celebrating historic classics and encouraging the creation of new works remain at the heart of our mission. In its 27th season, the Festival hails the return of an ever-growing team of artists familiar to Vail and welcomes stellar individual newcomers and companies including Mexico’s Compañía Nacional de Danza and Dance Heginbotham. The International Evenings once again feature a survey of dance from the classical to the contemporary, and the Balanchine Celebration brings the genius of George Balanchine to the fore. Looking to the future, NOW: Premieres features six new works by choreographers whose styles range from ballet to modern dance to Memphis jookin. Live music will be a fixture at many of the performances, starting opening night with legendary tap virtuoso Savion Glover who brings his own jazz quartet The Otherz. Cutting-edge string quartet Brooklyn Rider will share their boundary-less sound at five of our performances and a variety of acclaimed solo musicians will perform repertory — ranging from Stravinsky to Boccherini — throughout the Festival. In our continued efforts to bring dance beyond the stage, this summer we expand on our numerous free, in-town public events, including Dancing in the Streets, additional master classes with visiting artists, and the growing Celebrate the Beat dance and music education program for local children. We encourage you to join us for all of the dancing, both onstage and off.
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None of this would be possible without the generous support of our donors and audiences, which reaffirms our dedication to sharing these one-of-a-kind performances and events with the Vail community. We welcome you and eagerly look forward to sharing our 2015 season with you.
CEIL FOLZ PRESIDENT VAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION
DAMIAN WOETZEL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR VAIL INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL
VAIL DAILY MAGAZINE GROUP GM Susan Ludlow
EDITOR Wren Bova
THE NEWEST, MOST EXCITING RESTAURANT IN BEAVER CREEK!
ASSISTANT EDITOR Shelley Woodworth ART DIRECTORS Craig Boleman & Brenda McShan MARKETING GUY Mark Bricklin NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Karen Suing CONTENT & DIRECTION Martha Brassel Duncan Horner Alix Miller Tessa Vlaar CONTRIBUTORS Kate Penner Claudia Schreier Susan Reiter Kimberly Nicoletti DESIGN SoloShoe Communications, LLC CIRCULATION MANAGER David Hakes COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Carla Körbes by Patrick Fraser Lil Buck by Erin Baiano All programs and artists are subject to change.
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DANCING for JOY
Carla Körbes and Eric Underwood rehearsing George Balanchine’s Agon*.
CARLA KÖRBES RETURNS TO VAIL AS ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE BY SUSAN REITER
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Carla Körbes rehearsing George Balanchine’s Elégie*. Photos by Erin Baiano
he luminous ballet dancer Carla Körbes has become a mainstay of the Vail International Dance Festival, appearing nearly every year of Damian Woetzel’s tenure. Even before his appointment as artistic director in 2007, she performed there as part of a small group he led to Vail. Now, preparing to return this year as the 2015 Artist-In-Residence, Körbes reflects on the chance to deepen her experience and build upon the creative opportunities the Festival has fostered for her over the years.
“As a dancer, it’s always nice to go somewhere and feel like you have a community, and Vail feels like a community,” Körbes said, speaking from her Seattle home in early May. “There are key dancers that always come back, so it’s like a reunion. And then Damian always manages to introduce new dancers, and different kinds of dancers. I’ve been so open to whatever Damian suggests. I’ve
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Photo: Brent Bingham / Vail Valley Magazine
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danced new things there. Last year was really fun — I worked with new people, and new partners. Overall, it’s just so inspiring to me — going to class in the morning, seeing everybody together and making art. It feels very simple. I just feel really happy when I’m there.” The transition reflects her need for new artistic challenges and fewer restrictions
“For me, dance was always about the joy of dancing — the way I feel free when I go onstage.” For Körbes, who has brought her signature blend of pristine technique and luscious phrasing to leading roles by everyone from George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins to Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris, the VIDF residency comes at a major turning point in her career. On June 7th, Körbes gave her final performance with Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), where she has been a leading ballerina for a decade.The transition reflects her need for new artistic challenges and fewer restrictions. Now free from the rigors of dancing with a company full-time, Körbes comes to Vail ready to explore where her dancing will lead her next. “My schedule at Vail has been increasing — every year that I come, I stay a little bit longer. I’m really looking forward to having the whole two weeks of the Vail experience.” Knowing that Woetzel often finds stimulating and unconventional challenges for the Artist-In-Residence (last year, Herman Cornejo performed in eight different roles, most as debuts), Körbes is eager to see what comes her way during her residency. “It’s kind of fitting, because I am in a transition in my life. I’m excited to come and see what develops. I love how Damian’s so creative.” Körbes had already made a distinctive impression as a young member of New York City Ballet before she made the move to PNB in 2005. Born in Brazil, her path to NYCB was singular — and, it seems, almost fated. In 1996, NYCB principal dancer Peter Boal arrived in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre to perform Balanchine’s Apollo, and he was presented with one of the local leading ballet students as his partner. Though Körbes was merely 14 years old at the time, Boal was immediately impressed by her abilities and saw the makings of a major ballerina. With his encouragement, she found her way to the famed School of American Ballet in New York City, and by 2000 she was a member of NYCB. *Choreography by George Balnchine © The George Balanchine Trust
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Carla Körbes and Herman Cornejo in Within You Without You. Photo by Erin Baiano.
Many aspiring ballet dancers consider joining NYCB to be their ultimate career goal. But even as Körbes was cast in challenging roles and received continual high praise by New York critics and audiences, she began to recognize that it was not the ideal situation for her. When Boal retired in 2005 and took over as artistic director of Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Körbes also made the move west. “For me, dance was always about the joy of dancing — the way I feel free when I go onstage. And it got to a point at NYCB where I didn’t feel that I could be 100 percent free. There was so much pressure. So my choice to leave was really clear to me. I needed to move to a place where I felt that I was going to be challenged artistically, but also be accepted for who I am. I’m glad that I was strong enough to say, ‘I know I’m leaving the best company in the country, but I would like to see: what else can I pull out of myself?’” Körbes’ opportunities with PNB were numerous and varied, and she blossomed into one of her generation’s truly great ballerinas. In addition to performing many leading Balanchine roles and a range of contemporary works, she was offered the opportunity to
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Körbes was anticipating her final PNB performances at the time of this interview. Recently married, she will soon be making another transition as she prepares to move to Los Angeles. But as she contemplates a new phase of her life and career, coming to Vail as Artist-In-Residence will return her to familiar and beloved territory. “I’m retiring, moving on, I’m really happy.”
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dance roles in major 19th century classics as well. To her surprise and delight, the long and lithe Körbes was cast as Swanilda in Balanchine’s sublime production of Coppelia, a role traditionally reserved for petite women. “I had a blast! I was doing all those little-girl steps,” she recalled. “But I think it was really good for me.”
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“But one way or another, I can’t imagine dance not being a part of my life.”
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Carla Körbes and David Hallberg rehearsing George Balanchine’s Apollo*. Photo by Caitlin Kakigi
C ELEBRATING 20 Y EARS OF M AKING M EMORIES B EAVER C REEK AND THE V AIL V ALLEY Illustration by Andrea Selby
IN
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BY ALLIE VANYUR
BalletX presents Sunset, o639 Hours, a new full-length ballet inspired by a true story of heroism
The BalletX company before the Captain's final flight in Matthew Neenan and Rosie Langabeer's Sunset, o639 Hours.
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n the 1930’s adventurous pilot Edwin Musick peered out from covers of newspapers and magazines the world over. The American airman was making headlines for piloting the inaugural airmail service between New Zealand and the United States on January 2, 1938. Traveling on the Samoan Clipper, a flying boat built for Pan American World Airlines, Musick pushed the limits of his aircraft and crew by traversing 4,000 miles of open ocean, only to perish on his treacherous voyage home. In the summer of 2012, composer Rosie Langabeer and BalletX co-founder Matthew Neenan stumbled upon a 1937 Auckland newspaper announcing Captain Edwin Musick’s airmail service across the Pacific Ocean. Intrigued, Neenan and Langabeer came up with a seemingly bizarre idea: to create an original ballet and score inspired by the true story of a long-forgotten aviation hero. The Captain’s daring journey compelled Neenan and Langabeer to dive deeper into Musick’s seminal flight. They embarked on a three-week trip across New Zealand, an experience Neenan described as “life-changing,” to research the culture’s vibrant sights and sounds. While Neenan learned traditional Pacific Island and Maori tribal dances, Langabeer gathered archival recordings of news coverage from Musick’s flights and recorded field tapes of native birdsongs that would later contribute to the production’s innovative soundscape. In rehearsal, the creative process gained momentum and propelled itself into new territory. With a cast of 10 dancers and four musicians, the performers embodied the era, personas and technologies that transport us into Musick’s reality. Over time,
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Chloe Felesina and Daniel Mayo in The “New Year’s Eve” scene.
the artists began exploring unique ways to capture the inanimate objects in the story. How do you personify the architecture of a plane? Rapid arm movements gain speed to become propellers and symmetric spatial formations form Musick’s iconic aircraft. How do you replicate the mechanical sounds of the story’s central flight? Invented instruments by Neil Feather produce a layer of sounds that build context for some of the most significant moments of the story, such as the “magnapooter” that uses magnets, fly wheels and a speaker filled with ping-pong
Vail Friends Dance
In Musick’s footsteps, these artists took a leap of faith ...and brought to life a story few people of our time remember. balls to emulate the sound of the plane’s engine in live performance. And, how do you capture the essence of an introverted hero in just a few words? The title, Sunset, o639 Hours, is a quote from the publicityshy Musick when asked to describe what he saw while flying over the Pacific. Sunset, o639 Hours premiered in Philadelphia in the summer of 2014. In Musick’s footsteps, these artists took a leap of faith — they traveled to lands they had never before seen, immersed themselves in foreign cultures, and experimented with new techniques – and brought to life a story few people of our time remember. The result is a narrative that is inherently human, and inspires in all of us a sense of adventure and exploration that challenges our imaginations and captures our hearts.
OF
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“Dancing allows me to express myself in a creative way that I cannot do elsewhere.” — Sophia
“Dance is being ever-present in the pursuit of perfecting movement.” — Clementine
The “Honolulu” scene of Sunset, o639 Hours. All photos by Alexander Iziliaev.
Enrolling Now for 2015-2016 Classes Offering classes in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary and boy’s hip-hop. For children ages 3 and up. VailValleyAcademyOfDance.com
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NEW FACES VAIL
Artists visiting the Festival for the first time speak to their inspirations, processes, histories and more.
BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Antonio Douthit-Boyd. Photo by Andrew Eccles
Antonio Douthit-Boyd Antonio Douthit-Boyd literally busted into the dance world on a fluke. But once he felt the emotion of dance, he dedicated his life to it. Despite a lack of support in his inner circle, he prayed, had faith, and put in a lot of work to become the best he could be — and people noticed. For the last 11 years, he performed as one of the principal dancers, along with his husband, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. They’re now off to a new adventure, which which brings Antonio back to his hometown of St. Louis, and the school at which he trained.
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HOW DID YOU GET INTO DANCE? Some friends and I were walking and playing around when we came to the corner of a neighborhood not too far from where we all lived. We heard drums coming from this large building, and we started acting crazy and said, “Let’s go inside and see what it’s about.” We looked through this small window and saw some ladies dancing, and we started pushing each other to go in, and once I had the nerve, I walked in and the teacher said, “Can I help you?” I said we wanted to dance with her and she asked us to leave. After some going back and forth — I guess to shut us up — she let us hang out and play around. She never took her eye off of us, but she made sure to keep her dancers going with the class. After it was over she said, “If
you are really serious about wanting to dance, then come back tomorrow after school.” We all left laughing and joking about what we had just done, but in my mind I had just had the time of my life. So long story short, I broke into dance, and it’s a crime I was very happy to commit. WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED IN DANCE, AND HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM? Being that I started so late, I have always been fighting to catch up on technique and on how to reinvent myself year after year. I stay in class every day, and I take time to work on things I know might not be so easy for me. I look to see what other dancers are doing and add a little to what I’m doing.
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WHAT INSPIRES YOUR DANCE, AND HOW DO YOU REMAIN INSPIRED WHEN THE GOING GETS HARD? I’m inspired to dance because it’s just a part of me, like breathing. I have to always have dance — it’s my lifeline. I stay inspired by working with young dancers and mentoring. I love to see when they actually get it. HOW DID YOUR CHILDHOOD, WHICH INCLUDED LIVING IN A TRANSITIONAL HOME FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES AND NOT HAVING FAMILY AND FRIENDS AROUND YOU WHO SUPPORTED THE IDEA OF MALE DANCERS, ULTIMATELY AFFECT YOUR ARTISTIC AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT? I would not change anything about my childhood because it gives me so many references to pull from for my artistry. I take the good and the bad and turn it into something I can use in my work.
Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener
or improvisational, it all sort of points towards a greater refinement of a sense of self, or self-expression. HOW DO YOU TRANSLATE WORDS, OR A BOOK, INTO A DANCE? I have no idea! It’s so hard! Maybe it never works? I think there is a huge gap between language and dance, and that space where one might try to become or impersonate the other is really interesting to me, but not always successful. There are things you can do or say with words that are way easier to say than going to the whole trouble of making it into a dance, but there are things you can do or say with the body that fail as language, or have no communicative counterpart. HOW DO YOU FURTHER THE FIELD OF DANCE THROUGH YOUR CHOREOGRAPHY? Maybe by taking risks? By trying to constantly question what it means to make dance, and what it might mean to put it in front of people and say, “These are the most important things! Watch these things and see what they do to you!”
(Q&A answered by Silas)
Rashaun Mitchell & Silas Riener have been collaborating on dance projects since 2009. They aim to stretch the vocabulary of dance through various methods, including interpreting poetry and literature. With Riener’s explosive, rapid movement style and Mitchell’s more meditative approach, the duo offers a yin-yang balance of quick-paced and contemplative energies. WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO DANCE? I was excited by the way the body is organized in dancing, and by how many possibilities there are for ways of moving. Formal training in dancing, whether it is ballet, modern, experimental 18 VAILDANCE.ORG
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PROJECTS? Rashaun and I try to incorporate our unique sense of how movements and dancers fit together (using complex rhythms, repeating images, maybe really ambiguous or mysterious forms) and embed them sort of forcefully into the particular spaces in which they are performed. Vail is going to be a great opportunity to play with the theater space. … We’re not interested in telling a story with the movement, but instead we try to create a nested subjective experience for any and all audience members to get something out of the work, but not necessarily the same thing as each other.
Sara Mearns Sara Mearns began her ballet training at age 3, in Columbia, South Carolina. She entered the New York City Ballet’s official school (School of American Ballet) at age 12 and remained on an upward trajectory from there, earning her way from apprentice with the New York City Ballet to corps de ballet to soloist, to principal dancer, in 2008. YOUR FIRST SUMMER DANCING IN NEW YORK CITY WAS AT AGE 12. It was a huge culture shock and big change of pace for me to come from a very small school to one of the biggest in the country. I wasn’t scared at all; I was having the time of my life and very excited. THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET’S CORPS DE BALLET SCHEDULE IS DEMANDING. TELL US HOW IT DIFFERS FROM THE SCHOOL. When you enter the company, you are coming from being the top of the class at the school, and now you are back down at the bottom again of one of the best ballet companies in the world. You are scared to death, but at the same time the most excited and honored at the same time to be there. The year I entered, they were celebrating the Balanchine Centennial, and they had doubled the amount of ballets in both the winter and spring season. I remember learning an entire ballet in two hours and performing it that same night. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR DANCE? The ballets I get to perform every night, the music and live orchestra I get to perform to, my colleagues that inspire me every day to be a better dancer and person, and of course, the house that Balanchine built — that theater is my home. I feel lucky every day I get to step on that stage.
HOW AND WHEN DID YOU INJURE YOUR BACK? I have been through two major back injuries. My most recent one was in 2012; I was out for eight months. It was purely from overwork and not taking care of my body properly. I was naive to think that I could keep up the schedule I had and not get injured. I had many doctors tell me that they didn’t know what was wrong. I had many tests done that showed nothing. I can truly say it has been the lowest point of my career and life thus far — the feeling that you might not make it back on stage. The thought that you may never dance again. Until one day, you have a chance meeting that leads you to the person that will fix you and put you back on stage in a month. Everything happens for a reason in life; you may not figure out the reason for years, but I now know that, that whole time was for me to grow up, realize what I have in life, and to live each day to the fullest. It was about rebuilding me as a person and, in turn, I became the artist I truly want to be.
ND WI CH ES E AM AZ IN G SA HI T LIS T: FIV
SUMMER 2015
LIFESTYLE
COCKTAIL CLASSICS SOMETIMES SIMPLE IS BEST
EARN YOUR TREAT EFFORT MAKES THE PRIZE SWEETER
ADVENTURE KIDS
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STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE
SUMMER
ISSUE
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VAIL LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE AND READ ABOUT •••
BalletCollective
F
ounded by New York City Ballet dancer and choreographer Troy Schumacher in 2010, BalletCollective brings together artists, poets, composers, choreographers and designers to collaborate and influence each other throughout the creation of distinctive works of art. Since its inception, the company has presented the collaborative work of over 30 artists, pulling from a talented roster of NYCB company members. In its debut appearance at the Festival, BalletCollective will perform the poignant duet Dear and Blackbirds on the Ballet Blast program. A collaboration between Schumacher, composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone and librettist Cynthia Zarin, Dear and Blackbirds portrays the inner workings of a complex relationship as the couple struggles to find a common path.
THE BEST ACTIVITIES IN VAIL’S BACKYARD – INCLUDING PROGRAMS SPECIFICALLY FOR KIDS •••
HOW TO MAKE SIMPLE, CLASSIC COCKTAILS •••
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD – GREAT DAYTIME EXERTIONS FOLLOWED BY RELAXING REWARDS
VAIL LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE VAIL VALLEY.
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Misty Copeland last performed at the Vail International Dance Festival in 2011. Since then, her career has continued to grow by leaps and bounds as a leading dancer at American Ballet Theatre, where she recently became the first African-American ballerina to perform the full-length classic ballet Swan Lake at the Metropolitan Opera House. She has written two books, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina and Firebird, and she has become a trailblazing spokesperson for diversity in ballet and the arts, appearing on the cover of Time magazine as one of their 100 Most Influential People of 2015. Misty also recently starred in an Under Armour ad, which went viral, joining other superstars in telling their stories of perseverance — including Vail’s own Lindsey Vonn. What obstacles did you face growing up, and how did dancing help you? I had no confidence, no understanding of who I was or what I wanted to be, and I was really underdeveloped in my growth as a person. Ballet was a gateway to a different channel of learning. It’s what I needed. Through movement, I learned to communicate, to be empathetic and understanding. Through art was how I learned to develop as a person. What led you to take your first formal training in ballet age 13? I decided at 13 that I wanted to audition for my school’s dance team. I had no prior experience. I was told by my coach that I should take ballet classes. So I took a free class at the Boys and Girls Club, and the rest is history. When you were told you had the wrong body for ballet, and at 13 you were too old for ballet, how did you overcome the criticism? Well, at 13, I was so unaware of what I was doing and such a natural that I didn’t realize that it may be impossible to have a professional career with ABT after four years of training. So my naïveté shielded me. But as an adult, having gone through puberty, it was my mentors that kept me from quitting when I was told I no longer had a body for ballet. How did you convince them otherwise? I got my body into the best shape it could be in and let my dancing speak for itself: That my body didn’t have to look like all of those who came before me or the ones I stood next to. How did it feel to be the only African-American for a time at American Ballet Theatre, and what did it inspire you to do? It was scary and lonely. I felt like I didn’t belong and that I wouldn’t go beyond the corps de ballet. It gave me a sense of identity and responsibility. I wanted to share my experiences so that the ballet world could grow.
Photo by Nisian Hughes
What is your message about ballet — now and today — as the “cover girl for a new kind of ballet?” It’s such a special art form, like no other. I want everyone to feel that they can be a part of it, no matter what they look like. I wouldn’t be who I am today without it. Misty Copeland will perform on both performances of International Evenings of Dance in addition to the Balanchine Celebration program.
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Celebrate the Beat
Lil Buck dances with CTB students at the 2014 Festival. Photo by Erin Baiano
Celebrate the Beat (CTB)
More than 4,500 STUDENTS have participated in CTB in Eagle County since the program launched during the SUMMER OF 2007.
CTB uses dance and music to teach children to “learn how to learn,” and gives them a valuable life lesson: that energy, discipline, hard work, commitment, and joyful concentration can lead to success. For many children, CTB is a life-changing event; for all, it is an amazing experience they will never forget.
18,000 STUDENTS
provides the highest quality in-school and after-school dance program for all children that improves their physical health and well-being, inspires them to believe in themselves, and establishes a standard of excellence that impacts all aspects of their lives.
Each summer, the Vail International Dance Festival hosts a “Pop Hop” summer camp. See nearly 100 children perform on stage at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater for the International Evenings of Dance program on Friday, August 7. CTB is directed by Tracy Straus, and is a proud associate of National Dance Institute.
have participated in CTB THROUGHOUT COLORADO AND MEXICO since 2004.
650 STUDENTS participated in the Eagle County CTB program during the 2014-2015 SCHOOL YEAR.
CTB is part of a comprehensive program at Avon Elementary that was awarded the Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Award. Celebrate the Beat dancers have performed for the Colorado Legacy Education Summit, the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Colorado Association of School Executives, and the White House. CTB is an integral partner with a Colorado School of Innovation. 22 VAILDANCE.ORG
CTB’s performance at the International Evenings of Dance on August 7 is underwritten by Ms. Argie Ligeros and Mr. Patrick Tierney.
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Luxurious Accommodations
Sonnenalp Spa
Through four generations of family ownership the Sonnenalp Hotel remains Vail, Colorado’s most iconic hideaway. Consistently named among America’s top hotels and resorts, the Sonnenalp epitomizes the mix of alpine adventure and timeless European elegance that sets Vail apart. Deeply rooted in the community, it’s the warmth of the Sonnenalp’s staff, its relaxed charm and its unparalleled location that reveal the true heart of this world-class destination. Top Rated by Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler,TripAdvisor and US News & World Report Beautifully Appointed Suites and Guests Rooms • Five World-Class Dining Experiences • Located in the Heart of Vail Village Full-Service Spa • Heated Indoor and Outdoor Pools and Whirlpools
Official Vehicle of the
20 Vail Road,Vail, Colorado, USA 800-654-8312 • 970-479-5656 www.sonnenalp.com
SCENE BE A PART OF THE 2015
support • connect • experience • network • enjoy
v
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u
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y upcoming events WHITE PARTY Sponsored by Eye Pieces July 28 Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
{ 1. Damian Woetzel, Ceil Folz, Senenne & Marc Philippon • 2. Blakesley & Trista Sutter • 3. Lauren Lovette & Chase Finlay • 4. Yvonne Dawsey, Evin Garreston Werner and Sarah Millett • 5. Donna Giordano and her grandchildren • 6. Mary Wolf, Giedre Mereckis, Tina Vardaman and Melissa Wolf • 7. Meg Ogden, Sara & Steve Cady and Geordy Ogden
To learn how you can be part of the 2015 VIDF contact Martha Brassel at 970.777.2015 or mbrassel@vvf.org.
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PATRON DANCER BRUNCH August 2 Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater LA TOUR LUNCHEON HONORING BETSY & GEORGE WIEGERS Hosted by Lourdes & Paul Ferzacca August 4 La Tour Restaurant
UPCLOSE: APOLLO VIDF Benefit Performance & Dinner August 5 Vilar Performing Arts Center & Toscanini FESTIVAL GALA August 7 Larkspur Restaurant CHAMPAGNE ON STAGE July 27 Savion Glover & The Otherz August 8 International Evenings of Dance II August 10 Dance for $20.15 Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater Sponsored by EverBank
Claggett/Rey Gallery Vail, Colorado 970.476.9350 claggettrey.com Quang Ho, Preparing for Rehearsal (detail) Oil 24" x 30"
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Vail International Festival 2015 SAVION GLOVER & THE OTHERZ Monday, July 27 • 6:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail DANCE HOUSE: BALLROOM/ DANCE TV REMIX Tuesday, July 28 • 6:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail SUNSET, o639 HOURS WITH BALLETX Saturday, August 1 • 7:30pm Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek BALLET BLAST: Compañía Nacional de Danza de México, BalletX, BalletCollective, Colorado Ballet and more… Sunday, August 2 • 7:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail NOW: PREMIERES Tuesday, August 4 • 7:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail UPCLOSE: APOLLO Wednesday, August 5 • 6:30pm Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek INTERNATIONAL EVENINGS OF DANCE I Friday, August 7 • 7:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail INTERNATIONAL EVENINGS OF DANCE II Saturday, August 8 • 7:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail BALANCHINE CELEBRATION Sunday, August 9 • 7:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail DANCE FOR $20.15 Monday, August 10 • 7:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Visit vaildance.org or call 888.920.ARTS (2787) for more information
Vail International Dance Festival
#VailDance
@VailDanceFest
Ron "Prime Tyme" Myles. Photo by Erin Baiano
#VAILDANCE 27
SAVION GLOVER
& THE OTHERZ Monday, July 27
6:30 PM | Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
The Tony Award®-winning tap legend SAVION GLOVER returns to kick off the Festival with an electrifying performance, accompanied by his jazz quartet, The Otherz.
Photo courtesy of Savion Glover Productions
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“...extreme virtuosity.” - The New York Times
PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY EVERBANK
VAIL DANCE 2015
DANCE HOUSE
BALLROOM/DANCE TV REMIX Tuesday, July 28 6:30 PM | Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
A new take on Vail favorites Dance TV and Ballroom Spectacular, Dance House fills the stage and Ampitheater with star-studded special performances. Featuring So You Think You Can Dance winner Amy Yakima, World Champion Rhythm Dancers Liana Churilova and Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine, ballerina Tiler Peck, Dancing With The Stars royalty Anna Trebunskaya and Dmitry Chaplin, and street dance stars King Charles Parks, Ron "Prime Tyme" Myles and Ringmaster Nugget.
Anna Trebunskaya
PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY MARLENE & JOHN BOLL AND MARCY & GERALD SPECTOR
Photo by Erin Baiano
#VAILDANCE 29
SUNSET, o639 HOURS with BalletX
Saturday, August 1 7:30 PM | Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
With live musical accompaniment, the Festival’s first full-length evening ballet takes the stage at the Vilar Center. Sunset, o639 Hours is inspired by a true story, and in this acclaimed ballet we discover a world described by The New York Times as “…BEAUTIFULLY ELEGIAC, taking us into the hearts of people who lived decades ago…” “…explosive, athletic dance that leaves the audience speechless…” -The Dance Journal
“Vulnerable, openhearted and, above all, marvelously free.” -The New York Times
Photo by Alexander Iziliaev
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PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY PRISCILLA BREWSTER
VAIL DANCE 2015
BALLET BLAST
Compañía Nacional de Danza de México, BalletX, BalletCollective, Colorado Ballet & more Sunday, August 2
7:30 PM | Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Festival newcomers Compañía Nacional de Danza de México and New York’s BalletCollective join Colorado Ballet, BalletX and a selection of acclaimed ballet stars for an evening of classic and contemporary works, with music by cutting-edge string quartet Brooklyn Rider.
Tiler Peck
Ballet Blast Repertory will include:
PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY PAM & ERNEST ELSNER Colorado Ballet's appearance underwritten by Joanne Posner-Mayer, Debra Herz and Mary Poole & Paul Goodspeed
Concerto Barocco*
J.S. Bach/George Balanchine
Giselle (excerpt)
Adolphe Adam/Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot
Dear and Blackbirds
Ellis Ludwig-Leone/Troy Schumacher
Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux*
Pyotr Tschaikovsky/George Balanchine
Allemande
J.S. Bach/Joshua Beamish
Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux* John Philip Sousa/George Balanchine Switch Phase
Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin/Matthew Neenan
Repertory subject to change
Tiler Peck in George Balanchine’s Rubies.* Photo by Erin Baiano *Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust #VAILDANCE 31
NOW: PREMIERES Tuesday, August 4 7:30 PM | Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
NOW: Premieres features world premieres by a group of today’s most dynamic choreographers, including John Heginbotham, Pam Tanowitz, Silas Riener and Rashaun Mitchell, Matthew Neenan and Lil Buck, with dancers from Dance Heginbotham, BalletX, artists from New York City Ballet and several of the choreographers themselves.
PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY VOLVO
“A Whirl of Premieres, From Jookin to Jetés.” –The New York Times
Musicians for NOW: Premieres include string quartet Brooklyn Rider (above), pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer Greg Saunier. Brooklyn Rider photo by Sarah Small Lil Buck photo by Erin Baiano 32 VAILDANCE.ORG
Lil Buck
UPCLOSE: APOLLO
VAIL DANCE 2015
Wednesday, August 5 6:30 PM | Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
The UpClose series of rehearsal-style performances continues with a focus on George Balanchine’s seminal masterpiece, Apollo*, set to the music of Igor Stravinsky. This landmark ballet, which depicts the young god and the muses of poetry, mime and dance, premiered with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1928 with the title Apollon Musagète. Over the course of his lifetime, Balanchine amended elements of the ballet—adjusting and cutting décor, simplifying costumes and ultimately eliminating the opening scene depicting Apollo’s birth for the 1979 revival. Guided by Artistic Director Damian Woetzel, this UpClose performance examines the ballet from its original incarnation to what Balanchine last staged before his death in 1983. Featuring Festival PERFORMANCE artists including Herman Cornejo, Tiler Peck, Isabella Boylston and UNDERWRITTEN BY Misa Kuranaga, joined by pianist Cameron Grant.
ANONYMOUS
Damian Woetzel
*Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust Photo by Erin Baiano
Herman Cornejo
#VAILDANCE 33
INTERNATIONAL EVENINGS OF DANCE Friday, August 7 & Saturday, August 8 7:30 PM | Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
A magnificent cast of stellar dance artists from around the world takes the stage in these signature Festival performances. Each International Evening of Dance presents a unique repertory.
AUGUST 7 PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY JILL & KEVIN PLANCHER AUGUST 8 PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY LISA TANNEBAUM & DON BROWNSTEIN
Linda Celeste Sims & Antonio Douthit-Boyd
“…new partnerships and debuts that would
please the hearts of fans
thousands of miles away.” - The New York Times
Linda Celeste Sims and Antonio Douthit-Boyd in Wayne McGregor's Chroma. Photo by Paul Kolnik 34 VAILDANCE.ORG
VAIL DANCE 2015
Featuring Performances by
JARED ANGLE New York City Ballet Underwritten by Dhuanne & Douglas Tansill ISABELLA BOYLSTON American Ballet Theatre Underwritten by Jane & Skip Netzorg ZACHARY CATAZARO New York City Ballet Underwritten by Sheika & Pepi Gramshammer ALEJANDRO CERRUDO Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Underwritten by LaDonna & Gary Wicklund
SARA MEARNS
JEFFREY CIRIO Boston Ballet Underwritten by Nancy & Richard Lubin MISTY COPELAND American Ballet Theatre Underwritten by Mary Wolf Family HERMAN CORNEJO American Ballet Theatre Underwritten by Vikki & Michael Price JULIET DOHERTY Scholar-In-Residence Underwritten by Argie Ligeros & Patrick Tierney ANTONIO DOUTHIT-BOYD Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Underwritten by Susie & Jeff Stern ALTAN DUGARAA Boston Ballet Underwritten by Joan Whittenberg CHASE FINLAY New York City Ballet Underwritten by Jean & Tom McDonnell ANGELICA GENEROSA Pacific Northwest Ballet Underwritten by Genie & Robert Stine JOSEPH GORDON New York City Ballet Underwritten by Sherri & Robert L. Patton, Jr. ELENA HEISS Alma Flamenca Underwritten by Pat & Pete Frechette BILL IRWIN Actor, Clown and Dancer Underwritten by Martha Head & John A. Feagin, M.D. CARLA KĂ–RBES Artist-In-Residence Underwritten by Linda & Stephen Waterhouse MISA KURANAGA Boston Ballet Underwritten by Pixley & Kenneth Schiciano SARA MEARNS New York City Ballet Underwritten by Carol & Hans Storr RASHAUN MITCHELL Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener Underwritten by the Robbins Foundation
RON "PRIME TYME" MYLES Memphis Jooker Underwritten by Lisa & Bruce Goldman TILER PECK New York City Ballet Underwritten by Donna & Donald Baumgartner SILAS RIENER Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener Underwritten by Barb & Rob DeLuca LIL BUCK Memphis Jooker Underwritten by Leni & Peter May FANG-YI SHEU Fang-Yi Sheu and Artists Underwritten by Mary Sue & Michael Shannon LINDA CELESTE SIMS Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Underwritten by Wendy Williams and Noel & Ben Kullavanijaya YUAN YUAN TAN San Francisco Ballet Underwritten by Karen R. Masano & John M. Arnold MELISSA TOOGOOD Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener Underwritten by Martha & Terry Perl WENDY WHELAN Underwritten by Carolyn & Gene Mercy
Sara Mearns, New York City Ballet. Photo by Erin Baiano #VAILDANCE 35
BALANCHINE CELEBRATION Sunday, August 9
7:30 PM | Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Celebrating George Balanchine, one of the 20th century’s greatest artistic figures and founder of New York City Ballet, this performance features a selection of the world’s finest dancers in a unique evening of Balanchine ballets. The program will include Concerto Barocco*, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux*, Elégie* and the debut of American Ballet Theatre superstar Herman Cornejo in Balanchine’s seminal masterpiece, Apollo*. Other dancers appearing include Isabella Boylston, Misty Copeland, Carla Körbes, Misa Kuranaga, Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck, Jared Angle, Zachary Catazaro, Chase Finlay, Joseph Gordon, Russell Janzen and members of Colorado Ballet. Misty Copeland
PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY MARJORIE & PHILIP ODEEN
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Misty Copeland in George Balanchine’s Tschaikovsky Pas De Deux*. *Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
VAIL DANCE 2015
DANCE FOR $20.15 Monday, August 10
7:30 PM | Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
For closing night of Festival 2015, an evening for everyone with specially-priced tickets for every seat in the house. Dance for $20.15 features Colorado Ballet and guest artists from the 2015 Festival.
PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITTEN BY TOWN OF VAIL
Photo by Brian Maloney
#VAILDANCE 37
UNDERWRITERS & DONORS
PRESENTERS CIRCLE
The Vail Valley Foundation extends its sincere gratitude to our Presenters Circle donors, whose exemplary generosity has enabled the 2015 Vail International Dance Festival to achieve an extraordinary level of excellence. JUDY & HOWARD BERKOWITZ
THE TANG FAMILY
Judy and Howard Berkowitz have been supporters of the Vail Valley Foundation since its inception. Their love for the art of dance and generous support have enabled the Vail International Dance Festival to grow into the critically acclaimed Festival it is today. They are long-time members of the Friends of Vail program, and Judy serves on the Foundation’s Board of Directors and is Chairperson of the Dance Festival committee. In New York, Judy serves on the Board of Rockefeller University, The New-York Historical Society, and chairs The Center for Educational Innovation- Public Education Association. Howard is the Chairman of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, is former Chairman of the AntiDefamation League, and is a Board member of the New York City Ballet. Locally, he serves on the Board of the SteadmanPhilippon Research Institute.
SUSAN & JEFF CAMPBELL Susan and Jeff Campbell started coming to the Vail Valley from Dallas when their children were first learning to ski. They continued to visit the Vail Valley as they moved to London, San Francisco and, most recently, to the West Village in New York City. Two of their children are now attending college in Colorado, and their Beaver Creek home has become the center of family life. They are avid dance lovers and longtime supporters of the Vail International Dance Festival and the Vilar Performing Arts Center. Susan recently joined the board of the Vail Valley Foundation and in New York she supports the New York City Ballet’s New Combinations Fund as well as FIS’s charity partner, Right to Play. The Campbells are passionate skiers, mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts.
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The Tang family has supported the Vail Valley Foundation at a leadership level since its inception. In particular, Oscar was a founding supporter of the Vail International Dance Festival and has continued his support for 27 years. Dividing his time between Vail and New York, Oscar has long served on the board and Executive Committee of the Vail Valley Foundation, and concurrently on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum and the New York Philharmonic. Agnes has taught at Brown and Stanford and has served as a cultural policy advisor to UNESCO and the United States Cultural Property Advisory Committee; she is a documentarian of two series on the Discovery and History networks. Agnes serves on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera and the New-York Historical Society. The Tangs are dedicated to supporting the arts, culture and education. They are members of the Foundation’s Cornerstone Friends Program and also support the Foundation’s education initiatives. Most recently, the Tangs supported the documentary “American Ballet Theatre: A History” by the award-winning filmmaker Ric Burns that premiered on PBS on May 15th, 2015.
BETSY & GEORGE WIEGERS Ardent supporters of the Arts in New York City and Denver, the Wiegers are also extraordinarily generous in the Vail Valley, particularly to the Vail International Dance Festival, Bravo! Vail and the Youth Foundation. Betsy serves on the board of the Vail Valley Foundation, is a long time member of the Dance Committee and is a former trustee of Bravo! Vail. George is the founder and creator of the University of Colorado Depression Center at the Anschutz Medical Center in Denver and is also a founder of the Deisseroth Laboratory for Brain Research at Stanford University. Their philanthropy in New York includes support of the New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre and the New-York Historical Society. In Denver they support the Denver Art Museum and also contributed to the new Liebeskind wing at the museum. Betsy and George have been selected this year as the 2015 Festival Honorees for their long-standing commitment and dedication.
UNDERWRITERS & DONORS
2015 VIDF DONORS VAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Andy Arnold Judy Berkowitz Bjorn Erik Borgen Jenn Bruno Susan Campbell Steve Coyer Jack Crosby Andy Daly Ron Davis Bill Esrey Johannes Faessler Tim Finchem Ceil Folz Harry Frampton Pete Frechette Steve Friedman John Garnsey Margie Gart Bob Gary Donna Giordano Sheika Gramshammer Martha Head Michael Herman Al Hubbard Bill Hybl Chris Jarnot George Johnson Rob Katz Kent Logan Peter May Brian Nolan Bobby Patton Michael Price Eric Resnick Douglas Rippeto Dick Rothkopf Ken Schanzer Mike Shannon Stanley Shuman Rod Slifer Ann Smead Oscar Tang Fred Tresca Stewart Turley Steve Virostek Betsy Wiegers DIRECTORS EMERITI Adam Aron Marlene Boll Pepi Gramshammer Steve Haber Elaine Kelton
The donor list that follows represents patrons of the Vail International Dance Festival who gave a gift between September 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015. Any gifts received after May 31, 2015 will be listed in the nightly program inserts.
Underwriters Circle
Diamond Dress Circle
Anonymous Priscilla Brewster Lisa Tannebaum & Don Brownstein Pam & Ernie Elsner Leni & Peter May
Karen R. Masano & John M. Arnold* Marlene & John Boll Joanne & Jack Crosby Barb & Rob DeLuca/Currents Fine Jewelry Martha Head & John A. Feagin, M.D.* Pat & Pete Frechette* Sheika & Pepi Gramshammer Jerome Robbins Foundation Wendy Williams and Noel & Ben Kullavanijaya Nancy & Richard Lubin Jean & Tom McDonnell Carolyn & Gene Mercy Jane & Skip Netzorg Sherri & Robert L. Patton, Jr.* Martha & Terry Perl Vikki & Michael Price* Mary Sue & Michael Shannon* Marcy & Gerald Spector* Carol & Hans Storr Dhuanne & Douglas Tansill Argie Ligeros & Patrick Tierney Mary Wolf Family
Jody & John Arnhold Jody and John Arnhold are supporters of dance in New York City and longtime admirers of VIDF’s Artistic Director, Damian Woetzel. They are proud to support the Vail International Dance Festival. Jody’s most recent project as Executive Producer of the documentary PS Dance! Dance Education in Public Schools has excited educators across the country. The film has sparked a movement #DanceForEveryChild that seeks to implement quality dance education in public schools nationwide. Join us at psdancenyc.com Donna & Donald Baumgartner For nearly 20 years Linda and Donald have enjoyed their mountain home in Lake Creek Valley. They have been enthusiastic supporters of the arts in their home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and have shared their passion locally through their support of the Vail International Dance Festival. As true lovers of the art of dance, they rarely miss a performance during the two-week Festival. Marge & Phil Odeen Marge and Phil have had a home in Vail for over 40 years. When not in Vail they live in Mclean, Virginia and North Palm Beach, Florida. They have supported the Dance Festival for several years and both have been active in numerous cultural and charitable activities in the communities in which they live. Jill & Kevin Plancher Jill and Kevin Plancher first enjoyed the Vail International Dance Festival in 1993 when Kevin was a fellow at the Steadman Clinic in Vail. They have attended and supported the Festival each and every year since! Jill and Kevin live in Greenwich, Connecticut and have three children. Kevin has a private orthopedic practice in New York City and Greenwich and Jill is a family lawyer with Connecticut Legal Services. They are thrilled to once again support the International Evenings performance. Their daughter Megan will be a member of the Festival Ambassador Program this summer. Linda & Stephen Waterhouse Linda and Steve Waterhouse are proud to support Damian Woetzel and the Vail International Dance Festival. They believe that only in Vail can one see the finest dancers and choreography in the world, in one venue, over a two-week period. For Linda and Steve, this Festival is an education for the eye and an opportunity to experience the joy of dance — a beautiful “summer camp” for everyone!
*VVF Cornerstone Patron
Platinum Circle Fiona Fein Marvin Naiman and Margery Goldman Family Foundation Lisa & Bruce Goldman Kathy & William Hybl Michèle & Steve Pesner Senenne & Marc Philippon Joanne Posner-Mayer Janet Pyle & Paul Repetto Rella & Monroe Rifkin Pixley & Kenneth Schiciano Shannon & George Slessman Susan & Jeffrey Stern Genie & Robert Stine Martin Waldbaum Joan Whittenberg LaDonna & Gary Wicklund
Gold Dress Circle Bonnie Audrihopolis Deirdre & Ronnie Baker Martin Atkin & Reid Balthaser Wendy & Warren Blumenthal Margo Boyle Diane & Jeff Brundage Ann Smead & Michael Byram Clara Willoughby Cargile Yvonne Chen Arlene Harris & Martin Cooper Karen Nold & Robert Croteau Lois & Stephen Eisen Patricia Harmon & Geoffrey Fallon Susan & Harry Frampton Jennifer & Rick Geisman Mary Poole & Paul Goodspeed Debra Herz Lorraine & Harley Higbie #VAILDANCE 39
UNDERWRITERS & DONORS Ami & Scott Hudgins Elaine & Arthur Kelton Bonnie Lee & Lawrence Kivel Judy & Alan Kosloff Ferrell & William McClean Helen McIntyre Paul Mesard Karen R. Nagel, PhD The Ogden Family Ronnie & William Potter Nancy & Don Remey Michael Ritchie Deana & Gerald Stempler Linda & Stew Turley Ellen & James Wiss
Silver Dress Circle Anonymous (2) Rebecca & Howard Braverman Barbara & Chris Brody Kaye Summers & Dan Carpenter Margaret & Clayton Chessman Laurie Claus, O.K. Detrick Foundation Allie Coppeak Renee & Jeff Epstein Julie & Bill Esrey Micki & Larry Fletcher Miriam & Morris Futernick Margie & Tom Gart Maryalice Cheney & Scott Goldman Linda & Richard Greene Sharon & Tom Haverstock Gretchen & Charles Lobitz Marjorie Marks Deborah Nunez Leslie & Tristan Renz Stacey Sapp AK Schleusner Marla Steele Judith Taylor & Joan Nissman Vail Friends of the Dance Brenton VerPloeg Tina & David Wilson
Vail Valley Member Anonymous Brenda & Thomas Curnin Community First Foundation Norma Lee & Morton Funger Margery Gottfried Dianne & Ed Green Stephanie & John Hanson Margot & Stephen Holland Martha & Carl Lindner III Nancy & John Snyder Pat & Larry Stewart Karen & John Weslar
Community Member Sheila & James Amend Debra & James Dunn Debra & Kenneth Dunn Eagle Valley Community Fund The Elliott Family Fund of the Pikes Peak Community Foundation Holly & Buck Elliott Yvette & Christopher Frampton Jennifer & Steven Jorns 40 VAILDANCE.ORG
Liz & Luc Meyer Rosalind Reed Patricia & Edward Wahtera Carol K. Walker Global Dance LLC Rosalind & Larry Wolff
Fan Club Anonymous (2) Brenda & Joe Adeeb Janet & William Adler Sheila & James Amend Catherine & Truman Anderson Roxanne & Ed Anderson Beth Barbre Michael Barish Elizabeth Benish Kristen Best Kathleen & Jack Blair Wendy Boutin Linda Boyne Diana Bradley & Claude Accum Kathleen & Brian Brown Barbara & Gary Bryson Christine & George Burns Judy & Arthur Canter Julie Carr Tiffany Burnette & Donald Casturo Patricia Coffey & Molly Churchill Mary Lynn Cohagan Rhoda Cohen Karyn Contino Maureen Cross Mary Davis Barbara Mellman Davis Diane Bradshaw & John Demenkoff Nancy Denton Debra Devereaux Jacqueline Deveric Sherry Dorward Barbara Dubin Steven Eagleson Rochelle Eick Carolyn & Don Etter Carole Feistmann Larry Field David Folkes Carolyn & Reed Ford Inge Franberg Jim Francis Eileen Friars Vicky Garza-Mohajer Holly & Ben Gill Linda Gordon & Arnold Gorin Dianne & Ed Green Helen & Steve Gubin Sue & Daniel Hagler Ronne & Donald Hess Tedi Hill Pamela & Richard Hinds Kimberley Hoch A. Jackson Holt Marilyn & Matthew Horween Jill & Loyal Huddleston Meredith & Roger Hutson Leslie Isom Malin Johnsdotter Alberta Johnson Elizabeth Kidd
Charlene Koegel Katherine Konopka Susan & Anthony Krausen Ivy Kushner Lesley Larson Cynthia LeBreton Helena & Peter Leslie JoAnn Carhart Levy Rebecca & Jerry Lewis Elspeth MacHattie Jessica Mapes Karen Marisak Stephen Marquart Dr. Franklin Massari Nancy McKeever Lisa Mehigan Mary Angela Meyer Dominic Meylor Andrea Miller Leslie & Charles Mishner Elizabeth Chambers & Ronald Mooney John Murphy Daniel Murphy Yoshiki Obayashi Judy O’Brien Sue & Thomas O’Dorisio Hope Oquin Fred Pack Cynthia Patterson Dr. Linda Rabeneck & Dr. Cathy Campbell Barbara Reed, MD Rosalind Reed John Reynolds Nancy Reynolds Kenneth Robinson Suzie & Frank Robinson Dr. Bill Rodkey Barbara & Howard Rothenberg Gretchen Rowe Sue & Michael Rushmore Wayne Ruting Susan Schneider Minna Schrag Carole Schragen Troy Selden Carol & Stanley Shapiro Amy Shea Mary Clare Silva Nancy & Stanley Singer Martha Skinner Susan Stearns Barbara & Alexandra Steinhauser Les Stern Pat & Larry Stewart Judith Stiber Judith & Charles Stoopack Joanie Tanous Carrie Thomas Lois & John Van Deusen Victor Vensas Patricia & Edward Wahtera Sheila Wald Deborah Webster Molly Webster Bella Whelan Bruce Wilson Harriet Wolf Lisa Wormstadt
UNDERWRITERS & DONORS Supporting Member Kay & Charles Bertrand Laura DeCinque Cari & Matt Dietz Nancy & Gary Freedman Family Gloria Heyer Susan & Jon Lounsbury Linda McKinney Mr & Mrs Douglas Mossman Nancy & Mauri Nottingham Marcy & Gerald Spector Jennifer & Jake Van Beelen
Contributing Member Chris Anderson Martha Brassel Barbara Cohen Carmen Cojanu Pamela & James Crane Dana Diehl Luis Escalante Michelle & Robin Gersten Alfredo Granai Suzanne Greene Susan & Allie Gruber Helen & Steve Gubin Jan Harkins Nancy Hassett Pamela & Richard Hinds Summer Holm Christina & Josh Lautenberg Jim & Jennifer Mason Pam & Michael Mycoskie Inge Nuss Maureen O’Shea-Stone Kathryn Peisach Andrew Rollins Laura Siena Gina & Steve Spessard Barbara & Stanley Weinstein Linda & Dean Wolz Shelley & Mick Woodworth Rosalie Wooten The donor list that follows represents supporters of the VVF Annual Fund who gave a gift between June 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015. Thank you to all of our loyal donors.
Cornerstone Friends Karen R. Masano & John M. Arnold Judy & Howard Berkowitz Kathy & Bjorn Erik Borgen Ann Smead & Michael Byram LeeAnn & Jeffrey Ettinger Martha Head & John A. Feagin, M.D. Pat & Pete Frechette Donna Giordano Karen & Michael Herman Leni & Peter May Sherri & Robert L. Patton, Jr. Vikki & Michael Price Mary Sue & Michael Shannon Marcy & Gerald Spector Oscar Tang Family
Friends of Vail Judy Hart Angelo & John M. Angelo Susan & Dale Benditz
Marlene & John Boll Kelly & Sam Bronfman Doe Browning Patsy & Pedro Cerisola Lucy & Ron Davis Renee & Todd Davison Marijke & Lodewijk DeVink Barbara & Thomas Dooley Julie & Bill Esrey Stephanie & Larry Flinn Susan & Harry Frampton Margie & Tom Gart Georgia & Donald Gogel Lyn Goldstein Jeanne & James Gustafson Viviana & George Handtmann Rick Hayes Robert Hernreich Heather & Glenn Hilliard Kathy & Al Hubbard Mr. & Mrs. H. Anthony Ittleson Susu & George Johnson Diane Pitt & Mitchell Karlin Cynnie & Peter Kellogg Ruth & Sidney Lapidus Vicki & Kent Logan Patricia & Frank Lynch Matilde & Alejandro Marti / The Sebastian - Vail Shirley & William S. McIntyre Amanda & Neal Moszkowski Vicki & Trygve Myhren Terri & Michael Noell Jean & Raymond Oglethorpe Molly & Jay Precourt Mary & Steven Read Sara & Eric Resnick J. Douglas Rippeto Maru & Jorge Rojas June & Paul Rossetti Lisa & Kenneth Schanzer Helen & Charles Schwab Helen & Vincent Sheehy Sydney & Stanley S. Shuman Rupinder Sidhu Bill Stolzer Sarah Nash & Michael Sylvester James W. Taylor Denise O’Leary & Kent Thiry Deborah & Fred Tresca Debra & Ken Tuchman Linda & Stew Turley Barbara & Richard Wenninger Kristy & Bill Woolfolk
Eagle Program Libby Anschutz Bacca Foundation Ron & Lisa Brill Charitable Trust Angela & Peter Dal Pezzo Lisa & Bruce Goldman Georgia & Robert Hatcher Tara & Robert Levine Nicole & Steve Lucido Wales Madden, Jr. Michele & David Mittelman Amy & James Regan Margie & Charles Steinmetz
Eagle Medallion Anonymous Vicki & Dr. Garry Boxer Susan & Jeff Campbell Kaye & Bud Isaacs Roberta & Michael Joseph Sarah & Peter Millett Kristen Nostrand Senenne & Marc Philippon Sue & Martin Solomon William Sterett, M.D. Marjorie A. Swig Laura D. Tumperi Jan & Greg Winchester
Champions Circle Anonymous (2) Phyllis & Steve Anderson Ann Newman & Andy Arnold Marilyn Augur Linda & Thomas Barrow Jeanne & Joe Brandmeyer Devon & Peter Briger Carol & Harry Cebron Kay & Thomas Clanton Jane & Reed Eberly Trish Fillo Peggy Fossett Joan Francis Laura & William Frick Elizabeth Galvin George Family Foundation, Penny & Bill George Sheika & Pepi Gramshammer Amy & Patrick Heckethorn Mindy & Andrew Heyer Kiwi & Landon Hilliard Sarah & Christopher Hunt Alexia & Jerome Jurschak Patty & Bill Kleh Marlene & Benjamin Krell Sue & Jim Liken Beth & Larry Mathis Carolyn & Gene Mercy Alejandra & Tomas Milmo Sissel & Richard Pomboy Suzanne & Bernie Scharf Elaine & Steven Schwartzreich Kerri & Steven Siegel Janis & Ronald Simon Harvey Simpson Elizabeth & Rodney Slifer Nancy & John Snyder Gay & Richard Steadman Brooke & Hap Stein Sally & Gregg Tryhus Laura & Stephen Wehrle Pamela & Steven Wexler Joan Whittenberg Marilyn & Ron Wollard
Legends Circle Thomas Barnett Marcella & Robert Barry Norma & Charles Carter Kathleen & Jack Eck William E. Ford Marshall Gordon Rebecca & Stuart Green #VAILDANCE 41
UNDERWRITERS & DONORS Kim Gustafson Deborah Wittman & Rik Heid Kenton Hopkins Daney & Lee Klingenstein Stephanie & Rod Linafelter Diane & Louis Loosbrock Polly & Mark Peterson Wendy & Paul Raether Rella & Monroe Rifkin Neera & Rajendra Singh Jon & Nancy Tellor Family Foundation Lisa & Mark Walsh Cynthia & Chris Ware Margaret & Loyal Wilson
Future Founders Club Anonymous Holly Adams Jennifer & David Adkins Sheldon D. Andrew & Jeffrey D. Byrne Christina & Balz Arrigoni Christian Avignon Dierdre & Ronnie Baker Elise & Brian Barish Alix & Hans Berglund Terre & Jack Bergman Jane & Robert Berry Randi Borgen Brooke & Jon-Erik Borgen Jacqueline & Donald Brennan Michael Brown Robin & Tom Burch Susan & Graham Burton Susan Catalano Tokuko & William Chapin James Chase Travis Coggin Rebecca & Joseph Crosbie Julie & Michael Current Sharon Dennis Andrea Eddy Lois & Stephen Eisen Erika & Matt Fitzgerald Jennifer & Richard Geisman Helen & Russell Gies Andrea & Michael Glass Lisa & Jerry Greenberg Lori & Arthur Greenfeder Doris Dewton & Richard Gretz Pamela & David Gross Bethany & Jonathan Haerter Michelle & Bobby Head Sally & Kyle Hybl Kristel & B.J. Hybl Alex & David Hyde Shelly & Chris Jarnot Cheryl & Bill Jensen Tait Johnson John Kaufman Kathy & Neal Kimmel Barbara & Michael Landry Janie & Bobby Lipnick Carol & Douglas Lovell Alison & Tim McAdam Ingrid & Sean McGinley Heather & J.P. McInerny Nancy & Robert McLeod
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Ellen & Jean-Claude Moritz Kaia & Misha Moritz Louise & Tradd Newton Wendy & Skip Nichamin Malia & Jay Nobrega Rosanne & Gary Oatey Laurie & David O’Connell Jennifer Alsever & Kevin O’Donnell Matthew Olson Marlys & Ralph Palumbo Marian & Philip Paolilli Amanda Precourt Kerry & Justin Roach Alysa & Jonathan Rotella Krizia Naegele-Routh & Michael Routh Erik Sale Stacey Sapp Pamela & Frank Saxton Nancy Wolk & David Schlendorf Melanie & Timothy Schmieding Gayle & Doug Schwartz Lina & Theodore Shipman Kristin Tang & Mike Marston Susan & Robert Tartre Tim Tyler Drs. Jean & Alec Urquhart Meredith & Ryan Van Ness Kathryn & Leo Vecellio Jacqueline Hurlbutt & Norman Waite Allison Krausen & Kyle Webb Kathryn & Michael Weller Teresa & Paul Wible Heidi Witherell, M.D. Kris & August Wittenberg Kristin Yantis
Presidents Circle Brenda & Joe Adeeb Roxanne & Ed Anderson Amy Becher Jayne & Paul Becker Kara & Farley Bolwell Diane & Jeff Brundage Christine & George Burns Janis Burrow Kathryn & David Campbell Patti & John Cogswell Mary Ellen & Stanley Cope Mary Ellen & Bob Darretta Reg & Michelle Del Ponte Kara Horner & Spencer Denison Jacqueline Deveric Paulette & Gil DiGiannantonio Julia & Simon Dixon Irene & Jared Drescher Jerilyn & Steven Erickson Thos Evans Marty & John Farrell Wendy & Alan Feldman FirstBank Holding Company Cookie & Jim Flaum Terry & John Forester Miriam & Morris Futernick Christopher Galvin Vivien & Andrew Greenberg Nancy Mezey-Groff & Neal Groff Susan & Murray Haber
Roslyn & Ralph Halbert Jennifer & Kyle Hansen Stephanie & John Hanson Craig Held Cathy & Graham Hollis Kathy & William Hybl Terrie & Doug Ideker Mary Sue & Stephen Katz Elaine & Art Kelton Michele & Joel Kennedy Myrna & Robert Krohn Jennifer Lansing Karen Lechner & Mark Murphy Elaine & Jeff Lovell Nancy & Richard Lubin Dora Beatty & Peter Macdonald Susan & John W. Madden III Katie & Randall Marcus May Family Foundation Brenda & Joe McHugh Nancy & Matt McKenna Patricia & Charles McMunn Diane & Paul McNamara Jan & John Meck Laura Awazu & David Moromisato J.R. Musser Allison & Frank Navarro Patricia Pacey & Charles Neinas Eric Noreen Mary Beth & Charles O’Reilly Thomas Paulson Jackie & James Power Happy & JP Power Andrea Markezin & Joel Press Judy Holmes & James Progin Enterprise Holdings Foundation Martha Rehm & Cherryl Hobart Michael Reisinger Leslie & Tristan Renz Ann & Ronald Riley Judy & Kenneth Robins Beverly Roble Nancy & Robert Rosen Sarah & Bill Ross William Russell III Stacy Sadler Lisa & Ken Schapiro Leroy and Connie Schmidt Family Foundation Carole & Peter Segal Kelley & James Smith Colleen & John Sorte Jamie & John Stone Suzanne & Michael Tennenbaum Thistle & Rose Foundation Kate & Scott Turnipseed Mark Tuttle Diane & Marshall Wallach Jill & Robert Warner Susan & Thomas Washing Mindy & Gregory White Megan & Nick Wilder Dee Wisor Barbara & J.R. Woodhull
2015 Fringe Festival Events
DANCING IN THE PARK A family-friendly dance experience Wednesday, July 29 at 5:30pm Nottingham Performance Pavilion, Avon Free
LINE DANCING WITH URBAN COWBOY’S CHAD SCHIRO
8150 URBAN DANCE CHALLENGE
July 31 at 5:30pm Live Music by Derringer The Arrabelle Square, Vail Free
Dance crews compete for the title and the chance to perform in Dance House: Ballroom/Dance TV Remix Tuesday, July 21 at 6:30pm Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail Free
NYCB Artist - Ballet Saturday, July 25 at 5pm Tiler Peck - Ballet Thursday, July 30 at 10am (More to be announced)
Photos by Erin Baiano
“BALLET 422” SCREENING + Q&A WITH NYCB’S LAUREN LOVETTE A film celebrating National Dance Day and the art of ballet choreography Saturday, July 25 at 3pm Vail Mountain School Auditorium, Vail Free
MASTER CLASS SERIES
Sponsored by BodyWrappers with additional support provided by friends & family of Patricia Riggin FESTIVAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM Each summer, the Festival proudly hosts students pursuing a career in the arts. This fast-paced program gives students first-hand experience in playing a part in the Festival’s success. Sponsored by Jody & John Arnhold for their dedication to education in the arts.
Sponsored by Vail Friends of the Dance #VAILDANCE 43
DANCE COMPANIES
Photo by Sue Daniels
Photo by Erin Baiano
BALLETX
COLORADO BALLET
BalletX, Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet company, unites distinguished choreographers with an outstanding roster of world-class dancers to forge new works of athleticism, emotion, and grace. Through the daring vision of its awardwinning founders Christine Cox and Matthew Neenan, BalletX challenges the boundaries of classical ballet by encouraging formal experimentation while preserving rigorous technique. The company is committed to producing new works of the highest quality and integrity that bring the combined visions of choreographers and dancers to life and cultivate in audiences a collective appetite for bold, new dance.
Established in 1961, Colorado Ballet is a non-profit organization celebrating more than 50 years of presenting world-class classical ballet and innovative contemporary dance. Colorado Ballet is a multi-faceted institution, encompassing a 30-member professional performing company, a studio company for advanced dance students who aspire to professional careers in dance, an Academy instructing the next generation of dancers, and an amazing education and outreach department that enables thousands to experience the magic of dance. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Gil Boggs and his artistic team, Colorado Ballet remains committed to producing the highest dance possible.
Christine Cox: Founder, Artistic Director Matthew Neenan: Founder, Choreographer
Edgar Anido Chloe Felesina Francesca Forcella Gary W. Jeter II Zachary Kapeluck Skyler Lubin Daniel Mayo Caili Quan Richard Villaverde Andrea Yorita
Rosie Langabeer, Composer Isaac Stanford, Musician Andrew March, Musician Josh Machiz, Musician
MUSICAL GROUPS
Dana Benton Francisco Estevez Domenico Luciano Maria Mosina Christophor Moulton Asuka Sasaki
Corps de Ballet: Morgan Buchanan Mackenzie Dessens Emily Dixon Tracy Jones Fernanda Oliveira Alexander Pullen Emily Speed Sarah Tryon Melissa Zoebisch
BROOKLYN RIDER COLIN JACOBSEN • JOHNNY GANDELSMAN • NICHOLAS CORDS • ERIC JACOBSEN
Photo by Sarah Small
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Artistic Director, Gil Boggs
Hailed as “the future of chamber music” (Strings), Brooklyn Rider offers eclectic repertoire in gripping performances that continue to attract legions of fans and draw rave reviews from classical, world, and rock critics alike. Celebrating its tenth anniversary with its most ambitious venture to date, Brooklyn Rider launched 2014-15 with the Brooklyn Rider Almanac, a groundbreaking multi-disciplinary project centered around an album of the same name.
Please refer to VailDance.org for individual artist biographies.
Photo by Carlos Quezada
Photo by Janelle Jones
COMPAÑÍA NACIONAL
DANCE HEGINBOTHAM
DE DANZA DE MÉXICO
Artistic Director: John Heginbotham
Artistic Director: Laura Morelos
With an over 50-year history, the CND de Mexico is committed to the expression of classical ballet and contemporary works, while striving to preserve and promote traditional classical repertoire. CND promotes contemporary art to encourage the exploration of new national and international dance for people of all ages and nationalities. One of the main purposes of the National Dance Company is to enrich the artistic work of the country of Mexico and promote innovative choreographic projects by the use of alternative spaces, multidisciplinary proposals, new projects, and revitalizing the classics. Ana Elisa Mena Monica Barragán Greta Elizondo Rodrigo Ortega Yubal Morales Alicia Hauffray
Monica Arroyo Yoalli Sousa Michele Cutri Alexander Pineda Alejandro Mendoza Fabián Morales
Founded in 2011, Dance Heginbotham (DH) had its world premiere in January of 2012 at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and has since been presented by Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, among others. In addition to performances in Vail, the 2015-16 season will also include DH’s debut at The Joyce Theater and a tour to Indonesia, Laos, and the Philippines as part of the DanceMotion USASM program, a collaboration between the US Department of State and BAM. John Eirich Kristen Foote Lindsey Jones Courtney Lopes Weaver Rhodes Sarah Stanley Macy Sullivan
SAVION GLOVER & THE OTHERZ Under the musical direction of Savion Glover, THE OTHERZ would be the first quartet to allow the sound of tap dancing to be recognized as an additional instrument and as part of the band. Inspired by John Coltrane, Savion Glover and The Otherz continue to pay homage to such jazz greats through song while highlighting tap dance as the leading instrument. Celebrating tap dance to sound and sound to the dance, Mr. Glover uses this platform to recognize not only the Masters of Tap but also some of the greatest musicians that can influence one’s life and approach to tap dancing.
Photo by Rex Keep
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FESTIVAL ARTISTS Please visit VailDance.org for complete artist profiles.
MARQUIS ARTISTS AND
Artists-InResidence
MUSICIANS CARLA KÖRBES Artist-In-Residence, Ballerina
ANDREA SELBY Artist-In-Residence, Illustrator
Dancers/ Choreographers
ANALÍA CENTURIÓN Argentine Tangoist
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JARED ANGLE New York City Ballet
ISABELLA BOYLSTON American Ballet Theatre
LIL BUCK Memphis Jooker
ZACHARY CATAZARO New York City Ballet
ALEJANDRO CERRUDO Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
DMITRY CHAPLIN Dancing With The Stars Professional
LIANA CHURILOVA Ballroom Dance Champion
JEFFREY CIRIO Boston Ballet
HARRISON COLL New York City Ballet/ BalletCollective
American Ballet Theatre
MISTY COPELAND
HERMAN CORNEJO American Ballet Theatre
JULIET DOHERTY Scholar-In-Residence
ALTAN DUGARAA Boston Ballet
CHASE FINLAY New York City Ballet
ANGELICA GENEROSA Pacific Northwest Ballet
JOSEPH GORDON New York City Ballet
BILL IRWIN Actor, Clown & Dancer
RUSSELL JANZEN New York City Ballet
MISA KURANAGA Boston Ballet
ASHLEY LARACEY New York City Ballet/ BalletCollective
LAUREN LOVETTE New York City Ballet
ADI MALCOLM Dubstep Dancer
SARA MEARNS New York City Ballet
GABRIEL MISSÉ Argentine Tangoist
RASHAUN MITCHELL Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener
RON “PRIME TYME” MYLES Memphis Jooker
ANTONIO DOUTHIT-BOYD Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
ELENA HEISS
Alma Flamenca
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FESTIVAL ARTISTS Please visit VailDance.org for complete artist profiles.
KING CHARLES Chicago Footwork Dancer
TILER PECK New York City Ballet
UNITY PHELAN New York City Ballet
EMMANUEL PIERRESILAS RIENER Rashaun Mitchell + Silas ANTOINE Ballroom Dance Champion Riener
CALVIN ROYAL III American Ballet Theatre
FANG-YI SHEU Fang-Yi Sheu & Artists
TROY SCHUMACHER BalletCollective Director/ Choreographer
LINDA CELESTE SIMS Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
ARIAN MOLINA SOCA Pennsylvania Ballet/ National Ballet of Cuba
CORY STEARNS American Ballet Theatre
AMELIA STURT-DILLEY Charlotte Ballet
MATTHEW NEENAN Choreographer
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RINGMASTER NUGGET Flex Dancer
GRETCHEN SMITH New York City Ballet
YUAN YUAN TAN San Francisco Ballet
PAM TANOWITZ Pam Tanowitz Dance Director/Choreographer
MELISSA TOOGOOD Pam Tanowitz Dance, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener
ANNA TREBUNSKAYA Dancing With The Stars Professional
WENDY WHELAN
ROSIE LANGABEER Composer: Sunset, o639 Hours
CRISTINA PATO Galatian Bagpipe
AMY YAKIMA So You Think You Can Dance Winner
Musicians
SANDEEP DAS CAMERON GRANT Piano, New York City Ballet Tabla
GYAN RILEY Guitar
GREG SAUNIER Drums
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GOLD SPONSORS Town of Vail Vail Resorts Volvo EverBank SILVER SPONSORS Colorado Mountain Express Korbel California Champagne Body Wrappers Tom Gore Vineyards COMMUNITY SPONSORS Dean Johnson Management FirstBank The Gallegos Corporation Vail Integrative Medical Group Eye Pieces of Vail Squash Blossom Crazy Mountain Brewing Company LODGING PARTNERS Manor Vail Lodge Antlers at Vail Vail Cascade Resort & Spa Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa Vail Spa and Condominiums Sun Vail Sonnenalp Resort Vail East West Resorts Vail Marriott Mountain Resort The Christie Lodge Beaver Creek West SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS Blue Moose Brain Maloney Chad Schiro Christy Sports Consulate General of Mexico and the Mexican Cultural Center in Denver Emily Hayduk Erik Williams Greg Garman Greg Jones Holly Cole, Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine Jonathan Katz Kent Pettit The Keith Haring Foundation LaTour Lionshead Merchants Association Shelly & Chris Jarnot Town of Avon Tracey Van Curan, Foods of Vail Tricia Swenson Vail Mountain School Vanessa Thomassie VVF/VIDF STAFF Ceil Folz, President Damian Woetzel, Festival Artistic Director Martha Brassel, Director of Development & Operations Martin Nieves, Festival Manager Meredith Steinke, Festival Coordinator Russell Kaiser, Rehearsal Director Igor Burlak, Artistic Coordinator Anna Rogovoy, Artistic Administrator Tricia Toliver, Director of Production Lisa Leonhardt, Production Stage Manager Sarissa Michaud, Stage Manager Brianna Johnson, Assistant Stage Manager I 50 VAILDANCE.ORG
Veronica Falborn, Assistant Stage Manager II Jim Leitner, Production Lighting Designer Aaron Copp, Lighting Designer Scott Calder, Master Electrician Mark Valenzuela, Sound Engineer Meghan Rose Murphy, Sound Assistant Todd Howe, Sound Advisor Jan Hiland, Wardrobe Mistress Alexa Larson, Wardrobe Assistant Julia Salerno, Lodging Manager Matt Andrews, Transportation Manager Berneil Bannon, Volunteer Front of House Coordinator Linda Nielsen, Transportation Volunteer Coordinator Duncan Horner, VP of Marketing Paul Abling, Senior Marketing & PR Manager Shelley Woodworth, Marketing & PR Alix Miller, Assistant Marketing Manager Jennifer Craig-Geisman, Public Relations Kate Penner, New Media Editor Erin Baiano, Festival Photographer Nel Shelby, Festival Videographer Mike Imhof, Senior VP of Sales and Development Jessica Stevens, Sponsorship Sales Manager Sacha Kostick, Sales & Operations Coordinator Arte Davies, Director of Social Events Tina Vardaman, Sr. Director of Development Patrice Ringler, Director of Major Giving Vicki Flynn, Director of Development Meredith Kennedy, Membership & Donor Relations Manager Emily Sessler, Development Manager Erin Hall, Database Administrator Helen Gies, Accountant Erin Cornelius, Bookkeeper Kevin Rowe, IT Manager VIDF INTERNS Geraldine Abilo Ayla Allen David Allen Chantilly Chiles Holly Fucci Katherine Sayre Cameron Scott Savanna Shurman Kevin Silverstein Sarah Silverblatt-Buser Shelby Seier Jamie Vadnal Tessa Vlaar Nathan Walker AMBASSADOR TEAM Rocky Walder, Coordinator Colby Wilson, Coordinator Grace Anderson Chapin Benway Camrie Brey Annie Cerovich Alicia Chavez Katie Deck Yvette Emmer Ashley Forche Hannah Geisman Calley Gottbehuet Allie Gruber Audrey Howell Harry Jaffe Olivia Jones
Photo by Erin Baiano
Rachel Keith Serena Kozusko Alec Mauro Clementine Perkins Megan Plancher Lauren Vossler Sophia Walder Camryn Woodworth GRFA & VPAC BOX OFFICE STAFF Teri Madigan Darlane Ruebsam Jan Sackbauer Sharon Smith Kayla Kramer Chris Whitney Karen Coats Kasey Stump Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater Staff Jennifer Mason, Director Patrick Zimmerman, Production Manager Peter Blosten, House Manager Lauren Gary, Box Office Manager VILAR PERFORMING ARTS CENTER STAFF Kris Sabel, Executive Director Erik Brown, Technical Director Dean Davis, Facilities Manager Kimberly Hanold, Administrative Coordinator Stephanie Johnson, Business Manager LeeAnn Marshall, Community Relations Manager Charlotte Muir, Box Office & Events Manager Beth Pond, Development Officer Aja Vogelman, Assistant Technical Director CELEBRATE THE BEAT STAFF Tracy Straus, Artistic Director Tony Kieraldo, Musical Director Jacob Lidard, Co-Musical Director Dan Rubinoff, Executive Director Colleen Macomber, Mexico Program Director/Teaching Artist Kris Ashley, Vail Program Director/ Teaching Artist Lauren DesCombes, Pwr Hrs Program Manager
FIVE-STAR DINING. THOUSANDSTAR VIEWS.
#VAILDANCE 51
DREAMING
Three of the Festival’s acclaimed artists share their paths to the world’s greatest stages.
W
BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI
All photos by Erin Baiano
hen one watches Robert Fairchild, Tiler Peck and Charles “Lil Buck” Riley captivate audiences with their impeccable technique and exquisite artistry, it is hard to imagine that all three of these virtuosic dancers once shunned the traditional dance form early in their careers. As a child, Peck feigned illness to evade her regularly scheduled ballet classes. Fairchild considered it too feminine. And Lil’ Buck danced in sneakers and wouldn’t dream of touching tights. Nevertheless, ballet ultimately spun its way into each of their lives, leading these acclaimed artists to even higher artistic paths.
Lil Buck: Following the Bliss
F
or Lil Buck, ballet training came unexpectedly. He first encountered jookin — a distinctly smooth, gliding style of street dance — at age 12 through his sister, and he was instantly reminded of videos he had seen of Michael Jackson dancing. “It intrigued me so much — how he could do that and make it look so effortless,” Lil Buck says, “and I wanted to do that.” The Memphis-born jookin style looked to him as though “you were floating in midair — gliding across the carpet like nothing.” After three years of practicing every day (“crazy hours, from sun up to sundown,” he says), he embarked on a mission to share this underground Southern street dance with the world. Little did he know that it would lead him to more exposure in the ballet world than he could ever imagine.
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Katie Smythe, founder and artistic director of New Ballet Ensemble in Memphis, took notice of his innate talents and offered him a scholarship to her school. He accepted, on the condition he didn’t have to wear tights. She agreed, on the condition he teach her ballet students hip-hop. He soon found that ballet technique classes not only made his body more flexible, but also stretched his mind by inspiring him to incorporate a variety of dance styles into his existing movement vocabulary. He discovered he enjoyed dancing to different types of music, including classical, because “you always
“I DECIDED TO GO FOR IT — NO RISKS, NO REWARDS.”
get a different feeling” with each one. After three years of training in both jookin and ballet, Lil Buck decided that he did not want a Plan B for his life. “I put all my eggs in one basket,” he says, “which actually pushed me to put as much work in it as I did.” He began posting videos on YouTube and creating DVDs to expose the dance style to a wider audience, which led to two L.A. producers offering him a one-way ticket to the West Coast city. “I decided to go for it — no risks, no rewards,” he says. “My mom gave me $20, and I stayed with friends to get on my feet.” He also “put in the grind” by performing on the streets of Santa Monica and auditioning for commercials and music videos. “I just stayed with it. It always just made me happy,” he says. It was one YouTube video in particular — his sinuous, serpentine interpretation of the ballet “Swan Lake” to Camille SaintSaëns’s “The Swan,” coached by Smythe
Tiler Peck
— that would ultimately skyrocket him to fame. After spotting the video on YouTube, former NYCB ballerina Heather Watts shared the clip with her husband, VIDF Director Damian Woetzel, who contacted Lil Buck and orchestrated a collaboration with his frequent collaborator cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The performance was captured and posted by director Spike Jonze, and it soon went viral. (The current view count is at 2.4 million and rising). That jaw-dropping performance was the first of Lil Buck’s many forays into the highest echelons of the ballet world; recent projects include two dance films directed by choreographer Benjamin Millepied and a New York City Ballet premiere choreographed by Parisian artist JR for the company’s 2014 spring gala. He also recently won a prestigious Bessie Award for a performance directed by Woetzel at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City. Lil Buck simultaneously found success on the commercial side as well, likening jookin to “a new piece of candy” that everyone wanted to try. Everyone including Janelle Monáe and Madonna, it turned out. When MTV nominated Monáe’s music video, showcasing Lil Buck, for Best Choreography, he was shocked. “It gets real at certain moments,” he says. While
Robert Fairchild
he wasn’t familiar with Madonna’s music when he first auditioned for the singer’s tour, he is now preparing to accompany her on a second one and considers her a close friend. As Lil Buck continues to take the dance world by storm — current projects include music videos, live concerts, independent films, modeling, international outreach, and more — he is committed to doing his part “to have jookin be essential to the dance world — on the same level as ballet and contemporary dance.” “I want people to know: No dream is too big, because the dreams I had back in the day — now I realize how small they were,” he says. “It’s all in your drive and your persistence.”
Peck and Fairchild: A Love Story
“A
s soon as I could walk, I was dancing,” says NYCB principal Tiler Peck. Her mother owned a dance studio in Bakersfield, CA, and she picked up choreography so quickly that by age three, she could perform 2 ½-minute routines. By age six, she was starring in commercials. Jazz, acting and singing became part of her daily routine.
Ballet, on the other hand, was a complete bore. “The steps seemed slow,” recalls Peck, “and jazz was more free.” Coincidentally, she began “getting sick” whenever ballet lessons rolled around, but her mother quickly put an end to that tactic. “She said, ‘If you can’t do ballet, you can’t do jazz; you can’t be a good dancer without some kind of ballet training.” Peck acquiesced, and at age seven began private lessons with a former Bolshoi Ballet dancer. She remembers thinking, “Oh my gosh, this is like torture. [It’s] even slower than before.” By age 11, Peck’s growing love for performing lured her toward the Great White Way, and she flew to New York with her mother to audition for the Broadway revival of “The Music Man.” Much to their surprise, she landed the part, and her mother questioned whether it was too soon of a move. “What if I never get to be on Broadway?” she asked her mother. “Then I’ve missed out on a great opportunity.” Her Russian ballet teacher also objected initially, worried that eight Broadway shows a week would weaken Peck’s ballet technique. As a compromise, Peck agreed to attend the prestigious School
#VAILDANCE 53
of American Ballet to maintain her form — a decision that ultimately proved lifechanging. There, she studied Balanchine technique, which she found “more interesting [because] it wasn’t always so classical; the style is ingrained in the musicality [like jazz].” It also challenged her unlike anything ever had. “I thought, ‘Well, this isn’t boring,’” she says. “It was not something I felt like I could quite handle; the other things came s so easy.” Then she saw New York City Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker,” and it sealed the deal. “I want to dance on that stage someday,” she recalls thinking. The rest is history; Peck rose quickly to the top, joining New York City Ballet at age 15 as the company’s youngest dancer. Her exquisite artistry is buoyed by her effortless stage presence, a combination that recently brought her life full-circle with the invitation to star in the Kennedy Center musical “Little Dancer,” directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman and based on the life of the young model for Edgar Degas’ eponymous 1881 sculpture. Peck’s fellow NYCB principal dancer Robert Fairchild shares a similar trajectory, one that would ultimately intertwine them offstage as well. At age four, Salt Lake City native Fairchild began taking dance classes with his sister Megan, who is four years his senior and also became a NYCB principal. Though he loved jazz and was curious about ballet because of his sister’s passions, he only admitted to his friends that he studied hiphop and tap. “It’s hard, growing up in Salt Lake City; if you didn’t play football, you were kind of a weirdo,” he says. “Tap and hip-hop, in my mind, were the most okay things to do. I didn’t tell them about the rest.” But he secretly idolized Gene Kelly, and dreamed of performing in musicals as his role model had. At age 13, Fairchild traveled to New York City to visit Megan and took a jazz class
while in town. He and Peck were the only young students in the class. They met, they talked, and they became best friends. Megan’s devotion to ballet inspired Fairchild to take up the technique more seriously, and, two years later, he enrolled in a summer session at the School of American Ballet. And as Fairchild fell for ballet, he began to fall for Peck too. “I started crushing on her, and we dated on and off,” he says. After high school, they moved out of the ballet school’s dorms and “took time apart.” Nevertheless, Fairchild was the first person Peck hugged when they were named principals together in the New York City Ballet, she at 20 and he at 22. Together, they lived through the highs and lows of growing up quickly, being among New York City Ballet’s youngest members, and dealing with injuries. One of Peck’s lows came in 2007, in the form of a stress fracture in her back — an injury that would keep her away from the studio and stage for half a year. Despite the debilitating setback, Peck credits the experience as having helped her to mature, both as a dancer and a person. “I learned what it feels like to be vulnerable, and that adds a certain dimension to my dancing,” she says. She discovered that “stillness, or quiet moments, are some of the most important,” which was borne out in performances throughout that time with then NYCB principal dancer Damian Woetzel who was in his final years at the company. “I knew when I saw Tiler for the first time onstage I simply had to dance with her,” said Woetzel. “Her innate musicality was so far beyond being ‘on the music,’ and even though she was many years my junior and just beginning as I was finishing, her imagination and theatricality made up the space between us.” As Peck matured, so did Fairchild. A few years later, he decided to make her his dancing partner for life. “I knew it was the right moment and the right girl,” Fairchild says. The couple married in June
over flow from previous story
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of last year. The excitement was multiplied by both dancers’ impending debuts, as Fairchild had recently scored the “too good to be true,” “once-in-a-lifetime experience” of starring in the new Broadway musical “An American in Paris”— aptly, in Gene Kelly’s original role of Jerry Mulligan. Though Fairchild’s jazz and tap background lent him a solid foundation for the role, it was ultimately his ballet training that brought it all together. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fairchild shared that director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, also a former NYCB dancer and frequent Vail Festival participant, was adamant about giving the character of Mulligan a “jazz-ballet” movement vocabulary. The on-point portrayal earned Fairchild a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award nomination for Lead Actor in a Musical, and Wheeldon himself won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Choreography.
“IT’S HARD, GROWING UP IN SALT LAKE CITY; IF YOU DIDN’T PLAY FOOTBALL, YOU WERE KIND OF A WEIRDO” The Vail International Dance Festival salutes Fairchild from afar this year, as he continues to take Broadway by storm and remains in New York City to perform in American in Paris throughout the summer. He will perform with NYCB again this fall, and we look forward to welcoming him back to Vail in 2016.
Practice made perfect. Working among the nation’s most selective plastic surgery clientele in Santa Monica, California for more than two decades has helped Dr. Jeffrey Resnick become a master at face, breast and body contouring. Fortunately for us, his artistic talents are available full-time right here in the Vail Valley.
Jeffrey Resnick, MD Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery · Yale University undergraduate studies · University of Pennsylvania Medical School · H arvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital plastic surgery residency · UCLA craniofacial surgery fellowship · USC & UCLA clinical faculty for twenty years · Member American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Vail Institute for Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery ( 970 ) 5 69 -76 5 6
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E D WA R D S , C O L O R A D O
#VAILDANCE 55
Celebrating
BY SUSAN REITER
The works of GEORGE BALANCHINE (1904-1983) have remained timeless touchstones of the ballet repertory into the 21st century. They offer an unending array of challenges to dancers, and are cherished and performed by companies throughout the world. Entire festivals have celebrated his choreography and even then have offered only a selective sampling. Above all, his ballets are deeply connected to the music to which they are set; for Balanchine, all of the movement emerged from the music – and the sophisticated and inventive way in which he heard it. Tiler Peck and Herman Cornejo rehearsing Apollo* in New York City, June 2015.
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The wide-ranging program is built upon works that span the inimitable choreographer’s entire career
The August 9 program will be completed by works set to scores by two composers with whom Balanchine felt an intense kinship — whether in person or in spirit. In past seasons, NYCB has paid homage to each with week-long festivals featuring several ballets set to their works. The music of Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky (1840-1893) inspired the choreographer to create many of his most enduring ballets, ranging from the crystalline grandeur of Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 to the beloved storytelling of The Nutcracker. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), though more than 20 years his senior, was a longtime colleague to whose music Balanchine set numerous ballets throughout his career. In 1960, Balanchine created a virtuosic showpiece, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, to music that was originally composed for the third act of Swan Lake; though the score was lost following its removal from that ballet, it was fortuitously rediscovered in 1953. Balanchine followed the standard format for a classical pas de deux, but infused the work with his trademark musicality and demand for rapid-fire execution; a stunning Adagio leads to solos of remarkable speed and technical daring, followed by an ebullient Coda. Far from formulaic, the work instead drives dancers to inhabit the intricacies of the music so naturally that it appears uniquely intrinsic to each performer.
VIDF features Balanchine repertory on many of its programs, and the Balanchine Celebration on August 9 will provide an illuminating demonstration of the depth and richness of what Balanchine created, performed by leading dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and other companies. The Balanchine Celebration program begins with Concerto Barocco, set to Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, and ends with Who Cares?, set to classic Gershwin songs orchestrated by Hershy Kay. These two ballets lay out the tremendous range of Balanchine’s choreographic gift, with Bach yielding a pure dance classicism, and the Gershwin bringing jazz-age rhythms and the pulse of New York City to the stage.
The two Stravinsky works featured on the Balanchine Celebration program bookend almost the entirety of the choreographer’s career. Balanchine created his earliest surviving ballet, Apollo in 1928 when he was a youthful choreographer for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. At the other end of the spectrum is Elegie, a poignant, mystical solo that was to be his final creation for his longtime muse, the great ballerina Suzanne Farrell. Balanchine choreographed the ballet for NYCB’s 1982 Stravinsky Centennial Celebration, just a year before his death.
George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky rehearse Agon.* Photo by Martha Swope, 1957
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As this wide-ranging program illustrates, Balanchine translated and elevated the music he chose for his dances, whether he choreographed to Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky or Gershwin. His innovative and imaginative works expanded the range and possibilities of classical ballet, making it a truly vibrant and relevant art form for our time.
IF THERE IS A ROLE THAT IS CONSIDERED THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE FOR MALE BALLET DANCERS, IT IS THE TITLE ROLE OF BALANCHINE’S 1928 MASTERWORK, APOLLO. It is a role to which they aspire, and one they approach with a sense of humility and recognition of its supreme stature. This is not because it features the most demanding technical tricks or provides an opportunity for demonstrating prowess in multiple pirouettes. Instead, it is the ballet’s pared-down purity and scrupulously focused directness that require the utmost maturity and imagination. It is the ballet with which Balanchine – at only 24 years-old – came into his own as a true innovator, one who would take classical ballet in a new, contemporary direction. He stripped dancing down to its expressive essence, and evoked character and drama in a distinctly new way. The eminent dance critic Edwin Denby wrote, “Apollo is an homage to the academic ballet tradition – and the first work in the contemporary classic style, but it is an homage to classicism’s sensuous loveliness as well as to its brilliant exactitude and its science of dance effect.” Apollon Musagète (“Apollo, leader of the muses,” as it was originally titled) marked his first collaboration with Igor Stravinsky – the composer to whose music he continued to choreograph a series of brilliant, ever-surprising ballets over many decades. The score’s pristine sonorities and rhythmic intricacy inspired the musically sophisticated Balanchine to choreograph with a similar lucidity. No one would call Apollo a story ballet in the usual sense, but it does feature four identifiable characters: the youthful god Apollo and the three Muses whose embodiment of the art forms they represent help guide him into his maturity. By the end of the piece, Apollo is understood to assume his divine birthright and become the leader of the Muses. Just as the title evolved over time, so did the look of the ballet. Photos of the original, and other early productions show belted Grecian tunics and a more realistic craggy setting. Balanchine consistently pared down the look of the ballet over the course 58 VAILDANCE.ORG
Heather Watts and Mikhail Baryshnikov in George Balanchine’s Apollo.* New York City Ballet 1979. Photo by Steven Caras
of his lifetime, and, in 1979, for a cast led by Mikhail Baryshnikov as Apollo and Heather Watts as Terpsichore, he cut the birth scene that originally opened the ballet. What remains is a ballet of richly evocative clarity, in which every moment speaks volumes. Peter Martins, one of the leading interpreters of the title role, first worked on the piece with Balanchine in 1967. As Martins recalled in his memoir, “He told me I was dancing Apollo too classically, and I was not giving it the suggestions of character and imagery that he had built in... Throughout the ballet, Apollo is exploring, testing possibilities.” The leading Apollo of the previous generation was Jacques d’Amboise, whom Balanchine cast in the role for a major 1957 revival. “This ballet turned around my whole idea about dance,” he said, and he felt, after performing it for well over a decade, “I was never able to get out of Apollo everything that was in it.” Herman Cornejo, who put on a remarkable display of versatility and brilliance as the 2014 Artist-In-Residence, will add Apollo to his extensive repertory at this year’s festival. He will explore aspects of the ballet during the intimate rehearsal-style UpClose: Apollo program on August 5, and his debut in the complete ballet will be a highlight of the August 9 Balanchine Celebration. *Balanchine choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
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A Sense Of Adventure
P
BY SUSAN REITER
resented annually by VIDF, the NOW: Premieres program is a celebration of crosspollination, and an occasion when curiosity, possibility and creativity are given free rein. In matching innovative choreographers with fearless dancers, often from differing genres, the Festival gives both sides the opportunity to venture into uncharted territory to unveil brand new and artistically daring works. This year, participating choreographers include three VIDF stalwarts and four who bring their singular talents to Vail for the first time. Some will work with dancers from their own ensembles, while others will enter the studio and begin creating movement for dancers they have just met.
NOW: Premieres highlights the daring and energy of some of today’s most gifted choreographers Enlivening the program this year are four premieres set to selections from The Brooklyn Rider Almanac, the latest album by the adventurous, category-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider, who return to the festival for the first time since their last appearance in 2012. VIDF newcomer Pam Tanowitz, a New York-based choreographer, boasts a choreographic style and highly refined musicality that have made audiences and critics take note in recent years.
Fang-Yi Sheu in All Will Be Still (Premiere), choreographed by the artist. Photo by Erin Baiano
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Her dense, intricate works exude a penetrating, contemporary sensibility built upon the pristine exactness of the ballet vocabulary. Adventurous and inquisitive in nature, Tanowitz is particularly open to projects with unique challenges. Earlier this year, she created new choreography for six dancers: four from New York City Ballet, and two former Merce Cunningham Dance Company members, an intriguing mix that exemplified the range of her interests and
curiosity. They worked with her during one seven-hour “public rehearsal,” and audience members had the opportunity to observe her process and view completed sections of choreography. As Tanowitz explored the possibilities of the overlapping and contrasting techniques of each dancer, comfort zones were challenged and broadened. Tanowitz is also known for making bold musical choices–she set recent works to scores by Morton Feldman, Charles Wuorinen and Henry Cowell—and her performances nearly always incorporate live music. VIDF premiere for American Ballet Theatre’s Calvin Royal III and NYCB’s Joseph Gordon and Gretchen Smith will be set to several Brooklyn Rider selections. Also presenting their work at VIDF for the first time, and incorporating music from the Almanac, are Silas Riener and Rashaun Mitchell, two stellar former Merce Cunningham dancers who will collaborate as both choreographers and performers. The duo thrives on their differences; Mitchell, a dancer of penetrating focus, is elegantly reserved and quietly riveting, while Riener, a more propulsive force, relishes in exploring extremes. Since the Cunningham Company gave its final performances at the end of 2011, Mitchell and Riener have been on a creative tear, choreographing and performing both individually and together in a wide range of settings. Their works, often unpredictable and experimental, have incorporated texts and highly imaginative costuming, and performance venues have ranged form traditional theaters to outdoor lawns. What is most evident is that they are hungry to explore and unbound by convention. The emergence of choreographer John Heginbotham, who will create a new work for the dancers of his own troupe for the evening, has been a delightful discovery of recent years. A leading and memorable member of the Mark Morris Dance Group (with whom he performed
at VIDF in 2011), he plunged into a creative whirlwind upon departing from the company. Heginbotham shares with Morris a sophisticated musical awareness but demonstrates his own intimate, often whimsical style, and his works resemble chamber music in their precision and scale. Though he will not be working with Brooklyn Rider for this program, Heginbotham’s most recent and fully developed work, Chalk and Soot (2014), was a collaboration with the quartet. Violinist Colin Jacobsen composed the score, which the musicians performed live, positioned amongst the dancers. The collaboration revealed a choreographer eager to explore and take on challenges, and made audiences eager to encounter his next project. Lil Buck has likely become the artist most closely associated with the Festival, having appeared on many of its programs in recent years. Each summer, he mesmerizes audiences with his remarkable Memphis Jookin talents, both by performing captivating solos and participating in collaborations with dancers and choreographers with a remarkably wide range of backgrounds. VIDF’s focus on encouraging artists of varied backgrounds to mingle and share their aesthetic outlooks is reflected in Lil Buck’s own openness to strengthening existing bonds and exploring new possibilities. In the last year alone, he shared the stage with long-time colleagues Ron “Prime Tyme” Myles and Tip Toe for an awe-inspiring virtuosic display and joined forces with Shantala Shivalingappa for the witty Blooming. Lil Buck delights in exploring the movement possibilities in the most unexpected of scores, a characteristic that speaks to the depth of his range as an artist. For this year’s NOW: Premieres, he will forge his own distinctive path with selections from the Almanac, performing with Ron “Prime Tyme” Myles.
The riveting Fang-Yi Sheu is another artist who has become increasingly familiar to VIDF audiences with each passing NOW: Premieres program. The singular artist, formerly of the Martha Graham Dance Company, has demonstrated a particularly fervent openness to crossing stylistic boundaries since leaving the troupe. In past summers, she has performed alongside, and choreographed for, members of New York City Ballet; this year she will create a new duet in which she will perform alongside Boston Ballet’s Altan Dugaraa. Also returning is Matthew Neenan, artistic director of the Philadelphia-based BalletX and a prolific choreographer with a growing national profile. Neenan has offered a number of impressive premieres at the Festival in years past, including 2014’s richly textured Increasing. The cast for that dance interwove NYCB principals and Vail regulars Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild with eight dancers from BalletX, to great acclaim. This year, working with music from the Almanac, Neenan will once again highlight guest artists, featuring ABT principal Isabella Boylston and NYCB soloist Zachary Catazaro alongside his BalletX dancers.
In reviewing last year’s impressive array of premieres, The New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay noted that “the sense of adventure was palpable” and that “crossfertilization [was] abundantly in evidence.” He identified just what makes NOW: Premieres distinctive: “It is an evening that inspires enthusiastic anticipation and delivers rich rewards.”
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Home-Grown Performers Colorado provides a solid foundation for Dance Festival performers BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI
ISABELLA BOYLSTON, PRINCIPAL, AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE A Sun Valley, Idaho native, the beguiling Isabella Boylston was exposed to an active lifestyle at an early age, but it was a family move to Boulder that would ultimately set her on the path to her chosen profession. Boylston enrolled at the Boulder Ballet School at the age of 7 and was immediately taken with its “free-spirited approach to dance,” she recalls. “If the environment had been more strict, I likely wouldn’t have fallen in love with ballet. I felt a natural connection to the physical challenge, and to the freedom and expression and musicality.” By age 12, Boylston was commuting two hours by bus every day to attend the Colorado Ballet Academy in Denver. As her schedule became increasingly demanding, it soon became clear pursuing ballet as a serious profession would require major life changes and, with the support of her family, she soon moved across the country to attend the renowned HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, FL. Boylston’s refined technique, powerful jumps and musicality soon landed her an invitation to join American Ballet Theatre’s prestigious studio company, ABT II. She was made an apprentice the main company a year later, and, by 2007, at age 19, she was accepted into the corps de ballet. “Joining the corps de ballet was a more difficult transition than moving to New York,” Boylston recalls. “I had to be patient and learn how to fit in and be one with the whole, but I struggled
Isabella Boylston, American Ballet Theatre. Photo by Gene Schiavone
with trusting and believing in myself, building confidence, and finding my own voice as a dancer. Boylston’s sites are now set on new artistic goals.
“My dream is to have a full-length ballet created on me,” she says. In the meantime, she is already expanding her creative boundaries into other artistic disciplines, including a featured role in the short film “Early Sunday Morning,” with choreography by Justin Peck, which recently debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. This summer marks Boylston’s third year performing at the Vail International Dance Festival, a trip she says feels “like coming home.”
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AMELIA STURT-DILLEY, CHARLOTTE BALLET
CAMERON GRANT, SOLO PIANIST NEW YORK CITY BALLET Amelia Sturt-Dilley was about 10 years old when her grandfather first escorted her to the Vail International Dance Festival. She had been to the Colorado Ballet’s Nutcracker and watched countless dancers on YouTube, but what she experienced at Vail’s Festival blew her away. It came in the form of flamenco dancers from Spain.
“I loved it,” she says. “I had never really been exposed to such a different aesthetic.” The Festival also opened her to Balanchine choreography, which she had always admired. She began to volunteer at the Festival, to see “the best of the best” and be “exposed to such high quality dancing,” she says.
“I had never felt prettier than when I was doing ballet,” she says. “It was my form of dress-up. I felt like a princess.” After moving to the Vail Valley from Michigan in the second grade, Sturt-Dilley trained at Vail Valley Academy of Dance in Edwards. When she got her first pointe shoes around age 11, her mother asked her, “Are you sure you want to do this?” warning her how pointe shoes deform feet and ballet changes bodies. Her answer: “I don’t care about my feet. This is what I want to do.” After finishing high school, Sturt-Dilley headed to Juilliard, where she graduated this past June. She was offered a position with the Charlotte Ballet, where she has just begun work as a company member. At the Festival in Vail, she will appear on the Dance House and Dance for $20.15 performances, onstage back home living her dream as a professional dancer.
Cameron Grant joined the New York City Ballet in 1984, not as a dancer, but as a solo pianist. Two years later, he was appointed pianist of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and has been an integral part of the organization ever since. Growing up in Denver, Grant didn’t set out to be a worldrenowned pianist. In fact, it was his older brother who captured the attention of Dr. Antonia Brico, who many consider a pioneer in the orchestral world. “She was very exacting, and she expected you to practice hard,” he says. “She expected parents to sit with kids every day while practicing — up to age 12, until I drove my mom away. Everything was about music for her, and I think that’s what it’s like for people who inspire others.” Grant decided to pursue piano in college, figuring, “I’m better at this than anything else, so I’ll give it a shot.” But once he entered the Boston Conservatory, he realized he needed to practice much, much more. Since then, he has practiced every spare minute, he says. After graduation, a high school friend and fellow musician showed up on his doorstep and told him he should move to New York City if he wanted to be a musician. And so he did, accompanying other aspiring performers to see where it all led. “To me, it was kind of thrilling — for a kid just out of college, eating cold sesame noodles at midnight and going, going, going,” he says. “New York City had everything and you met just the most interesting people who would be hard to meet somewhere else.” Grant has performed all the major piano ballets, toured worldwide and performed for the President. He has also gathered plenty of accolades outside of the ballet world, both as a soloist and a collaborator., He sums up the main difference between concert playing and ballet performances in terms of getting “smarter about playing for dancers, so you don’t do something stupid.”
“My inspiration comes from playing with great choreographers and a really good piece. That’s where the magic comes in,” he says. “For 20 years, I’ve played the masterpieces of piano, and it doesn’t get old. I’m happy to be behind the scenes. I don’t need the spotlight to be on me.”
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ADI MALCOLM, DUBSTEP DANCER Born in Englewood and now living in Littleton, Adi Malcolm’s dad raised her in the sport of motocross. But in fifth grade, she “fell in love” with Michael Jackson, his popping and moonwalk captivating her imagination. From there, she delved deeper into the world of popping, gliding, floating, dubbing, waving, and more.
PLAY WELL
“I liked how it didn’t look human at all,” she says, “and how people reacted.” Malcolm has never received formal training, but within a year of learning online and freestyling, she has received calls from “America’s Got Talent,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Queen Latifah, and an L.A. group that wants her to perform in a music video — all by posting a simple YouTube video, she says, that she figured might receive a couple hundred views, at most. But within a couple days, the video went viral, and DeGeneres’ assistants were calling Malcolm’s school to find out exactly who the 11-year-old “Audacious Adi” was. She explains her natural talent as just that. “I think I’m built this way,” she explains. “I’m double jointed way too much. It looks like I have no bones.” Public response to Adi’s dance immersion, meanwhile, came a little too quickly and unexpectedly for the Malcolm family. “She immerses herself in things she’s interested in. Everything happened so fast … and I wasn’t sure what was age appropriate and what she wanted to do,” says her mother, Peggy Malcolm. “But this is something that’s fallen into her life, and it’s opened a lot of doors. She’s gotten to choose what she wants, what works with her schedule.”
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Through it all, Adi still aims to go pro in motocross — if the sport starts promoting girls. So far, both dance and motocross fit into her schedule, and her paradigm. “The physical strength and the mental strength performing in front of people — you have to have a lot of guts to do that,” she says.
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VENUES GERALD R. FORD AMPHITHEATER, VAIL The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail is a spectacular outdoor venue that seats 1,260 guests in covered seating and an additional 1,300 on its expansive grassy hillside with a breathtaking view of the Rocky Mountains. Gates to the venue open one hour prior to showtime. Lawn seating is available on a first come-first served basis. The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater is fully ADA compliant and provides special accommodations for those with limited mobility. Concessions with food and alcohol sales are available at the facility. Picnics, legless chairs and commercially-sealed non-alcoholic beverages are permitted. Bike and stroller parking is available. A complimentary Express Shuttle is available from the top levels of both Town of Vail parking structures. Limited paid parking is available onsite on a first come-first served basis. The following are not permitted at the GRFA: Cameras • Recording Devices • Skateboards • Bicycles • Scooters • In-Line Skates • Smoking • Lawn Chairs • Alcohol
The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail is an outdoor venue located at 530 South Frontage Road East. The GRFA provides covered reserved seating and open-air general admission seating.
VILAR PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Located in the heart of Colorado’s Beaver Creek Resort, the Vilar Performing Arts Center is a 535-seat theater, owned and operated by the Vail Valley Foundation, which presents a variety of year-round performances including Broadway musicals, concerts, family entertainment, comedy, dance, classical music and more. The intimate and inviting performance space of the VPAC was designed to exacting specifications to create perfect acoustics and unobstructed views from every seat. Paid parking at the Vilar Performing Arts Center is available in Village Hall or Villa Montane in Beaver Creek Village. Free parking is available at the base of Beaver Creek Resort with free performance shuttles running on a regular schedule. The Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek is an indoor venue located at 68 Avondale Lane. The VPAC provides exceptional acoustics and sight-lines from every seat.
Vail International Dance Festival Box Office: 888.920.ARTS(2787) 970.845.TIXS(8497) VailDance.org
Follow us: Vail International Dance Festival #VailDance @VailDanceFest
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tist
A Note from the Ar
Andrea Selby M
y art is a visual documentation of the process of developing a dance performance, from the initial idea to the opening night. I have been sketching dance rehearsals and shows since I was a child, when I performed in various productions with the New York City Ballet. My dance teacher, Madame Alexandra Danillova, encouraged me to use my drawing skills to capture the movement of dance, as Degas did. As a child fittingmodel for Madame Karinska, I learned about the many factors involved with making costumes for dance. Through set designer Ruben Terartunian, I began to appreciate the technical complications of making sets for ballet. When I injured my ankle, I brought my sketchpad with me to the ballet to deal with my frustration of not being able to dance. I watched Balanchine work with dancers, musicians, the composer, costume designers and set designers, and I became fascinated by the whole process of creating a ballet. As an adult, I spent many years working as a professional artist and illustrator. Through my friendship with Wendy Whelan, I watched many contemporary choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon create ballets with her and realized the importance of documenting dance creation through my art. I have worked with Damian Woetzel on projects including his DEMO performances with many dancers and musicians who I look forward to seeing again in Vail. Ideally, I try to begin with the choreographer’s ideas and show, through sketches, the development of a ballet into a polished performance. The world of dance is my artistic inspiration and passion. I believe that my artwork, which is often combined with written quotes heard during a rehearsal or backstage, captures the creative process in a way that film and photography cannot. I am thrilled to record through my art the great dancers and creative geniuses at the Vail International Dance Festival.
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V I L A R
P E R F O R M I N G
A R T S
C E N T E R
!
OW N E L A NS
s t n e O v r E k! e m m u 2015 So Beaver Cree t coming
Summ er Sizzl es at the VPAC STAYIN’ ALIVE!
The Bee Gees Tribute THU JUL 2 26-time GRAMMY® Winners VINCE GILL & AMY GRANT
JONNY LANG WED JUL 8
DANCEBRAZIL FRI JUL 10
SWEET HARMONY SOUL
feat. Mavis Staples, Patty Griffin and Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers FRI JUL 17
DON FELDER
A Night at Hotel California TUE JUL 21 An Acoustic Evening with
VINCE GILL & AMY GRANT
© Kristen Barlowe
SAT JUL 25
AARON NEVILLE DUO SUN AUG 2
PINK MARTINI THU AUG 13
JONNY LANG en Ga © Stev
rdner
THE GIPSY KINGS
rsed by
ut
Trib ...The “1964”
t endo e is no
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w liated
or affi
VISIT OUR WEBSITE to view the full season www.vilarpac.org
s, LTD
Corp Apple
feat. Nicolas Reyes & Tonino Baliardo WED AUG 19
PAM TILLIS SAT AUG 22
“1964”...THE TRIBUTE SAT AUG 29
970.845.TIXS L O C A T E D
U N D E R
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