for BalletNOTES BC DANCE
DVD of the Year
in brief
The School of American Ballet has been awarded the National Medal of Arts. Peter Martins, chairman of faculty, received the medal from President Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House in February 2010. On March 10, Houston Ballet held a topping off ceremony to celebrate the completion of the steel structure for its new $53 million Centre for Dance, set to open in spring 2011. St. Petersburg will be hosting the XVIII Stars of the White Nights Music Festival May 21 to July 18, 2010. Go to www.mariinsky.ru for details.
Vaslav Nijinsky’s Rite of Spring
Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer's film project with producer Francois Duplet and Bel-Air Media — the reconstruction of the 1913 Rite of Spring and Firebird with Valery Gergiev conducting — was awarded DVD of the year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards on April 13, 2010.
Spring Seminar
Former Birmingham Royal Ballet principal Iain Mackay has returned to the company, after spending two years in Madrid with Angel Corella’s company. Christian Spuck has been appointed director of the Zurich Ballet, following the announcement of Heinz Spoerli’s retirement at the end of the 2010-2011 season. The Royal Ballet School is to host a conference called Ninette de Valois, Adventurous Traditionalist, in April 2011 to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of the founder of the school and the two Royal Ballet companies. Jacob's Pillow will present the fourth annual Jacob's Pillow Dance Award to Bill T. Jones choreographer, co-founder and artisitic director of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, on June 19, 2010. Guillaume Côté and Zdenek Konvalina's collaborative new creation, Impermanence, premiered at the 73rd annual Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, on May 16, 2010. Impermanence is a multimedia work that features an original score by Côté.
Peter Quanz
Stephanie Saland
The Vancouver Ballet Society held its annual Spring Seminar at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from March 7-13, 2010. Stephanie Saland, former ballerina with New York City Ballet, and Peter Quanz, choreographer, taught the 60 participants. The Seminar concluded with the presentation of $16,000 in scholarships.
European Capital of Culture The cosmopolitan city of Istanbul is celebrating its status as European Capital of Culture in 2010 with year-round events ranging from artist workshops to international competitions — including the second Istanbul International Ballet Competition, July 5-10. The competition, which has been accredited by the General Assembly of the International Federation of Ballet Competitions, aims to create opportunities on an international level for young dancers from around the world. The Istanbul Grand Prix winners will be awarded with 12,500 euros, a medal and a diploma. Kadir Okurer, the last competition’s winner, was ranked second in the Youth America Grand Prix in New York last year.
Eleonora Abbagnato and Benjamin Pech in Paris Opera Ballet’s Artifact Suite Photo: Sebastien Mathe
Danzainfiera Danzainfiera, the world’s largest tradeshow and fair dedicated to dance was held in Florence’s Fortezza de Basso on February 25-28, 2010. Despite the global economic turndown, Danzainfiera closed with an increase of 20 percent in public attendance, a total of 240,000 visitors and 25,000 dancers who performed in four funpacked days of danceoffs, competition, auditions, free dance lessons from Frederic Olivieri and Lavinia Savignoni, and special guest performances. The 2010 fair was the largest ever, with more than 65,000 square metres of exhibition space, seven stages, two new pavilions, and hundreds of dance schools and troupes from across Italy and Europe. Auditions were also held for spots in Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet. The fair concluded with a final performance by Eleonora Abbagnato, of the Paris Opéra Ballet, and dancers from some of Italy’s most prestigious theatres.
20
Dance International
Summer 2010