Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre :: Marquee Encore Atlanta :: January-February 2018

MARQUEE COBB ENERGY PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

SCOTT BRADLEE’S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX FEB. 14

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“ABSOLUTELY

THE NO.1 SHOW IN THE WORLD.”

—Kenn Wells, former lead dancer of the English National Ballet

Art that Connects Heaven & Earth ALL-NEW SHOW WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA

“ I’ve reviewed about 4,000 shows.

None can compare to what I saw tonight.”

—Richard Connema, renowned Broadway critic

“Demonstrating the highest realm in arts. arts.”

—Chi Cao, principal dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet

“Absolutely the greatest of the great!

It must be experienced.”

—Christine Walevska, “goddess of the cello”, watched Shen Yun 5 times

“This is the highest and best of what humans can produce.”

—Oleva Brown-Klahn, singer and musician

“Awe-Inspiring!” “A MUST-SEE!” —

—Broadway World

“The 8th wonder of the world. People have no idea what they're missing until they come here and see the show.”

—Joe Heard, former White House photographer, watched Shen Yun 6 times

APR 4-8, 2018

877-ATL-SHOW (285-7469) ShenYun.com/Atlanta

2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339

Prices: $80- $240

Cobb Energy Centre

Early bird code: Early18 Get best seats & waive fees by 1/15/2018

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MARQUEE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2018

FEATURES ENCOREATLANTA.COM AMP SALES PUBLISHER Tom Casey tomcasey@encoreatlanta.com

6 6 The Nedvigin Touch

By Judith Schonbak

COMING SHOWS 10 Hi-Rez Expo Jan. 4-7

VICE PRESIDENT Ginger Roberts ginger.roberts@encoreatlanta.com DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA Stephanie Smith stephanie.smith@encoreatlanta.com AMP CREATIVE EDITOR Kathy Janich kathy@encoreatlanta.com

11 Darci Lynne and Friends

PRODUCTION MANAGER Mark F. Baxter mark.baxter@encoreatlanta.com

12 The Jason Bishop Show: Double Levitation

DIGITAL MANAGER Ian Carson ian.carson@encoreatlanta.com

14 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kathy Janich, Judith Schonbak

Jan. 13 | 3 & 7 p.m.

Jan. 21 | 3 p.m.

Jan. 24-Feb. 15

16 Sylvia Thomas presents: The New Millinneum Crucifixion Jan. 25 | 8 p.m.

17 In the Mood: A 1940s Musical Revue Jan. 26 | 3 & 8 p.m.

18 My Favorite Murder LIVE

MARQUEE is published by American Media Products Inc. PRESIDENT Tom Casey CHAIRPERSON Diane Casey TREASURY Kristi Casey Sanders SECRETARY Evan Casey CONTROLLER Suzzie Gilham

Jan. 27 | 8 p.m.

19 Atlanta Ballet: Don Quixote Feb. 2-10

20 Atlanta Ballet: Beauty and the Beast Feb. 8-11

22 Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox Feb. 14 | 8 p.m.

23 The Atlanta Opera: Daughter of the Regiment Feb. 24-March 4

American Media Products Inc. 8920 Eves Road, #769479 Roswell, GA 30076 Phone 678.837.4004 Fax 678.837.4066

DEPARTMENTS

4 Welcome 13 Theater Information 27 ArtsBridge donors 28 Venue Staff | ArtsBridge Foundation Staff Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority Leadership | ArtsBridge Foundation

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Copyright 2018 AMP Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Encore Atlanta is a registered publication of AMP Inc. The publisher shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad, for typographical errors or errors in publication. Publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication.

WELCOME

TO COBB ENERGY PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE Happy new year! We begin 2018 with exciting news and a show roster packed with diverse acts.

Our big news is the launch of our Signature Series, which begins with performances this year, all selected from among the many shows Cobb Energy Centre presents. Each is notable for its genre and its appeal to the greater Atlanta community.

Look for series subscriptions in late spring for shows that begin the 2018/19 fall season. They let you choose your favorite seats before tickets go on sale to the general public. For updates, please follow our website (cobbenergycentre.com).

We’re proud of the performances we’ve presented in our first decade but may have outdone ourselves to begin 2018. Name it and we have it: big-band swing with the In the Mood tour; pop, rock and R&B in a yesteryear time machine; a top gaming competition/expo; and 13-year old singer-ventriloquist (and “America’s Got Talent” winner) Darci Lynne Farmer.

Take in world-class ballet; comic opera; and the opening and closing nights of the 18th annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Walk on the comedic dark side with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark of the My Favorite Murder podcast. Read about these acts and more in this issue of Marquee.

We also talk about what’s next for Atlanta Ballet dancers and audiences as artistic director Gennadi Nedvigin begins to make his imprint.

Cobb Energy Centre’s ArtsBridge Foundation continues to offer age-appropriate (K-12) field trips for students; and classes and training for students and educators. Its Family Series brings large-scale illusions to the stage with award-winning magician Jason Bishop.

Stay current at ArtsBridgeGA.org.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We can’t wait to bring you more world-class entertainment throughout 2018.

See you at the theater.

Sandie Aaron Managing Director

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THEATER INFORMATION ATM: An ATM is located in the Grand Lobby.

Concessions: Concession stands are located in the center of the lobbies.

Coat check: Coat check is available at the concierge desk.

Emergency information: In the event of an emergency, please locate the nearest usher who will direct you to the appropriate exit.

Elevators: Elevators are located on each side of the lobbies on all levels.

Lost and found: Lost and Found items are turned into the concierge desk on the day of a performance. To inquire about a lost item, please call Public Safety at 770-916-2911.

Parking: PRE-PAY PARKING AVAILABLE AT COBB ENERGY CENTRE! Cobb Energy Centre is offering pre-paid parking for performances. On each performance page on the Cobb Energy Centre website there is now a button to purchase parking in advance for $12.00. Day-of parking will still be available for $10.00 (cash or credit).

There are 1,000 on-site parking spaces;

700 in a four-level deck and 300 more in a surface lot. Valet parking is available for The Atlanta Opera and Atlanta Ballet only. $10 day of park fee/$12 pre-pay option/$15 valet (cash or credit card).

Restrooms: Restrooms are located on house right and house left of all three lobbies. Family restrooms are also located on house right of all three lobbies. Mobilityimpaired patrons may use any of our restrooms.

Smoking: Smoking is prohibited inside the building. Please use the terrace exit to step outside and smoke.

Special assistance: Persons requiring access assistance are asked to contact the box office at 770-916-2850 for advance arrangements. Audio clarification devices are available to our hearing-impaired guests at no charge. This is on a first come–first served basis. A limited number of booster seats are also available. Wheelchairs are available upon request. All items require a form of identification to be held until the item is returned.

COBB ENERGY CENTRE REQUESTS: • All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket in order to be admitted to the performance. Please be aware that not all events are suitable for children. Infants will not be admitted to adult programs.

Parents will be asked to remove children who create a disturbance.

• Please turn off all cellphones before each performance. Please limit conversation during the performance.

• Audio & video recording devices are strictly prohibited at all times.

• Leaving while the show is in progress is discourteous, and we ask that you refrain from doing so.

• Please unwrap all candies and cough drops before the performance.

• We know that patrons make every effort to be on time for events out of respect for the performers and other theatergoers; however, there are times when traffic or weather problems cause late arrivals.

Latecomers may watch the beginning of a show on flat-screen TVs in our lobby until the theatre has re-opened to allow guests into the auditorium. In addition, touring companies set the policy for allowing those who arrive past curtain time into the theatre. We ask those patrons to wait until the approved time to re-open the theatre doors. Please plan ahead to arrive early and relax before the performance begins.

THE

NEDVEGIN TOUCH

By Judith Schonbak

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CHARLIE McCULLERS

Gennadi Nedvigin (center, with his dancers, and above) became Atlanta Ballet’s fourth artistic director in February 2016. This season is the first he programmed.

He envisions doing three world premieres each season and taking the ballet abroad.

ATLANTA BALLET artistic director Gennadi Nedvigin spent much of last summer building an expanded company of 32 dancers — 17 familiar faces and 15 new ones — for what he calls “a rigorous season of diverse repertoire.”

The 2017/18 season, which took six months to plan, embodies his vision: a balance of programs that showcase styles from 19th-century classical to contemporary, with innovative choreography and new works.

Expect three world premieres each season. Nedvigin says he’d like to make a name for the company with worldclass premieres as “our special signature.” He also wants to take the company abroad.

His mission is to develop dancers and audiences.

The dancers? Bring together a versatile group equipped to execute any style of choreography with impeccable form and artistry, he says.

Audiences? His message is “Come and see us. Get inspired and excited, and come back to see more.”

ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM

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BRIAN WALLENBERG

“They are all supportive, eager to collaborate and willing to learn,” Gennadi Nedvigin says of his dancers. “They have the courage to move forward.”

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A QUICK LOOK BACK Nedvigin became Atlanta Ballet’s artistic director in February 2016 after a 19-year career spent largely as a principal dancer and ballet master with San Francisco Ballet.

At age 10, the Russian-born dancer entered the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in the world.

In 1997, while on a U.S. tour with Le Jeune Ballet de France, San Francisco Ballet offered him a soloist contract.

His credentials, awards and accomplishments are many, and he’s known internationally for his repertory and teaching.

Nedvigin, who set Classical Symphony on Atlanta Ballet in 2015, says that experience inspired him to seek the directorship when predecessor John McFall announced his retirement in 2016. Nedvigin is the fourth artistic director in the company’s 88-year history (after founder Dorothy Moses Alexander, Robert Barnett and McFall).

When he stepped into the job full time, the 2016/17 season was set, but he previewed his vision late in the season with a three-ballet program titled Gennadi’s Choice.

It included choreographer Marius Pepita’s Paquita pas de deux, a challenging 19th-century classical piece; the world premiere of emerging choreographer Gemma Bond’s Denouement; and the North American premiere of Vespertine by British choreographer Liam Scarlett.

KIM KENNEY

NOW AND THEN This season began traditionally, with Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker in its 23rd season at the Fox Theatre. The McFall-choreographed version is now retired; a new Nut by Russian choreographer Yuri Possokhov is on its way.

Possokhov and Nedvigin were San Francisco Ballet colleagues: Nedvigin as principal dancer and ballet master; Possokhov as artistic director. Possokhov is no stranger to Atlanta Ballet audiences, who have seen his Classical Symphony (2015) and Firebird (twice).

He returns Feb. 2-10 with Don Quixote, described by Nedvigin as “a timeless classical story ballet and a great way to connect with audiences.”

He calls the ballet, based on Miguel de Cervantes’ 1615 novel and set to Ludwig Minkus’ 1869 score “physically and emotionally challenging.” Nedvigin danced the lead role of Basilio to Possokhov’s choreography in San Francisco and is certain his dancers can meet the challenge of Quixote and the rest of the season’s repertoire. “They are all supportive, eager to collaborate and willing to learn. They have the courage to move forward.”

THE NEXT GENERATION: ATLANTA BALLET 2 The Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education began a new program, called Atlanta Ballet 2, last June. It’s a comprehensive training ground for the next generation of professional dancers and expands the Centre’s previous fellowship program.

Nedvigin and dean Sharon Story prepare these students, age 17-21, for professional careers.

They get intense technical training and performance opportunities on traditional stages and at such venues as the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Botanical Garden and retail spaces.

Atlanta Ballet 2’s mission is to develop company dancers and send talented, highly trained dancers to other professional companies.

The program’s first 36-week season began last August. In September, the students performed a ballet sampler at the Shops of Buckhead and the world premiere of an hourlong children’s version of Beauty & the Beast, choreographed by Bruce Wells, at Infinite Energy Theater in Duluth.

Keep an eye on them: Atlanta Ballet 2 presents Beauty & the Beast at Cobb Energy Centre Feb. 8-11.

ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM

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HI-REZ EXPO | Jan. 4-7

GOT GAME?

This sold-out, four-day event celebrates the communities, teams, cosplayers and fans who make the video games from Hi-Rez Studios successful.

Hi-Rez Studios, the Alpharetta-based developer of Global Agenda; Tribes: Ascend; Smite; Hands of the Gods: Smite Tactics; Smite Rivals; Paladins: Champions of the Realm; Jetpack Fighter is an independent, privately held company with additional studios in Brighton, England, and Shenzhen, China. Most of its games are free to play.

Most Hi-Rez games are team-based.

In Smite, for example, players become mythological deities from different pantheons and engage in arena combat, using powers and team tactics against player-controlled deities and non-player-controlled minions.

This year, the gaming expo features more 10 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM

championships than ever before: the Smite World Championship, the Smite Console World Championship, the Paladins World Championship, the Paladins Console Wars and the Hand of the Gods Founders’ Tournament.

There’s a keynote address on the morning of Jan. 5, which divulges exclusive first looks at new content for all Hi-Rez games.

The website GamaSutra.com and Game Developer magazine has named Hi-Rez one of the top 30 game developers in the world.

Hi-Rez, by the way, employs some 350 gamecrazy workers.

More: hirezexpo.com

DARCI LYNNE AND FRIENDS | Jan. 13, 3 & 7 p.m.

HER LIPS DON’T MOVE

D

arci Lynne Farmer missed the first day of seventh grade, but for good reason: a live gig on the TV talent show “America’s Got Talent.” Weeks later, she became the Season 12 winner.

The Oklahoma-born singer-ventriloquist, now 13, is self-taught. She always liked to sing but took up ventriloquism to help combat her shyness. She began by practicing the ABCs without moving her lips. Then came her first puppet.

Her puppet family now includes Petunia, a singing rabbit who thinks she’s a diva; Oscar, a stuttering Motown mouse; Edna Doorknocker, a naughty older lady; Katie, a sassy cowgirl who yodels; Okie, a yellow duck who can impersonate Elvis Presley; Scarlett, a sassy debutante fox; and Nigel, a smart British bird.

On “America’s Got Talent,” Farmer and Petunia vied for notes on Gershwin’s “Summertime”; she and Oscar serenaded judge Mel B with Smokey Robinson’s “Who’s Lovin’ You”; and she and Edna Doorknocker sang Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel

Like) A Natural Woman.”

For her final performance, she and Petunia teamed with Season 2 winner Terry Fator (and Winston the Impersonating Turtle) on “Anything You Can Do” from the musical Annie Get Your Gun. Farmer was the third girl to win the competition and the third ventriloquist.

The “America’s Got Talent” win came with a $1 million prize and a headlining gig at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. The two dates sold out so quickly that two more shows were added.

Farmer then went on a whirlwind of talk-show, video and TV appearances — “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”; Jeff Dunham’s The Haunted House on Dunham Hill; the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Okla.; the “Very Pentatonix Christmas Special.”

She then went to the Criterion in her hometown of Oklahoma City, where one date turned into three, each of which were sell-out performances.

And now she — and friends — are here.

ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM

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THE JASON BISHOP SHOW: DOUBLE LEVITATION | Jan. 21, 3 p.m.

GRAND ILLUSIONS

H

ow does a kid who grew up in Philadelphia’s foster-care system become an internationally known magician/illusionist? Practice, practice, practice.

As a boy, Jason Bishop would visit the library, check out books and teach himself small tricks and card manipulations. He attended meetings of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and, as a highschool freshman, performed at birthday parties and holiday gatherings.

He’s been assisted, almost from the beginning, by Kim Hess, who he met in high school. They’ve gone from sending out demo tapes and playing the Poconos to booking dates in large venues all over the United States, and on the Disney and Celebrity cruise lines.

Today, Bishop’s grand illusions keep him in the same breath as magic men David Copperfield and Criss Angel. Houdini is an idol.

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Still, Bishop is not like them. He uses more humor than anyone else and has, perhaps, the largest touring show around.

Each features award-winning sleight-ofhand, exclusive grand illusions and close-up magic projected onto a large movie screen.

His use of technology —plasma and LCD TV screens, iPods and iPhones, and a continuously changing pop/rock soundtrack — help him stand alone.

You’ll probably see his “double levitation” (he’s the only illusionist with this in his bag of tricks) and may see him change a $1 bill into a $100 bill and give it away. Or bounce cards 30 feet off the stage and into the crowd. Or coax a living goldfish to pop out of an iPod. You may also see him assisted by his rescue dog, a smallish pooch named Gizmo.

Bishop says he likes to cut through the usual hype that comes with magic or illusion shows and focus on entertaining.

He never wanted to be anything else.

More: thejasonbishopshow.com

Al Taylor, What Are You Looking At?

AS FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES | HIGH MUSEUM OF ART | HIGH.ORG PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES PARTNER

SUPPORT IS PROVIDED BY

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Sarah Eby-Ebersole and W. Daniel Ebersole

EXHIBITION SERIES SPONSORS

PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS Anne Cox Chambers Foundation The Antinori Foundation Ann and Tom Cousins Sarah and Jim Kennedy Jane and Hicks Lanier Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot

CONTRIBUTING EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS: Barbara and Ron Balser, Corporate Environments, Peggy Foreman, James F. Kelly Charitable Trust, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, The Lubo Fund, Margot and Danny McCaul, and Joyce and Henry Schwob. GENEROUS SUPPORT IS ALSO PROVIDED BY The Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, Howell Exhibition Fund, and John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund.

Al Taylor (American,1948–1999), Odd Vows, 1988, The Estate of Al Taylor, Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London. © The Estate of Al Taylor.

Falany Performing Arts Center

Al Taylor_November Fox Theatre.indd 1

11/2/17 10:31 AM

or f e r e h Be t’s next wha

Black Market Trust – Thurs., Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. reinhardt.edu/fpac | 770.720.9167

READ ENCORE ATLANTA ONLINE Find out what you need to know before the show.

Read the current and past Encore Atlanta programs for the Fox Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Alliance Theatre, The Atlanta Opera, Rialto Center for the Arts and Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre online at issuu.com/encoreatlanta.

ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM 13

ATLANTA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL | Jan. 24 - Feb. 15

LIFE THROUGH A JEWISH LENS

T

he Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, in its 18th year, returns for 23 days in January and February, expecting to attract 40,000 moviegoers with its roster of 70-plus narrative films and documentaries.

This year’s opening-night and closing-night films screen at Cobb Energy Centre on Jan. 24 and Feb. 15, respectively.

This 2018 lineup represents 25-plus countries and ranges from intimate profiles and personal narratives to stories that intersect with other communities and unconventional perspectives.

“These are not your typical Hollywood films, where many times you have a predictable ending or know the director,” says executive director Kenny Blank. “Part of the delight is the unexpected, and buying into an experience not knowing exactly where it will take you.”

The opening night film is Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me (2017, 100 minutes), a tribute to the iconic song-and-dance man in all his complexities and contradictions.

Davis entered showbiz at a time of racial tension and social upheaval, and 14 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM

frequently found himself caught between the bigotry of America in the 1950s and ‘60s, and ambivalence about his black identity.

He performed alongside Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra as part of the Rat Pack, and was the first African-American to sleep at the White House (thanks to Richard Nixon).

Some labeled him a sellout. He converted to Judaism after a serious car accident in 1954.

The film uses performance excepts, neverbefore-seen photos and interviews with Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Whoopi Goldberg and Quincy Jones to tell its story.

The closing night film is The Last Suit (2017, 86 minutes), which details the journey of an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. Abraham Bursztein’s children are about to put him out to pasture. They’ve sold his suburban house near Buenos Aires and booked him into a retirement home. They even suggest he have a crippled limb amputated. But Abraham is cantankerous. Fueled by a sense of duty and stubbornness, he begins a pilgrimage that takes him halfway around the world — and from which he doesn’t expect to return.

More: ajff.org

February 2 – 10, 2018 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Gennadi Nedvigin

CONDUCTOR Jonathan McPhee Live with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra

Music by Ludwig Minkus Choreography by Yuri Possokhov After the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky Staging by Oğulcan Borova Costume Design by Travis Halsey Lighting & Scenic Design by Jack Mehler Projection Design by Wendall K. Harrington Puppet Design by Von Orthal Puppets

F LY I NG BY F OY Costumes & Sets courtesy of The Joffrey Ballet

ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM

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ARTISTIC STAFF Sarah Hillmer, Roman Rykine, Dale Shields

THE COMPANY Zachary Alden‡, Erica Alvarado, Jessica Assef, Alexandre Barros, Jacob Bush, Stéphano Candreva, Emily Carrico, Dylan Clinard, Taylor Fikes‡, Nikolas Gaifullin, Monika Haczkiewicz, Sujin Han, Jessica He, Airi Igarashi, Saho Kumagai, Jordan Leeper, Keaton Leier, Francesca Loi, Nadia Mara, Moisés Martín, Sergio Masero, Juliana Missano‡, Miguel Angel Montoya, Jackie Nash, Keith Reeves‡, Boris Richir, Erin Robinson‡, Mikaela Santos‡, Anderson Souza, Jared Tan, Ashley Wegmann, Olivia Yoch ‡ Denotes Atlanta Ballet apprentice

Dean of the Centre for Dance Education Sharon Story

ATLANTA BALLET 2 Beñat Andueza Molina, Sophie Basarrate, Taylor Ciampi, Bret Coppa, Matisse D’Aloisio, Brooke Gilliam, Charlotte Hermann, Mikayla Hutton, Lucas Labrador, Dominiq Luckie, Rie Matsuura, Lenin Valladares Atlanta Ballet 2 is supported in part by

DISTINGUISHED GUEST ARTIST Nathan Griswold

PROJECTION TEAM Paul Vershbow, Projection Programmer Joey Moro, Projection Engineer Music arrangement by Lars Payne

Dorothy Moses Alexandre, Atlanta Ballet Founder, 1929-1960 Robert Barnett, Artistic Director Emeritus, 1961-1994 John McFall, Artistic Director, 1994-2016 I-2

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ATLANTA BALLET LEADERSHIP G ENNADI NEDVIGIN (Artistic Director) was born in Rostov, Russia, and began his training at age 5. At 10, Nedvigin was accepted into Bolshoi Ballet Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in the ballet world. Upon graduating, he joined his first professional company, Moscow Renaissance Ballet, as a soloist before he was invited to dance with Le Jeune Ballet de France in Paris. In 1997, while on tour in the United States, San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson offered Gennadi a soloist contract. Later that year, Nedvigin joined San Francisco Ballet. After three years with the company, he was promoted to principal dancer. During his career in San Francisco, Nedvigin was a winner of the International Competition’s Erik Bruhn Prize (1999) and has received three Isadora Duncan Dance awards (2001, 2010 and 2017). Over the years, he has shared his knowledge and training with other dancers by teaching master classes at numerous ballet schools in the United States. Nedvigin has been a guest artist with several internationally acclaimed companies and has appeared in many gala performances, tours and festivals worldwide. While at San Francisco Ballet, he served as ballet master for several works by Yuri Possokhov, including Classical Symphony and Swimmer, as well as excerpts from Bells, Diving Into the Lilacs and Carmen. In February 2016, Nedvigin became the fourth artistic director in Atlanta Ballet’s then 87-year history.

ARTURO JACOBUS (President & CEO) enters his ninth season with Atlanta Ballet. He previously was chief executive of Pacific Northwest Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, each for 10 years. Jacobus also has been the chief executive of the Oakland Symphony (Calif.); the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville (Ky.); the American Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts in Napa (Calif.); and Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle (Wash.). Jacobus has master’s degrees in business administration, arts administration and human resource management, and he has completed management certificate programs at the University of Washington and Harvard Business School. Jacobus has served on executive boards for such arts organizations as Dance/USA, Washington State Arts Alliance, Northwest Development Officers’ Association and California Arts Advocates. Throughout his career, he has stayed actively involved in strategy and advocacy in the arts by chairing and sitting on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, Dance/USA and the city of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Before he became an arts executive, Jacobus spent 20 years as a bandmaster for the U.S. Navy, leading ensembles in Villefranche, France; Gaeta and Naples, Italy; and San Francisco. While stationed in Naples as leader of the U.S. Navy Band under the Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CincSouth), he founded a 50-member NATO ensemble of service musicians from the armies, navies, and air forces of Italy, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jacobus toured Europe with his NATO band, performing concerts, variety shows and military ceremonies on behalf of CincSouth and NATO.

ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM

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SHARON STORY (Dean of the Centre for Dance Education) is in her 22nd season with Atlanta Ballet. She joined Atlanta Ballet after a professional dance career that spanned more than 20 years, including tenures with Joffrey Ballet, the School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and 10 years with Boston Ballet, which included international tours with Rudolf Nureyev. In 1996, in addition to her role as ballet mistress, Story became dean of the Centre for Dance Education, which has grown to one of the largest dance schools in the nation. The Centre for Dance Education is nationally recognized for great accomplishments in its programs and community initiatives. Under Story’s direction, the Centre achieved accreditation with the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD). She is on the board of directors for NASD and is delighted to serve on many community and national boards. Story received the 2015 “Women Making a Mark” award from Atlanta Magazine. She is committed to providing a noncompetitive atmosphere and access to dance education that is shaped by the community’s needs, is innovative, and inspires the commitment and excellence that are the trademarks of Atlanta Ballet. She is very proud of the dancers who have studied at the Centre for Dance Education and continue to share their experiences onstage in the Atlanta Ballet company and around the world. She thanks her family for all their love and support during her career.

ARTISTIC STAFF

SARAH HILLMER (Ballet Mistress) trained in the Pre-professional Division of the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education and began her professional career with Atlanta Ballet, where she performed both classical and contemporary works. Sarah danced principal roles in such classics as Giselle, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, and she originated roles in a variety of contemporary works. Hillmer’s desire to explore contemporary movement led her to become a founding member of glo, where she performed the original works of Lauri Stallings in Atlanta and New York. Hillmer’s love of coaching brought her back to Atlanta Ballet, where she has collaborated with choreographers at every level of the creation process: assisting in the building of full-length ballets by Twyla Tharp and Helen Pickett; restaging repertory works by Ohad Naharin and John McFall; and assisting in the staging of works by Jiří Kylián, Wayne McGregor and Gustavo Ramírez Sansano. Hillmer has restaged choreographers’ works at Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Smuin Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet and UNCSA. She is thrilled to be part of the Atlanta Ballet team.

ROMAN RYKINE (Ballet Master) joined Atlanta Ballet from Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in 2016. He graduated from the Rudolph Nureyev State Ballet Academy in his hometown of Ufa, Russia, and was a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, English National Ballet, and the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre. One of the exceptional dancers of his generation, Rykine has danced most of the major classical roles, including La Fille mal gardée, Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, Raymonda Act III, La Bayadère Act III, Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote and Les Sylphides. His repertoire includes many contemporary and neoclassical roles. Rykine won the gold medal and first prize at the International Ballet Competition in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1993 and the bronze medal at both the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Miss., in 1994 and the Rudolph Nureyev International Ballet Competition in Budapest, Hungary, in 1993. He holds the honorary title of Artist of Merit of the Republic from the Government of Ufa, Russia. During his career, Rykine learned from such teachers, choreographers and coaches as Yuri Gregorvich, Natalia Makarova, Nacho Duato, Yuri Possokhov, Christopher Wheeldon, Peter Martins, Helgi Tomasson, James Kudelka, Hans van Maanen and Jorma Elo, among others. He toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, and was a guest artist with various ballet companies. He retired from the stage in 2010 and began teaching. Roman was a guest faculty member at the Boston Ballet School before joining the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in January 2012.

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DALE SHIELDS (Ballet Mistress), a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts and Butler University before starting her career as a professional dancer. After joining and rising to principal dancer with Indianapolis Ballet Theatre under artistic director George Verdak and Dace Dindonis, she appeared in the leading roles of many productions, including Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Gaité Parisienne, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coppélia, Night Shadow and The Moor’s Pavane, as well as a great number of original works. As principal ballet mistress for Ballet Internationale, she assisted with the original choreography of several full-length ballets by artistic director Eldar Aliev and worked alongside Irina Kolpakova in staging many well-known classics. John McFall’s invitation to join the artistic staff at Atlanta Ballet has given her the opportunity to assist in mounting many full-length productions. She is inspired to have worked with national and international choreographers in bringing exciting and innovative dance to Atlanta. Teaching the company dancers and students of the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education and guest teaching opportunities are other rewarding parts of her work.

THE COMPANY ZACHARY ALDEN‡ was born in San Francisco and began his ballet studies as a senior in high school with Vaganova-trained dancer Anton Pankevich. He spent that summer training at Ballet San Jose under José Manuel Carreño and became a company trainee on scholarship. In 2014, Zach moved to Pompano Beach, Fla., to further his ballet training with Magaly Suárez at the Art of Classical Ballet School. Despite his relatively late start as a student, Zachary quickly accelerated in ballet and spent the 2016/17 season dancing with BalletMet 2 under the direction of Edwaard Liang and performed in Laing’s Romeo and Juliet. Zachary looks forward to applying his experience at his new home, Atlanta Ballet.

ERICA ALVARADO was born in Tucson, Ariz., and began her dance training at Ballet Arts in Tucson under the direction of Mary Beth Cabana. She spent her summers training in such acclaimed programs as the Jillana School, the Rock School, San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. After high school graduation, Erica joined Ballet Tucson and worked closely with ballet masters Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner, performing leading roles in many Antony Tudor ballets. She joined Milwaukee Ballet II two years later and, in 2011, joined City Ballet of San Diego as a principal dancer. At City Ballet, she performed lead roles in Firebird, Giselle and Romeo and Juliet, as well as principal roles in such George Balanchine works as Who Cares?, Donizetti Variations, Allegro Brillante, Serenade and the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. She also danced the role of the principal woman in Peter Martin’s Hallelujah Junction. Special thanks to Erica’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Chris M. Carlos.

J ESSICA ASSEF is from São Paulo, Brazil, and received her early training from Escola de Ballet Corpo e Arte with Jolles Salles. At the 2010 Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), she was awarded full scholarships to Orlando Ballet School and the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco. She also won the gold medal at Passo de Arte and went on to receive a YAGP semifinals silver medal and YAGP NYC finals gold medal in 2013. Jessica spent two years at Orlando Ballet School as a trainee before becoming a member of the Orlando Ballet second company. A year later she joined the professional company. In 2014, she competed in the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Miss. Special thanks to Jessica’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Chris M. Carlos.

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ALEXANDRE BARROS is from Rio de Janeiro and received his early training from Escola de Dança Alice Arja and Escola Estadual de Danças Maria Olenewa.

At age 15, he came to the United States to study with the Harid Conservatory.

After graduating from the conservatory, he joined the Atlanta Ballet Fellowship Ensemble in 2011. In 2012, he progressed into the Company, where he has performed works by John McFall, David Bintley, Ohad Naharin, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, George Balanchine, Yuri Possokhov, Helen Pickett, Tara Lee, Jiří Kylián, Andrea Miller and others. Alexandre is thrilled for his sixth season with Atlanta Ballet and thanks his family and friends for their support and love. Special thanks to Alexandre’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Lavona S. Currie.

JACOB BUSH grew up in Coon Rapids, Minn., where he trained at Minnesota Dance Theatre under the direction of Lise Houlton. He continued training under Sharon Story at the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education as well as the San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet under Susan Connally. He spent the 2012-14 seasons with Germany’s Theatre Augsburg, where he worked with such notable choreographers as Douglas Lee, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Christian Spuck, Michael Pink and Itzik Galili. In Atlanta, Jacob has danced principal roles in classical, neoclassical and contemporary works, including Ivan in Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird, the principal male in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante and Gutman in Helen Pickett’s Camino Real, among others. He has been featured in Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine. Special thanks to Jacob’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Susan & Tony Catalfano.

STÉPHANO CANDREVA is from Rio de Janeiro and graduated from the Escola de Dança Alice Arja in 2006. He attended summer programs at Miami City Ballet School and Milwaukee Ballet School on full scholarship. At 18, he began his professional career with Sesiminas Cia de Dança. He went on to dance with Milwaukee Ballet II, City Ballet of San Diego and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet.

Stéphano represented Brazil at the 2012 Seminario Internacional de Dança de Brasília, where he was a silver medalist. He has been a guest artist with Cisne Negro, Ballet Chicago and California Ballet, and has performed principal roles in numerous George Balanchine ballets, including Allegro Brillante, Donizetti Variations, Danses Concertantes and Serenade, to name a few. Special thanks to Stéphano’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Lynda Courts.

EMILY CARRICO is from Lexington, Ky., and began her training at the Kentucky Ballet Theatre Academy under the direction of Rafaela Cento Muñoz.

At age 14, Emily received a scholarship to attend the Harid Conservatory, where she received Dance Study Awards during both years she attended. In 2012, she joined the Kentucky Ballet Theatre under the direction of Norbe Risco, where she performed many solo and principal roles. Two years later, she moved to Florida to study under Magaly Suárez at the Art of Classical Ballet School, where she was guided by her tutelage to dance with Columbia City Ballet for two seasons. She has also competed in the Youth America Grand Prix, placing in the top 12 and qualifying for the New York City finals each time. Emily is excited to join Atlanta Ballet and is thrilled to call Atlanta her home. Special thanks to Emily’s Pas de Deux Society patron, James L. Jackson.

DYLAN CLINARD is from Clemmons, N.C., and began his dance education at the UNCSA Preparatory Dance Program under the direction of Dayna Fox. At age 13, he was offered a scholarship to train at Houston Ballet Academy, where he spent three years in the top level of the school before being promoted to Houston Ballet II under the tutelage of Andrew Murphy, Sally Rojas, Sabrina Lenzi, Claudio Munoz and Stanton Welch. While with Houston Ballet II, he performed in Welch’s Raymonda, A Dance in the Garden of Mirth, La Bayadère, Clear, Swan Lake, The Gentlemen, Blue, The Long and Winding Road and Brigade. In 2015, Dylan joined Atlanta Ballet as an apprentice. His favorite performances thus far are Yuri Possokhov’s Classical Symphony, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine and Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort. He is thrilled to return to Atlanta Ballet as a Company member and thanks his family for their love and support.

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TAYLOR FIKES‡, an Atlanta native, began her formal ballet training in 2008 at Baltimore School for the Arts. In 2010, she enrolled in the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. As a recipient of the U.S. State Department and Russian American Foundation’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship, Taylor trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow for six weeks. This was the springboard to being accepted as a full-time student with the Bolshoi. After Moscow, Taylor moved to New York City to attend the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet and to begin studying at Columbia University. Ultimately, she committed to a career in ballet and accepted an offer to join the Joffrey Academy Trainee Program in Chicago. Taylor’s time at Joffrey exposed her to a multitude of opportunities and experiences that have served as catalysts to her acceptance at Atlanta Ballet.

NIKOLAS GAIFULLIN was born in Sarasota, Fla., and received his ballet training from his parents Stephanie Murrish of Sarasota Ballet and Daniil Gaifullin of Moscow’s prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Nikolas has danced with the American Ballet Theatre Collegiate Program, the National Ballet School of Canada, the School at Jacob’s Pillow, and Kansas City Ballet II. He has competed in the Youth America Grand Prix many times, receiving awards in both the semifinal and final rounds. In 2007, he performed in the International Spoleto Festival in Italy. In 2012, he was a silver medalist at the World Ballet Competition, a recipient of the Grishko Scholarship award from the Carreno Dance Festival and a guest performer in the 17th International Miami Dance Festival Young Medalists performance. At Kansas City Ballet II, he performed Devon Carney’s Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, as well as George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Viktor Plotnikov’s Vesna and Bruce Wells’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

MONIKA HACZKIEWICZ was born and raised in Las Vegas. While training, she danced at Nevada Ballet Theatre, Kwak Ballet Academy, Tara Foy’s Elite Ballet, Nevada School of Dance and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. In 2015, Monika competed in the Youth America Grand Prix, ranking second place in the senior division of the Las Vegas semifinals and performing at the Lincoln Center in the finals. In the 2015/16 season, Monika received a full-tuition Nijinksky Dance Scholarship to Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Professional Division Program, where she performed the lead in Paquita with the Professional Division in addition to the Paquita Pas de Trois. Monika joined Atlanta Ballet last season, performing featured roles in Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine and George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, and having the pleasure of working with renowned choreographers Yuri Possokhov, David Bintley and John McFall. Special thanks to Monika’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Daphne Elizabeth Moore Eitel.

SUJIN HAN, from South Korea, began dancing at age 9 at the Yewon School and studied character dance at the Vaganova Academy. At the Yewon School, she enjoyed performing Flower Festival in Genzano and Don Quixote, among others.

At age 16, she entered Seoul Arts School on scholarship, where she performed such pas de deux as the Sugar Plum Fairy variation in The Nutcracker. She also participated in ballet competitions in South Korea like the Seoul International Dance Competition. Sujin earned the great performers scholarship to attend Ewha Womans University, where she began choreographing, learned several Balanchine works and the Bournonville method. After graduating, she worked as a freelance ballet dancer and performed Ahn Jung Geun, a Dance in the Heaven with M Ballet and Tree with Soul Ballet Company, both in South Korea. Sujin is excited to dance with Atlanta Ballet. Special thanks to Sujin’s Pas de Deux society patron, the Corps de Ballet.

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J ESSICA HE is from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and began her ballet training at Inland Pacific Ballet Academy. She moved to Philadelphia in 2012 to enter the more vigorous pre-professional training program at the Rock School on full scholarship. In 2015, she joined Houston Ballet’s second company. Jessica has attended prestigious summer programs across the country and earned multiple awards and merit scholarships at the Youth America Grand Prix and the World Ballet Competition.

While dancing with Houston Ballet II, Jessica toured internationally and performed Stanton Welch’s A Dance in the Garden of Mirth and Brigade, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Ben Stevenson’s Sleeping Beauty Act III and John Neumeier’s Yondering. She has also danced in many Houston Ballet productions, including Welch’s world premiere of Giselle and The Nutcracker. Special thanks to Jessica’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Vanessa & Robin Delmer.

A IRI IGARASHI was born in Gunma, Japan. She began training at age 7 at the Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School. She continued training under John Neumeier at the Ballet School of the Hamburg Ballet in Germany, where she performed in Neumeier’s The Nutcracker and danced the role of Princess Florine in Neumeier’s The Sleeping Beauty. She won first place at the All Japan Ballet Competition in 2011 and third place at the All Japan Ballet Competition in 2015. She was a semifinalist at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition in Switzerland in 2013 and 2015.

Airi’s favorite performances include Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Václav Kuneš’ Double Beethoven and Victor Gsovsky’s Grand pas Classique.

SAHO KUMAGAI is from Japan and began dancing at age 9. She moved to the United States in 2009 to study on scholarship at the Boston Ballet School.

Saho continued studying with Pacific Northwest Ballet School Professional Division under the direction of Peter Boal, where she performed corps roles in Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker and George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In 2014, she joined Charlotte Ballet II and danced soloist roles in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Nutcracker and worked with resident choreographer Dwight Rhoden. That year, she placed among top 20 finalists at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition in Switzerland. Since joining Atlanta Ballet, Saho has danced the role of Marya in Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker and in works by Yuri Possokhov and Darrell Grand Moultrie. Special thanks to Saho’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Dante Stephensen.

JORDAN LEEPER is from Jamestown, N.Y., and began dancing at age 12 with the Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet. He later studied at San Francisco Ballet and went on to dance with the Charlotte Ballet under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, performing at the John F. Kennedy Center during Ballet Across America in 2013. Jordan has performed works by Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Jiří Bubeníček, Sasha Janes, Mark Diamond, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and many more outstanding choreographers. He has been a guest artist with Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and City Ballet of Wilmington and has danced with Complexions Contemporary Ballet under Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson during the company’s 20th season anniversary at the Joyce Theater in New York City. Special thanks to Jordan’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Erroll & Elaine Davis.

KEATON LEIER grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he discovered his love for dance at age 8 while doing hip-hop. He began taking ballet classes at age 15 at his local dance studio, Brenda’s School of Baton and Dance. In 2013, he began training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, receiving scholarships throughout his three years and graduating with marks of distinction. In the 2016/17 season, Keaton danced with Houston Ballet’s second company. He has danced the lead role in Marius Petipa’s Paquita and George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante. He also has danced Alexander Gorsky’s La Fille mal gardée Pas de Deux, Nikolai and Sergei Legat’s Fairy Doll Pas de Trois and excerpts from John Neumeier’s Yondering. In addition, Keaton has performed in such Stanton Welch ballets as Brigade, Play, A Dance in the Garden of Mirth and A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Special thanks to Keaton’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Ginny & Charles Brewer and family.

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FRANCESCA LOI was born in Cagliari, Italy, and began her training at the ballet school of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. She graduated from the La Scala Ballet School in Milan and went on to perform many ballets with the La Scala Ballet Company, including Raymonda, Giselle, Aida and Notre Dame de Paris.

Francesca danced with Opera National de Bordeaux and the Royal Ballet of Flanders, and she was part of the Hong Kong Ballet, where she performed as a demi-soloist and soloist and worked with renowned choreographers Cynthia Harvey, Nina Ananiashvilli, Alexei Ratmansky, Alexander Ekman and Krzysztof Pastor, among others. At Atlanta Ballet, she has performed Sugar Plum Fairy in Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker and Snow White in the Bruce Wells ballet. Last summer, Francesca won bronze in the Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition and participated in the 2017 Jacob’s Pillow Ballet Program. Special thanks to Francesca’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Chris M. Carlos.

NADIA MARA was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and trained at Uruguay’s National School of Ballet, where she graduated as the best dancer in the school and earned the Elena Smirnova Gold Medal. In the United States, she danced with North Carolina Dance Theatre before joining Atlanta Ballet as a Company dancer in 2006. Nadia’s most notable lead roles include Giselle, Kitri in Don Quixote, Mina in Michael Pink’s Dracula, Nathalie in Jorden Morris’ Moulin Rouge - The Ballet and Marguerite in Helen Pickett’s Camino Real. She has been featured in works by Alexei Ratmansky, Ohad Naharin, Alexander Ekman, Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor, among others. Last season, she danced lead roles in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine. In 2016, Nadia was invited to Despertares, a world-renowned international ballet and modern dance festival in Guadalajara, Mexico. There, she shared the stage with Atlanta Ballet Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin and event presenter Isaac Hernández. Special thanks to Nadia’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Amy Nelson & Style Design.

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MOISÉS MARTÍN was born in Reus, Spain, and trained at the Municipal Dance School of Zaragoza and Escuela de María de Ávila. He studied on scholarship at the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Lola de Avila, later joining the company. He became a soloist in 2005. In 2007, he joined the Dutch National Ballet, dancing as a second soloist until 2011. Moisés has performed a mix of classical and contemporary works, including pieces by Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Rudolf Nureyev, Jerome Robbins, Helgi Tomasson and Yuri Possokhov. In 2012, Moisés joined Compañía Nacional de Danza as a principal dancer, doing lead roles in Sonatas and Raymonda Divertimento by José Carlos Martínez; Giselle by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot; Who Cares? by George Balanchine; and Espada and Basilio in Don Quixote alongside guest dancers Elisa Badenes and Yolanda Correa. In 2016, he participated in the International Dance Festival of Cuba, dancing the full-length Swan Lake with Viengsay Valdés and the National Ballet of Cuba. Special thanks to Moisés’ Pas de Deux Society patron, Katherine Scott.

SERGIO MASERO is from Madrid and began his training at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza Mariemma. Sergio trained on scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School and then became a company dancer at Ballet Memphis. There he performed lead roles in Steven McMahon’s Romeo & Juliet and Swan Lake; Matthew Neenan’s The Darting Eyes and Water of the Flowery Mill; and in works by Mark Godden, Gabrielle Lamb and Yuri Sands. As a principal guest artist, he has danced with Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet and Avant Chamber Ballet in Dallas. Sergio also has enjoyed teaching and choreographing in the Memphis area. He has created two pieces for the company dancers there, as well as two full-length productions for the Dance Academy of Bartlett. Special thanks to Sergio’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Susan & Tony Catalfano.

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JULIANA MISSANO‡ was born in Lloyd Harbor, N.Y., and began studying ballet at age 5. She trained at the Lynch School of Ballet until age 15, then continued training at the Rock School under the direction of Bo and Stephanie Spassoff. In 2017, Juliana was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performed at the Kennedy Center. She competed in the Youth America Grand Prix, receiving the Grand Prix Award, placing first in the pas de deux category and advancing to the final round, where she performed at Lincoln Center.

Favorite performances include Nutcracker and Don Quixote. Juliana is very excited to start her career with Atlanta Ballet. Special thanks to Juliana’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Chris M. Carlos.

M IGUEL ANGEL MONTOYA was born in Cali, Colombia, where he began his training at the Instituto Colombiano de Ballet and Incoballet. He then danced with Incoballet Company under the direction of Gloria Castro de Martinez. In 2008, Miguel moved to Philadelphia to attend the Rock School.

In 2010, he reached the second round semifinals in the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Miss., as well as the Youth America Grand Prix New York City finals. In 2012, as an Atlanta Ballet apprentice, he originated roles in Twyla Tharp’s The Princess & the Goblin. Other favorite roles include the Slave in Le Corsaire and Basilio in Don Quixote. After joining the Atlanta Ballet company in 2013, Miguel performed in Jorden Morris’ Moulin Rouge - The Ballet, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, Gina Patterson’s I AM, Helen Pickett’s Camino Real, Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush and Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas. He also was featured in the Paquita Pas de Trois, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante and Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort. Special thanks to Miguel’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Bonnie & Terry Herron.

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JACKIE NASH was born in Connecticut and started her pre-professional ballet training at the Connecticut Dance School under the direction of Alan Woodard.

She then spent two years in the dance and academic residency program at the Rock School, graduating in 2009. During her summer studies, she attended the Chautauqua Institute, Nutmeg Conservatory, Miami City Ballet and the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education. She has danced such roles as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker, principal roles in Yuri Possokhov’s Classical Symphony and Firebird, and the lead female in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante. She has also performed featured roles in works by Christopher Wheeldon, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Douglas Lee and Alexei Ratmansky. She has had the pleasure of working with such choreographers as James Kudelka for The Man in Black, Jorma Elo for 1st Flash and Ohad Naharin for Secus. Last summer, Jackie was a guest artist with Amy Siewert’s San Francisco-based Imagery, a contemporary ballet company. Special thanks to Jackie’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Kathleen & Kirk Knous.

KEITH REEVES‡ is from Augusta and began his training with Jennifer Tools at the Jessye Norman School of the Arts. In 2010, he began training with the Augusta Ballet School and later joined the company Dance Augusta under the direction of Zane and Ron Colton. Before joining Atlanta Ballet, he trained with Nicolas Pacana and Jocelyn Buchanan of the Atlanta Festival Ballet Company and studied at such distinguished dance schools as Nashville Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School and the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education. He has received the Audrey B. Morgan scholarship for the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education Conservatory program, among others. With Atlanta Ballet, Keith has performed works by George Balanchine, David Bintley, Yuri Possokhov, Jorden Morris, John McFall, Tara Lee, Bruce Wells and Helen Pickett, among others. Special thanks to Keith’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Asif & Lisa Ramji.

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BORIS RICHIR is from Antwerp, Belgium, and received his dance education at the Paris Opera Ballet School. In 2009, he joined the Semperoper Ballet in Dresden, Germany, under the direction of Aaron S. Watkin, as a corps de ballet member. In 2014, he joined Boston Ballet. His most notable roles include the Principal Couple in “Emeralds” from George Balanchine’s Jewels and Count von Rothbart in Aaron S. Watkin’s Swan Lake. Boris has performed in the corps de ballet, as a soloist and in lead roles in ballets by George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, John Neumeier, John Cranko, Mikko Nissinen, August Bournonville, Jiří Bubeníček, Aaron S. Watkin, Alexei Ratmansky and William Forsythe, among others.

ERIN ROBINSON‡ is from Acworth and began her training at the Georgia Ballet under the direction of Gina Hyatt-Mazon and Janusz Mazon. At age 16, she was a finalist for the National Security Language Initiative for Youth program, affiliated with the Russian American Foundation, and spent six weeks studying at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. She later was invited to attend the international program year-round. In 2012, she won the Audrey B. Morgan scholarship for the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education Conservatory program. A year later, she was promoted to the Fellowship Ensemble, where she danced such lead roles as Snow White in Bruce Wells’ Snow White and Aurora in John McFall’s The Sleeping Beauty. Erin is an instructor with the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education and is thrilled to join Atlanta Ballet as an apprentice for the 2017|2018 Season. Special thanks to Erin’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Adrienne & Scott Hardesty.

MIKAELA SANTOS‡, from Manila, Philippines, began her dance training at Effie Nañas School of Classical Ballet, joining Philippine Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in March 2016. She was offered a scholarship to the Atlanta Ballet Professional Summer Intensive and was subsequently offered a position in the Fellowship Ensemble. In 2014, Mikaela finished second in the junior division at the first Cultural Center of the Philippines Ballet Competition; two years later, she was a finalist at the World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Fla. Mikaela has performed in Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker, choreogrpahed by John McFall; Bruce Wells’ Snow White; Marius Petipa’s Paquita; Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird; David Bintley’s Carmina Burana; and Robert Barnett’s Arenskey, among others. She’s excited to dance with the Company as an apprentice this season.

A NDERSON SOUZA, from the South Region of Brazil, received his training at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Dança under Jorge Teixeira. After graduating, he joined the Cia Brasileira de Ballet in Rio de Janeiro, where he danced principal and solo roles and competed in national and international competitions, including the Beijing International Ballet Competition. Anderson traveled with the company to perform in China, Colombia, France and Israel. In 2013, he became a company member with Gelsey Kirkland Ballet, where he earned praise from national critics, including The New York Times. His most notable roles and repertoire include Marius Petipa’s Paquita, Leonid Yakobson’s Wedding Procession, Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, the Prince in The Nutcracker, Phillip in Cavalry Halt, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, and Basilio and Espada in Don Quixote. Anderson is excited for his second season with Atlanta Ballet.

Special thanks to Anderson’s Pas de Deux society patron, the Corps de Ballet.

J ARED TAN is from the Philippines and began dancing at age 9 with the Philippine Ballet Theatre under the direction of Gener Caringal. He trained for more than 14 years under Russian ballet master Anatoly Panasyukov. In 2009, Jared came to the United States to join American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey under the direction of Graham Lustig; in 2010, he joined Atlanta Ballet. Jared is most proud of the work he has done with choreographers Ohad Naharin in Minus 16 and Secus, Alexandre Ekman in Cacti and Jiří Kylián in Petite Mort. He has performed featured roles in many works, including Christopher Hampson’s Rite of Spring, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas, Twyla Tharp’s The Princess & the Goblin and Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine. Special thanks to Jared’s Pas de Deux society patron, the Corps de Ballet.

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A SHLEY WEGMANN is from New Jersey and received early training from the National Ballet of New Jersey, later studying on scholarship at the Princeton Ballet School. She attended the graduate program at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, joining the company as a corps de ballet member in 2007. She danced with BalletMet (201215) and joined Atlanta Ballet in 2016. Ashley has worked with many choreographers and dances in a variety of dance styles. Favorite roles and repertoire include Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine, a stomper in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Nurse in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s Lovely Together, and James Kudelka’s Real Life and The Four Seasons. Special thanks to Ashley’s Pas de Deux Society patron, Jan P. Beaves.

O LIVIA YOCH is from Richmond, Va., and completed her dance training at the School of Richmond Ballet and Butler University. She spent two years with Tulsa Ballet II and Tulsa Ballet before joining Atlanta Ballet as an apprentice in 2014. Olivia has a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and a B.A. in English Literature from Butler University. Last season, her first as a Company member, Olivia orginated a role in the world premiere of Gemma Bond’s Denouement. Favorite ballets include Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, the Paquita Pas de Trois and Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine. Olivia thanks her husband and the rest of her family for their love and support. Special thanks to Olivia’s Pas de Deux Society patrons Kathleen & Kirk Knous.

DISTINGUISHED GUEST ARTIST N ATHAN GRISWOLD, originally from the Pacific Northwest, began his dance training under Kay Englert in Tacoma, Wash. He finished his formal dance training at the Ben Stevenson Academy in Houston, then danced professionally with the Houston Ballet, Alberta Ballet, and Atlanta Ballet and as a guest with Los Angeles Chamber Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theater. In 2010, Nathan moved to Germany to dance for Ballet Augsburg and the National Theater Mannheim. Ballet Augsburg, the Augsburg Opera, Theater Ulm and Atlanta Ballet’s Wabi Sabi have performed his choreographic works. When he returned to Atlanta in 2014, Nathan co-founded Fly on a Wall, an idea house that supports and presents innovative performance. Nathan is currently dancing and choreographing as a freelance artist and is enrolled at Georgia State University, working towards a business degree. Please visit nathangriswold.net to learn of his upcoming endeavors. (Photo by Bubba Carr.) ‡ Denotes Atlanta Ballet apprentice Photos by Charlie McCullers

Additional Guest Dancers (Performing the role of the horse) Jelani Jones Patrick Otsuki Isaac Rose *Guest dancers are courtesy of the Centre for Dance Education faculty and Kennesaw State University School of Dance.

ARTISTIC AND PRODUCTIOn TEAM YURI POSSOKHOV (Choreographer) danced for ten years with the Bolshoi Ballet, performing leading roles in most of the company’s classical and contemporary ballets.

While performing, Possokhov studied choreography and the teaching of ballet at the State College of Theatrical Arts, completing the five-year course in 1990. In 1992, Possokhov joined the Royal Danish Ballet as a principal dancer and performed many leading roles in its repertoire. While with the Danish Ballet, he was I-12

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invited to dance a guest performance at San Francisco Ballet’s (SFB) opening night gala, after which he joined the company as a principal dancer. Possokhov spent the next 12 years dancing with SFB, and during this period he began choreographing. Following his retirement from dancing in 2006, he joined the artistic staff at San Francisco Ballet as choreographer in residence, where he continues to choreograph new works for the company each season and dances principal character roles. His

ballets have been staged for many companies in the U.S. and Europe. In 2015, after choreographing the fulllength ballet A Hero of Our Time for the Bolshoi Ballet to critical acclaim, the company invited him to stage a full-length ballet based on the life of Rudolf Nureyev.

Nureyev premiered at the Bolshoi in December 2017.

Atlanta Ballet’s first collaboration with Mr. Possokhov was the staging of his Classical Symphony in 2015. He is currently also working with Atlanta Ballet on a new Nutcracker, which will premiere in December 2018.

Please visit yuripossokhov.com for more information.

OĞULCAN BOROVA (Stager) joined Cincinnati Ballet as a ballet master in 2015 after dancing with Joffrey Ballet for four seasons. Borova was born in Turkey and recognized there as the first prize winner at the 3rd National Rotary Clubs Dance Competition.

Other awards include a bronze medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition (Bulgaria), the “Star Dancer of Turkey” award from the Dokuz Eylül University of Izmir, where he was trained, and gold medals at the New York International Ballet Competition and the Seoul International Dance Competition. At the finals of the Nagoya International Dance Competition, he received a contract as a professional dancer in the USA. Borova was a principal dancer with Ballet Internationale in Indianapolis, Cincinnati Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.

Throughout his career, he worked with many wellknown choreographers and dancers and danced a large variety of classical and contemporary repertoire. He has helped staged Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias for Finnish National Ballet and Kirk Peterson’s Copellia; Eldar Aliev’s Thousand and One Nights; Victoria Morgan’s Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and Nutcracker for Cincinnati Ballet.

TRAVIS HALSEY (Costume Designer) graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a bachelor of fine arts in theater arts and has a diverse background in design and the technical aspects of costume construction. For over fifteen years, he has designed and built costumes for ballet, opera, theater, circus arts, film, television, and many other forms of live performance that require the highest quality costuming. Halsey’s design credits include Garrett Smith’s Imbue, Return, and Facades; Stanton Welch’s Chamber Symphony; a co-design for A Doll’s House; and Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre’s A Sleeping Beauty. Halsey has had the pleasure to work on an underwater rendition of George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Miami City Ballet as well as Madonna’s Rebel Heart world tour and the films Chi-Raq, Divergent, and Bolden! and TV shows “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Fire.”

JACK MEHLER (Lighting and Scenic Designer) is very pleased to be making his Atlanta Ballet debut with Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote. Other projects with Yuri Possokhov include Bells for The Joffrey Ballet. He received the 2012 Korean Musical Theatre Award (Korean Tony) for Elisabeth and the 2013 award for Rebecca. Other dance work includes Alvin Ailey

American Dance Theater, BalletMet, Donald Byrd/ Spectrum Dance, Ballet Memphis, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Martha Graham, Hubbard Street, Joffrey Ballet, Lar Lubovitch, San Francisco Ballet and many others. Theatre work includes Cleveland Play House, Manhattan Theatre Club, North Shore Music Theatre (3 IRNE nominations), Ogunquit Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Riverside Theatre, Seattle Rep, Syracuse Stage, Walnut Street Theatre, Weston Playhouse, the Working Theatre and the WPA Theatre, among many others. He is a founding board member of ACT/CT in Ridgefield, CT. He also provides design coordination/ owner’s representation for arts organizations building or renovating performance and rehearsal facilities.

WENDALL K. HARRINGTON (Projection Designer) began her career as a projection designer on Broadway in 1979 and received the Drama Desk Award for outstanding set design and the American Theatre Wing Hewes Design award for The Who’s Tommy. Other Broadway credits include All the Way, Grey Gardens, Ragtime, The Capeman, Company, Putting it Together, Driving Miss Daisy, My One and Only and They’re Playing our Song, to name a few. Opera credits include Werther, Grapes of Wrath, Nixon in China and A View from the Bridge. Ballet credits include Alexei Ratmansky’s Anna Karenina and Firebird, OPERA!, Pictures at an Exhibition, Lar Lubovich’s Othello, Ballet Mécanique, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Nutcracker for San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Miami City Ballet. Ms. Harrington began and is currently the head of the projection design concentration at the Yale School of Drama design department – the first graduate theatre training program of its kind in the United States.

JONATHAN MCPHEE (Guest Conductor) recently completed 28 years as music director for the Boston Ballet Orchestra and nearly a decade as music director of Symphony New Hampshire. Mr. McPhee maintains an active guest conducting schedule in addition to his position with Lexington Symphony. Recent guest engagements include performances with the Sarasota Ballet, Houston Ballet and New York City Ballet.

Mr. McPhee has served as conductor for The Royal Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, The Australian Ballet, Den Norske Ballett in Norway, Royal Danish Ballet and the Hamburg Ballet in Germany, among others. His works as an arranger and composer are published by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. and are in the repertoires of orchestras and ballet companies around the world. These include Mr. McPhee’s authorized editions of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Firebird. Mr. McPhee’s adaption of Wagner’s RING Cycle into two full evenings premiered in 2016 to rave reviews. Mr. McPhee’s best-selling recording of The Nutcracker is available on iTunes along with his recording of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet with Boston Ballet Orchestra.

Mr. McPhee received his L.R.A.M. from the Royal Academy of Music and University of London and a B.M. and M.M. from The Juilliard School.

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ATLANTA BALLET ORCHESTRA Jonathan McPhee, Guest Conductor VIOLIN Lisa Morrison, Concertmaster Sally Gardner-Wilson Assoc. Concertmaster Linda Pinner Principal Second Adelaide Federici Keiko Furness Martha Gardner Patti Gouvas Patrick Ryan Angele Sherwood-Lawless Lee Taylor Elonia Varfi Rafael Veytsblum Ying Zhuo VIOLA Joli Wu Principal Josiah Coe Sarah Park Patrick Shelc Kristeen Sorrells CELLO Charae Krueger Principal Hilary Glen Mary Kenney Alice Williams

CONTRABASS Lyn Deramus Principal Christina Ottaviano HARP Nella Rigell Principal FLUTE Jeanne Carere Principal Kelly Via

TRUMPET Kevin Lyons Principal John Morrison Co-Principal Greg Holland TROMBONE Robb Smith Principal Mark McConnell Richard Brady

OBOE Erica Howard Principal Diana Dunn

TUBA Don Strand Principal

CLARINET Katherine White Principal Greg Collins

TIMPANI Scott Douglas Principal

BASSOON Amy Pollard Principal Dan Worley

PERCUSSION Mike Cebulski Principal Karen Hunt Jeff Kershner

HORN Jason Eklund Principal Anna Dodd Amy Trotz Richard Williams

PERSONNEL MANAGER Mark McConnell

Additional Orchestra Personnel: Jeanne Johnson, Violin Sarah Ambrose, Flute Yvonne Toll, Cornet Clayton Chastain, Cornet Courtney McDonald, Percussion

The Orchestral Musicians in the performance are members of the Atlanta Federation of Musicians, Local 148-462 of the American Federation of Musicians.

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ATLANTA BALLET ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE Arturo Jacobus, President & CEO Manda Wilhite, Board Relations & Capital Campaign Manager ARTISTIC Gennadi Nedvigin, Artistic Director Sarah Hillmer, Ballet Mistress Roman Rykine, Ballet Master Dale Shields, Ballet Mistress FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Pamela Whitacre, Chief Operating Officer Bradley Renner, General Manager Mary French, Operations Director Lene Sabin, Accounting Manager Hana Miller, Bookkeeper/Office Manager Alan Strange, IT/Database Coordinator DEVELOPMENT & fundraising Steven B. Libman, Chief Advancement Officer Mia Colson, Institutional Giving Officer Amy Green, Major Gifts Officer Lauren Elliott, Individual Gifts Officer Celeste Pendarvis, Special Events Manager Rosetta Bonavita, Development Assistant MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS Tricia Ekholm, Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Pierce, Associate Director of Marketing Julia Berg, Director of Public Relations Brian Wallenberg, Social Media Coordinator/Videographer Myredith Gonzales, Group Sales Manager Lauren Caplan, Marketing Coordinator Áine Imbach, Public Relations/Graphics Assistant TICKETING & PATRON SERVICES Lindsay Smith, Associate Director of Ticketing & Patron Services Dana Hylton Calabro, Patron Services Associate Desiree Houston, Patron Services Assistant Bekkie Murphy, Patron Services Assistant PRODUCTION Thomas Fowlkes, Director of Production John Beaulieu, Production Manager/Technical Director Amanda Craig, Stage Manager Sicily Palms, Company Manager/Assistant Stage Manager Joseph Walls, Lighting Supervisor Matt Oliner, Production Head Electrician Annemarie Mountjoy, Lighting Programmer

COSTUMES Colleen McGonegle, Costume Director Sophia Parrish, Wardrobe Supervisor/Costume Technician Rehnuma Tajbin, Draper/Patternmaker Benjamin Walsh, Construction Supervisor Susan Carter, Costume Technician Jane Kuipers, Costume Technician Ashleigh Dobrin, Stitcher CENTRE FOR DANCE EDUCATION Gennadi Nedvigin, Artistic Director Sharon Story, Dean/Ballet Mistress Kelly Cooper, Centre Administrative Director Diane Sales, Community Partnerships Manager Kate Gaul, Buckhead Centre Principal Nicole Adams, Virginia-Highland Centre Principal Kaitlyn Wesche, Centre Programs Coordinator Ansilla Bearden, Satellite Manager Centre Education Associates Rykie Belles, Erin Bridwell, Ashley Gibson, Ann Heard, Kelly Anne Hynek, Madia Menlee, Christina Stephenson, Samantha Torres Atlanta Ballet Boutique Leslie Campbell Judge, General Manager Kate LaFoy, Midtown Boutique Manager Nardja el-Shabazz, Buckhead Boutique Coordinator Sarah Pinson, Warehouse/Inventory Manager Hillary Drawe, Company Shoe Manager full-time Faculty Serena Chu, Guangchen Fu, Armando Luna, Carol Szkutek, Abigail Tan-Gamino faculty Nicole Adams, Ansilla Bearden, Shirley Bennett, Erin Bridwell, Harmony Clair, Kelly Cooper, Lonnie Davis, Lauren Derrig, Rebekah Diaddigo, Samba Diallo, Hillary Drawe, Sarah Emery, Taylor Ferguson, Vershion Funderburk, Pedro Gamino, Ashley Gibson, Giselle Gilmore, Alera Harrison, Sarah Hillmer, Sean Hilton, Nathan Hites, Michelle Jericevich, Jelani Jones, Chelsea Manning, Rosemary Miles, Terese Reynolds-Thomas, Chantia Robinson, Erin Robinson, Diane Sales, Roscoe Sales, Jared Tan, Alexis Whitehead-Polk Accompanists Alan Brown, Kyla Cummings, Elizabeth Grimes, Ronnie Ray, Yulia Rice, Gretel Rodriguez

ATLANTA BALLET board of trustees Allen W. Nelson, Chairman Elizabeth Adams, Vice Chair Barbara S. Joiner, Vice Chair Kristen Manion Taylor, Vice Chair Asif Ramji, Vice Chair Sue Gibbs, Treasurer Kathleen Knous, Secretary Trustees Jan Beaves Ron Breakstone Ginny Brewer Kelly C. Cannon Chris Carlos Dr. Meria Carstarphen Tony Catalfano Lynn Cochran-Schroder Lynda B. Courts Cynthia Crain David Crosland Lavona S. Currie Cynthia Day

Vanessa Delmer Nancy Field Janet Gagliano Amy Gerome Jamila M. Hall Joyce Houser, Ph.D. AJ Igherighe Arturo Jacobus* Edward B. Krugman Allen Maines Linda Morris Gennadi Nedvigin* Joey Reiman Sharon Silversmintz* Stephanie Thomas Stephens Kirsi Tehrani* Juan Carlos Urdaneta Pam Wakefield Jon S. Wright Advisory Board David M. Barnett

Mark Bell Barbara Bing Kevin Brown Erroll B. Davis William De Baets F. Javier Diaz Raoul “Ray” Donato Jorge Fernandez Maria Stela Frota Robert L. Green Carl Pascarella Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford Eric Robbins Laura Turner Seydel Takashi Shinozuka Ewoud N. Swaak Judith Varnai Shorer Dov Wilker Honorary Board Margaret Carton Kenneth R. Hey

Wade Hooper J. David Hopkins Bill Huber, CPA Michael Jones Sloan Kennedy-Smith Amanda Shailendra Michelle Sullivan Trustees Emeriti Lynda B. Courts, Chair Emeritus Lavona S. Currie Stanley Rose III Karen Vereb Patti Wallace Lifetime Board Jane Dean Carole Goldberg Joseph Prendergast Deen Day Sanders *Ex-Officio

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Atlanta Ballet gratefully acknowledges the following individuals, businesses, foundations, and volunteer groups, whose generous annual contributions as well as sponsorships of special events were received during the period of November 1, 2016 - November 30, 2017.

Foundation, Corporate & Government Donors $100,000 & UP Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation The Coca-Cola Company Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Inc. PNC The Home Depot Foundation The Rich Foundation The Sartain Lanier Family Foundation, Inc. $50,000 - $99,999 Corps de Ballet Delta Air Lines Neiman Marcus The Pittulloch Foundation, Inc. The Shubert Foundation, Inc. Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Walter Clay Hill and Family Foundation The Zeist Foundation, Inc. $25,000 - $49,999 Anonymous (2) City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs Fulton County Arts Council The Kettering Family Foundation Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc. REPAY Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. $10,000 - $24,999 The Audrey Morgan Family Foundation Bobbie Bailey Foundation Inc. Brunello Cucinelli Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc. Comcast David Yurman Dior Flourish by Legendary Events Georgia Dermatology Center Georgia Power Foundation Holder Construction Company JBS Foundation Lenox Square Mark & Evelyn Trammell Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Paymetric Price Gilbert, Jr. Charitable Fund The National Society of High School Scholars Ray M. and Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation, Inc. Wells Fargo Foundation

$5,000 - $9,999 Anonymous Atlantic Capital Bank The Fraser-Parker Foundation Georgia Council for the Arts Holland & Knight Jones Day JPMorgan Chase Massey Charitable Trust Morris, Manning & Martin $2,500 - $4,999 Anonymous Denise Newton Memorial Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation Hellen Ingram Plummer Charitable Foundation, Inc. Turner Foundation, Inc. $1,000 - $2,499 Lois & Lucy Lampkin Foundation Publix Super Markets Thomas H. Lanier Family Foundation MATCHING GIFT CORPORATIONS The Coca-Cola Company Comcast Google The Home Depot Foundation Illinois Tool Works JPMorgan Chase McKesson Microsoft Norfolk Southern SAP America SunTrust

Atlanta Ballet is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also received support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. Major funding is provided by the Fulton County Commission under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council, and major support is provided by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Additional funding has been provided by our individual donors, corporate sponsors and foundations.

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individual Donors THE DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE $100,000 & UP Anonymous Mr. & Mrs. Chris Michael Carlos $40,000-$99,999 Ginny & Charles Brewer Mr. & Mrs. Richard W. Courts II Sarah & Jim Kennedy Katherine Scott Mr. Jon S. Wright $25,000 - $39,999 Anonymous (2) Ms. Jan P. Beaves Susan & Tony Catalfano Mrs. Lynn Cochran-Schroder & Mr. Bill Schroder Lavona S. Currie $15,000 - $24,999 Anonymous James J. Andrews Vanessa & Robin Delmer Barbara & Eric Joiner Kathleen & Kirk Knous Asif Ramji & Lisa Ramji Mr. Dante S. Stephensen Pam Wakefield $10,000 - $14,999 Anonymous Elizabeth & Howell Adams III Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen & David Heleniak Drs. Cynthia Crain & Dwight Lee Michelle & David Crosland Ms. Nancy Field & Mr. Michael Schulder Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Gagliano Ms. Amy Gerome-Acuff & Mr. Daniel Acuff Sue & Duane Gibbs Scott & Adrienne Hardesty Bonnie & Terry Herron Mr. Douglas Hopkins Joyce Houser, Ph.D. Edward Krugman & Jill Pryor Mr. J. Allen Maines & Ms. Pam Yarbrough Kristen Manion Taylor & Jason Taylor Jamila & Whitcliff A. McKnight, Jr. Linda & Don Morris Mr. Allen W. Nelson Delphine Podsiadlo Joey Reiman Mr. William F. Snyder Stephanie & Austin Stephens Carol & Ramon Tomé Mr. & Mrs. Juan Carlos Urdaneta THE ENCORE CIRCLE $7,500 - $9,999 Anonymous Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Cannon Mr. & Mrs. Erroll B. Davis, Jr. James L. Jackson

$5,000 - $7,499 Anonymous Angela & Kirk Clinard Mrs. Daphne Moore Eitel Mr. Daniel E. Gaylord & Ms. Marilyn Altman Marius Hechter Amy Nelson & Style Design Doug & Ginger (Brill) Pisik Dana & Mark Ray Stanley H. Rose III Sharon & David Schachter Mr. & Mrs. James E. Stueve Karen Vereb & Bud Blanton $2,500 - $4,999 Diana & Miguel Arteche Mrs. Barbara Bastin William Bishop Michael Bracken Joanne & Alex Gross Laurie & John Hopkins Elvira & Arturo Jacobus Dr. Leslie & Mrs. Marilyn Kelman Drs. Christine & Michael Murphy Danna & Mike Sanders Debby & Baker Smith Johannah Smith Dr. John Trimble & Ms. Marianne Stribling Pam & Paul Whitacre Mr. & Mrs. Robert A. Yellowlees $1,000 - $2,499 Anonymous (3) Dr. Florence C. Barnett Lindsay & Evan Borenstein Jeanne Bracken James A. Brennan, M.D. Dr. & Mrs. William Brinkman Sara & Alex Brown Mr. & Mrs. Jerome M Cooper Donna Court Dr. & Mrs. Lawrence W. Davis Robert Paul Dean & Robert Epstein Susan & George Dunn Mr. Richard Delay & Ms. Francine Dykes Mr. & Mrs. Howard F. Elkins Nigel Ferguson Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Goddard Dr. Marvin Goldstein Mrs. Carol L. Goodman Julie & Paul Hagedorn Steffi & Bill Huber Dr. Lorie Hughes Ben Hunter Akpo Igherighe & Celeste Pendarvis Lee Kapner Marsha King Mitchell & Stacey Kopelman Morgan Kuhr Leigh Anna & Steven Lang Melanie & Chris Leeth Ms. Doreen M. Lewis Mrs. Vaughn Linder Ms. Linda Lively & Mr. James Hugh Josh & Kallarin Mackey Annette & Steven McBrayer Margaret P. McCamish Mr. & Mrs. Eugene F. Meany Mr. Michael Mitchell Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Montag The Mortimer Family

Ms. Christine Noguere & Mr. Phillip Pope Robert W. Parris & Bradley W. Renner Mr. & Mrs. Larry Pelletier Ms. Charlene R. Pletz Stuart Pliner & Barbara Bing Pliner Margery & Dan Reason Family Fund The RFP Fund, Inc. Stacy Galan Shailendra Dr. & Mrs. Mark Silverstein Anne M. Spratlin Sharon Story, Julien & Kim Kenney Harriet H. Warren Paula & Mike Wilson Ted & Whitney Woodward Allen W. Yee THE PATRON CIRCLE $500 - $999 Anonymous Spring & Tom Asher Mrs. George C. Blount, Jr. David Cofrin & Christine Tryba-Cofrin Mr. Lawrence M. Cohen James Datka & Nora DePalma Carol Comstock & Jim Davis Courtney Crandell Dr. Catherine Dekle & Dr. Keith Mannes Mr. Philip A. Delanty Mr. & Mrs. Gregory S. Durden Lauren & Rick Elliott Sarah Segrest Emerson Amy & Niels Engberding Cole and Zachary Ferguson-Cogdill Mrs. Susan Fleck Mr. Robert J. Fornal Kathryn & Patrick Gaul Clover Hall Ms. Marguerite Hallman Virginia Hepner & Malcolm Barnes Helen & Jeff Herbert Lisa & Forrest Hibbard Michal & Jack Hillman Dr. John P. Horton Tom Lambert Steven Libman & Carol Killworth Gino & Belinda Massafra Mr. Philip R. Mertz Terri & Stephen Nagler Miho & Gennadi Nedvigin Mrs. William A. Parker, Jr. Mrs. Polly N. Pater & Mrs. Patty S. Beem Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Perkowitz Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ratonyi Denise Reese Dr. & Mrs. William M. Scaljon Judith Story Dr. Michael & Francoise Szikman Mr. Tarek Takieddini Mr. & Mrs. Perry Taylor Roberta Taylor & James Hill Charlotte & David Terrell Mr. and Mrs. James S. Thomas, Jr. Dr. Peter & Mrs. Beverly Thomas Time Space Organization Ronald E. Toussaint, Jr. Mrs. Julie Turner-Davis & Mr. John Davis Mr. John J. UyHam & Dr. Kirsten Travers-UyHam

Veronica M. Vincent & Robert I. Wertheimer Stephen Walker Alan & Marcia Watt Drs. Cherry Wongtrakool & Vin Tangpricha $250 - $499 Anonymous (2) Mark & Belinda Anderson Dr. & Mrs. Charles R. Arp Jordan Barkin Ms. Martha Bobo Paul & Jeanne Bolton Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Borenstein Cynthia Brant Dr. Harold J. Brody & Donald Smith Elizabeth Carlson Mrs. Carolyn Champion Dr. Sheldon B. Cohen Mr. & Mrs. Henry M. Colvin Kelly Tonina Cooper Kathleen & Brian Corrao Lucy Currie Bush & Henry Bush Cynthia & Mike Davison Kate and James Denny Valentine Dike Reverend James D. Duffy Elaine Eaton Dytre Fentress & Stephen Rann Noel Francis Louise B. Franklin Judy & Edward Garland Amy Green Sandra D. Haisten Steve, Susan & Grace Hauser Jim & Mary Long Howard Mr. & Mrs. Mark E. Jackson Natalie M. Jones Jean Gatton Jones Anna Kaiser Mr. & Mrs. Peter G. Kessenich Tanneshia Kirby Abe Levine Allan & Vaneesa Little Gwen McAlpine, Ed.D. Jean & Robert McColl Debia & Robert McCulloch Jennifer & Virginia McGuffey Joshua V. Montague Michelle Flake Morgan Henrietta Muller Sarah G. Murray Karen Olsen-Howard, M.D. Christopher Omueti Mrs. Debby Overstreet Darryl Payne & Lisa Richardson Jonathan Popler Chongkolni J. Potitong Dr. Robert & Gail Riesenberg Viktoriia & Larry Robinson Roman Rykine Robert & Susan Saudek Timothy & Jerrye Scofield Beverly & Milton Shlapak Hannah Sledd Danielle Squires Dr. & Mrs. Alan Sunshine Barbara & Jon Swann Rosemary Trudeau Ms. Karen Trujillo Alice Washington Jody Weatherly

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Celebrating

20 Years!

SPONSORS & PATRONS Atlanta Ballet celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Centre for Dance Education on Saturday, May 20, 2017 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The celebration raised essential support for scholarship funding and the community outreach programs of the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education.

PRESENTING SPONSORS Ginny & Charles Brewer Chris Michael Carlos

GRAND BENEFACTOR PATRONS

Mrs. Lynn Cochran-Schroder & Mr. Bill Schroder Cindy Crain-Lee & Dwight Lee Lavona Currie Sarah & Jim Kennedy Cindy & John Morris

BENEFACTOR PATRONS Anonymous Jan Beaves Jane & Greg Blount Susan & Tony Catalfano Lynda & Richard Courts Vanessa & Robin Delmer Laura & Gregg Heard Nelson & Carole Marchioli Stephanie Stephens Ashley Tillman

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PATRONS

Elizabeth & Howell Adams III Lisa & Joseph Blanco Susan & Patrick Dierberger Melanie & Peter Faser Mary & Chris French Jennifer & Scott Geller Rebecca & Sanjay Gupta Lisa & Tom Hermann Elvira & Arturo Jacobus Barbara & Eric Joiner Edward Krugman & Jill Pryor Colleen & Brent Lane Jenny & Tom McElligott Elizabeth & Chris Morris Amy Nelson Sharon & Howard Silvermintz Thays & Juan Carlos Urdaneta Pam Wakefield Susan & Tony White

SUPPORTERS

Anonymous Blount Friends Paige & Kevin Feagin Denise & Matthew Halkos Tim & Wendy Harben Debbie Heineman Joan & Charles Hodge Ceci Johnson Deanna Pham Dana & Mark Ray Joni & Carter Santos Patra & Jim Shaw Marsha Taylor Tanya & Chad Theriot Ikeia Jewel Underwood Marcia Valentine-Isom

CORPS DE BALLET SUPPORTERS Teri Cloud Kelly Tonina Cooper Danielle Halkos Maxine Hyland Anne Malacrea Mei Xiang

FUND THE NEED DONORS $100,000+ Chris Michael Carlos

$1000+

David Barnett Mrs. Lynn Cochran-Schroder & Mr. Bill Schroder Mr. & Mrs. Richard W. Courts II Vanessa & Robin Delmer Peyton Feltus Rebecca & Sanjay Gupta Elvira & Arturo Jacobus JAM Family Investments Ashley Tilman Pam Wakefield

$500+

Mr. & Mrs. Gregory W. Blount Cecy Brewer Denise & Matthew Halkos Ceci Johnson Christina Klein Tanya & Chad Theriot Juan Carlos Urdaneta Pam & Paul Whitacre Sue Wooldridge

$100+

Michelle & John Decker Susan & Patrick Dierberger Paige & Kevin Feagin Danielle Halkos Tim & Wendy Harben Laura & Gregg Heard Debbie Heineman Don Heineman Lisa & Tom Hermann Clay & Marcy Herron Steven Libman & Carol Killworth Nancy & Stephen Mathews Deanna & Robert Pham Tonya Phillips Joni & Carter Santos Sharon & Howard Silvermintz ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM

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Gifts in Honor & Memoriam In Honor of Robert Barnett James J. Andrews

In Honor of Lynda & Richard W. Courts II Dr. Sheldon B. Cohen Mrs. Vaughn Linder

In Honor of Sophie Basarrate Bridget Grant

In Honor of Lynda Courts Kathi & Robert Goddard

In Honor of Anne Burton Avery James J. Andrews

In Honor of Vonetta Daniels Terence Hooks Julia Houston

In Honor of Margaret Carton Annette & Steven McBrayer In Honor of Chris Casey & Doug Weiss Allen W. Yee In Honor of the Clark & Whitakre Families Mary French In Honor of Dylan Clinard Angela & Kirk Clinard

In Memory of Bernadette Datka James Datka & Nora DePalma In Honor of Jamila Hall Clover Hall In Memory of Louis Molino Michael Bracken

In Memory of Edward Mortimer The Mortimer Family In Honor of Hannah Morris Elizabeth & Chris Morris In Memory of Vaughn Nixon Player Mrs. Vaughn Linder In Memory of Bob Podsiadlo Delphine Podsiadlo In Honor of Julianne Kepley Spratlin Anne M. Spratlin In Memory of Edwin Story Judith Story In Honor of Sharon Story Cynthia Crain, Ed.D. & Dwight Lee, Ph.D.

PAS DE DEUX SOCIETY Members of the Pas de Deux Society have made an extra gift of $5,000 to artistically support an individual dancer for the 17|18 Season.

Ms. Jan P. Beaves Ginny & Charles Brewer and family Chris M. Carlos (4 dancers) Susan & Tony Catalfano (2 dancers) Corps de Ballet (3 dancers) Lynda Courts

Lavona S. Currie Erroll & Elaine Davis Vanessa & Robin Delmer Daphne Elizabeth Moore Eitel Adrienne & Scott Hardesty Bonnie & Terry Herron

James L. Jackson Kathleen & Kirk Knous (2 dancers) Amy Nelson & Style Design Asif & Lisa Ramji Katherine Scott Dante Stephensen

THE DOROTHY ALEXANDER LEGACY SOCIETY Honoring our Past, Stewarding our Present, and Planning for Our Future Individuals who have included Atlanta Ballet in their long-term estate plans through bequests and other deferred-giving arrangements.

Madeline & Howell Adams, Jr. C.D. Belcher Mrs. Lynn Cochran-Schroder Patty & Marc Dash

Mrs. Daphne Moore Eitel Melodi Ford Joyce Houser, Ph.D. Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Morgan

Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel John K. Palmisano & Stephen A. Williams, III

IN-KIND SUPPORT Atlanta Ballet is grateful to the following organizations for their in-kind support.

Carithers Flowers Flourish by Legendary Events David Yurman Jean Padberg & Associates

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Jones Day La FĂŞte Chocolat Margot McKinney & Neiman Marcus Microsoft Corporation

smartwater Sprinkles Cupcakes

atlanta ballet is grateful for the support from the following Atlantic Capital, The Preferred Bank of Atlanta Ballet Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters, The Official Coffee Provider of Atlanta Ballet Delta Air Lines, The Official Airline of Atlanta Ballet M.A.C Cosmetics, The Makeup Provider of Atlanta Ballet Motion Stability, The Official Physical Therapy Provider of Atlanta Ballet Kennesaw State University, The Official Academic Partner of Atlanta Ballet Publix Super Markets, The Preferred Super Market of Atlanta Ballet Ryder Truck Rental Systems, Inc., The Official Set Transporter of Atlanta Ballet

Cassidy M. Foley, D.O. Pediatric Orthopedic Associates, Next Level Sports Medicine Dr. Frank A. Sinkoe, Podiatric Orthopedics Dr. Kara Pepper, Laureate Medical Group Dr. Laura Gandy, Laureate Medical Group Smith & Howard, Audit Firm Jean Padberg & Associates, P.C., Immigration Counsel Jones Day, Attorneys ASV, Video Services Charlie McCullers Photography Corporate Sports Unlimited J.D. French & Assoc.

Kim Kenney Photography Advertising for Good Interprint Communications

For more information, please visit our website at www.atlantaballet.com.

Atlanta Ballet is grateful for the support from our in-kind sponsors:

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Sunsets are spectacular on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Appearing nightly.

ROAD TRIP! See the Southeast with four wheels and your family.

We’ve got five stops in four states that are worth your time.

By Therra Gwyn Jaramillo

W

hat’s your favorite family memory? For many it’s a family vacation.

A 2015 study found that half those surveyed listed a family vacation as their happiest memory. Apparently, all those “Are we there yets,” “How much l-o-n-g-e-rs?” and “Mom, I have to go to the bathrooms” haven’t soiled some fond thoughts of long ago. The survey, incidentally, comes from the nonprofit Family Holiday Association, so not exactly an unbiased source, but still.

If you’ve got four wheels and a hankering to see more of the Southeast with your best beloveds, we have a few ideas. Forget air travel this time. Avoid the stresses of herding kids and luggage through the maze that is the modern airport. Experts predict that lower gas prices will stick around at least through the first part of 2018. Our go-to’s are arranged alphabetically by state.

Gulf Shores & Orange Beach, Ala. | 5.5 hours With so many beaches in the Southeast, it’s tempting to overlook the 60 miles of Alabama coastline found between Mississippi and Florida. That’d be a mistake. Bama beaches are worth a long look and an even longer weekend.

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Lose yourself in the beauty of the arts.

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We are pleased to play a supporting role in celebrating the arts in our community. It’s an investment that delivers a return with every inspiring performance.

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Banking products are provided by Synovus Bank, Member FDIC. Divisions of Synovus Bank operate under multiple trade names across the Southeast.

ABOVE: Paddle your cares away on the Alabama coast.

Muscle Shoals + Tuscumbia, Ala. | 4 hours Duane Allman and Helen Keller are just two reasons to visit northwest Alabama.

FAME RECORDING STUDIOS which dates to 1959, is the hallowed home of the “Muscle Shoals Sound.” Wilson Pickett recorded here, as did Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones. Allman, the guitar virtuoso, camped in the parking lot one night so he could play here.

Other options in Tuscumbia: the ALABAMA MUSIC HALL OF FAME; the IVYGREEN HELEN KELLER HOME (take your photo next to the water pump where she first made her real connection with language); NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY; the birthplace of W.C. Handy, the Father of the Blues; COON DOG CEMETERY, at the base of the Cumberland Mountains.

A hunter and a favorite dog are never easily separated and this attraction memorializes I-24 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM

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When was the last time you sat with your family and watched a sunset together?

You can do so at either of two distinct neighboring towns on the Gulf of Mexico: familyfriendly Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, with its soft white sand, turquoise water and relaxed vibe. These are popular spots for families at spring break time, so if that’s in your plans, book early GULF STATE PARK fills 6,500 acres between the two towns. Camp in an RV, tent or cabin. There’s a pool for you and your dog. The 18-hole REFUGE GOLF COURSE is a beauty, just keep an eye out for alligators. Hop over to Pensacola, Fla., and visit the world’s largest NATIONAL NAVAL AVIATION MUSEUM, home to 150 restored aircraft from the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Admission is free.

Kayaking, paddle-boarding and small-wave surfing abound in both places.

ALABAMA COAST ZOO and its 300 residents starred in Animal Planet’s 14-part documentary series about “The Little Zoo That Could,” so named somehow surviving several hurricanes.

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local dogs in ways both unusual and touching.

This is a prime festival destination, whether you’re into music, motorcycles, Native American culture, Helen Keller, theater, history or Christmas.

Cave City, Ky. | 5.5 hours Begin by going deep. MAMMOTH CAVE offers short introductory tours and is a great year-round destination. The surrounding national park has 90 miles of hiking, biking and horseback-riding trails. The park’s Green and Nolin rivers are good for campers, canoers and kayakers.

DINOSAUR WORLD puts you among hundreds of lifesize dinosaur models, and is dog-friendly.

Bowling Green, home to Western Kentucky University, is an easy 30 minutes away. It’s a great place to shop, dine and stay. Take the kids to LOST RIVER CAVE and ride a boat into an underground labyrinth. Let them run wild at BEECH BEND AMUSEMENT PARK or slide into the CORVETTE MUSEUM. Beaufort, S.C. | 4.5 hours Even if you’ve never been to Beaufort (pronounced BEWfert), you’ve seen its centuries-old oaks and low-country charm in movies like Forrest Gump, The Big Chill and Forces of Nature. Hook up with BEAUFORT MOVIE TOURS and see where the film magic was made.

It’s Deep South delightful here, with narrow streets

The small cottage birthplace and the larger childhood home (top) of Helen Keller are at Ivy Green. The actual well pump — where Helen would learn “everything has a name” from Anne Sullivan (above, right) — is still there.

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shaded by Spanish moss-draped trees and restored antebellum homes. Southern Living magazine named Beaufort the South’s best small town in 2017. Found between Charleston and Savannah on the coast, it’s a quick trip to the Sea Islands, the barrier islands between Beaufort and the Atlantic Ocean. HUNTING ISLAND STATE PARK’S historic lighthouse is the only publicly accessible lighthouse in South Carolina.

Also worth a look-see: the BEAUFORT HISTORY MUSEUM and the PENN CENTER, founded in 1862 to provide education for recently freed slaves.

For breakfast or lunch, visit LOW COUNTRY PRODUCE AND MARKET. Grab regional gifts for folks not lucky enough to be with you. Later, head to SCOUT SOUTHERN MARKET for a sweet tea float that includes a dollop of lemon, peach or mango sorbet.

Wear your walking shoes. Beaufort is a fine place for strolling.

Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Great Smokies, Tenn. | 4.5 hours Two destination towns and the most visited national park in the United States sit in the misty mountains of eastern Tennessee.

If you think it’s Dolly Parton’s world and we just live in it, you’d be right, at least in Pigeon Forge. It’s home to DOLLYWOOD theme park, the biggest ticketed attraction in the state, and DOLLY’S SPLASH COUNTRY, a 35-acre water park named one of America’s best by TripAdvisor. In addition to rides and regional arts and crafts, Dollywood has concerts and the SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME. I-26 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM

BEAUFORT REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Serene coastal views and lush barrier islands are plentiful in Beaufort, S.C., where Southern hospitality is as sweet as the iced tea (below).

PIGEON FORGE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

Dolly’s 100-acre DREAMMORE RESORT is here, as is DOLLY’S DIXIE STAMPEDE, five acres of fun featuring 32 horses and riders.

It’s all downhill at the SMOKY MOUNTAIN ALPINE COASTER, a mileplus track that offers thrill rides and gorgeous views. THE HATFIELD AND McCOY DINNER SHOW is a soap opera of countrified conflict with live music and an all-youcan-eat buffet.

The GATLINBURG SPACE NEEDLE, a 407-ft. tall observation tower, provides a bird’s-eye view of the Smokies.

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK itself covers 522,427 acres, divided almost evenly between Tennessee and North Carolina. The sprawl of forest, streams, rivers and waterfalls includes a segment of the Appalachian Trail.

CADES COVE, the park’s most popular feature, treats you to stunning vistas and remnants of Appalachian culture.

A word to the wise: Be prepared for “bear jams.” When a black bear is spotted, traffic stops and smartphone cameras come out.

TOP: Just as this mountainous range is divided between Tennessee and North Carolina, so is the controversy of how to spell its name: with the “e” or without? ABOVE: America’s first wing coaster, Dollywood’s Wild Eagle seats riders on either side of the track so there’s nothing but air above and below ... a full 21 stories below.

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T H E F LOW E R ROOM BY

DARYL LISA FAZIO

APR 21-MAY 13, 2018

THE STAGES OF

WINTER 5 world and 2 regional premieres, Chris Coleman’s return, and evenings with August Wilson and Pearl Cleage top our list of what to see in Atlanta theater.

By Kathy Janich

YES, HAMILTON IS ON THE HORIZON. Arriving in May, in fact.

But don’t look too far ahead just yet. From now through the end of April, Atlanta’s homegrown professional theaters will stage an intriguing and ambitious mix of comedy, topical drama, world and regional premieres and, in several cases, a welcome look back at some of America’s smartest plays.

We’ll encounter Euripides, Nazis, closeted feds, gods and people who think they’re gods. We get twice as many plays by women as by men, including a double dip with Pearl Cleage in Hospice + Pointing at the Moon, two one-acts that are now a single piece, at the Alliance Theatre.

This rich list of nine (Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Maytag Virgin and Angels in America have already come and gone) was culled from conversations, research, press releases, season brochures, a lifetime of theatergoing and 40 years as a theater artist and/or arts journalist.

(We’re counting Angels as two shows because it requires separate tickets.) And, yes, the list is subjective. We welcome, encourage even, your thoughts, comments and debate.

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Every. Four. Years.

The dance world comes to Jackson.

June 10-23, 2018.

Two weeks of exciting performances by ballet’s rising stars • Opening night guest artists: Joffrey Ballet dancers; Ashley Wheater, Artistic Director • Arts & Lecture Series with Alexei Ratmansky, Edward Villella & more

For schedule and tickets visit usaibc.com/attend

at OGL UNIVE ETHORPE RSITY’ PERFOR S CON CENTERMING ART ANT S

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AN EVENING WITH TRAVIS TRITT OCT. 13

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THE STAGES OF WINTER FEBRUARY The Followers; A Retelling of the Bacchae

THROUGH FEB. 25 | 7 Stages. The 38-year-old Little Five Points company looks to ancient Greece — 405 B.C., give or take — for its first production of 2018. Euripides’ The Bacchae delves into opposite sides of human nature: the rational, civilized side represented by the king of Thebes (Lowrey Brown) and the instinctive side represented by Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy (Ofir Nahari, a guest artist from Israel). 7 Stages’ telling, which qualifies as a world premiere, comes from Margaret Baldwin, an Atlanta playwright of note. It uses opera, dance, puppetry and physical theater to tell its story of blind faith, abuse of power and vengeance. Michael Haverty, the company’s co-artistic director, directs. Klimchak, an Atlanta music-maker who builds and plays unusual instruments, provides original music, with musical direction by Bryan Mercer and Naharin choreographing. Back Stage Black Box. $15-$25. 1105 Euclid Ave. NE. Details, tickets at 404.523.7647 or www.7stages.org.

The Mystery of Love and Sex

THROUGH MARCH 11 | Out Front Theatre Company. Regional premiere. London-born playwright Bathsheba “Bash” Doran’s four-character drama is an unexpected love story about where souls meet and the consequences of growing up. Charlotte and Jonny have been best friends since age 9. She’s Jewish, he’s Christian; he’s black, she’s white. Their differences intensify their connection until sexual desire complicates everything. The play premiered in 2014 at NYC’s Lincoln Center (“written with compassion and wry wisdom,” said The New York Times) and has played Chicago and Los Angeles. Doran also has written for TV (“Boardwalk Empire,” “Masters of Sex,” “Smash”). Amber Bradshaw of Working Title Playwrights directs a cast comprising Donald McNamus, Tiffany Morgan, Terrance Smith and Rachel Wansker. The piece contains nudity. $20 + $25. 999 Brady Ave. in West Midtown. Details, tickets at 404.448.2755 or www. outfronttheatre.com.

King Hedley II

THROUGH MARCH 11 | True Colors Theatre Company. August Wilson (1945-2005) is one of the great American playwrights of any century, and remains a personal favorite. King Hedley II is part of his 10-play Century (or Pittsburgh) Cycle, all reflecting the black experience in 20th-century America. King (Neal A. Ghant) is an ex-con peddling stolen refrigerators in inner-city Pittsburgh in the 1980s. His goal: Buy a new business and thus, a new life. Surrounding him in his quest, for better or worse, are his wife, his mother, his mother’s ex-lover, his best friend and a neighbor named Stool Pigeon (Spelman College’s Eddie Bradley), a wise, Greek chorus-kind of character. Also in the cast: Tiffany Denise Hobbs, Tonia Jackson, E. Roger Mitchell and Eugene H. Russell IV). Some consider King Hedley II a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. It seemed so in a mesmerizing production at the Alliance Theatre in 2003/04. Recommended for age 16 and up (language, content). $20-$35.

Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road SW. Tickets online at Ticket Alternative or 877.725.8849.

Details at truecolorstheatre.org.

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THE STAGES OF WINTER Perfect Arrangement

FEB. 22-MARCH 11 | Theatrical Outfit. Bob loves Jim, and Norma loves Millie. Both couples are masquerading as heterosexual during the Lavender Scare of the 1950s (when sexual “deviants” were targeted for dismissal from federal employment). Topher Payne, well-known to metro audiences (Angry Fags, The Only Light in Reno, Let Nothing You Dismay, Swell Party), won the 2014 American Theatre Critics Association Osborn Prize for his script, called “a clever canapé of a comedy” by The New York Times. It has played across the country and off-Broadway and although the Outfit run is its professional Atlanta premiere, it workshopped in its early days at the Process Theatre. The cast: Joe Knezevich (Bob), Clifton Guterman (Jim), Courtney Patterson (Norma), Ann Marie Gideon (Millie), plus Stacy Melich, Kevin Stillwell and Ann Wilson. Adam Koplan of New York’s Flying Carpet Theatre Company directs. Contains mature themes and content. $20.50-$49 (Feb. 22-23 previews a bit cheaper). Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. NW. Details, tickets at 678.528.1500 or www. theatricaloutfit.org.

MARCH Sheltered

MARCH 1-25 | Alliance Theatre at Actor’s Express. World premiere and winner of the 2018 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. New York-based playwright Alix Sobler’s suspense story, based on true events, takes place in 1939 as World War II begins in Europe. Two ordinary Philadelphians make an extraordinary decision: to bring 50 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied territory to safety in America. Kimberly Senior, a freelance director based in New York City, directs a cast comprising Lauren Boyd, Amanda Drinkall, Park Krausen, Lee Osorio and John Skelley. Recommended for age 12 and up. The Alliance’s annual Kendeda Week, featuring staged readings of four competition runners-up, is one of the highlights of Atlanta’s theatrical season. The readings (not Sheltered) are free. Don’t miss out! $42; $10 teens. Actor’s Express in the King Plow Arts Center, 887 West Marietta St. NW in West Midtown. Details, tickets at 404.733.5000 or alliancetheatre.org.

Hospice + Pointing at the Moon

MARCH 23-APRIL 15. Alliance Theatre at the Southwest Arts Center. A world premiere, of sorts. Pearl Cleage, the Alliance’s playwright-in-residence, gives us two one-acts that follow a woman named Jenny as she deals with unresolved questions from her past. In Hospice, she confronts the approaching death of her estranged mother. Her story continues some 30 years later in the brand-new Pointing at the Moon, which takes place immediately after the 2016 presidential election. Jenny, now a respected scholar and literary critic, is reluctantly drawn into the swirl of political and cultural changes and must choose between her comfortable life and her deeply held beliefs. Hospice, which premiered in 1983, won five AUDELCO awards for achievement off-Broadway; Pointing at the Moon is a world premiere. The cast adds to the excitement of a new piece: Atlanta-based actors Terry Burrell (Ethel, Cinderella and Fella, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill) and Tinashe Kinjese (Disgraced, Blues for an Alabama Sky). Timothy Douglas, a New York-based director/actor/writer/educator, directs. $20-$45 (previews cheaper); $10 teens. The Southwest Arts Center is at 915 New Hope Road SW. Details, tickets at 404.733.5000 or alliancetheatre.org.

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THE STAGES OF WINTER The Harvey Milk Show

MARCH 9-10 | Actor’s Express at St. Mark United Methodist Church.

Welcome home, Chris Coleman. The return of Actor’s Express’ cofounder and longtime artistic director is, indeed, reason to rejoice. He’s back for a two-night-only concert version of The Harvey Milk Show (done at AE in 1992 with Coleman in the title role). Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in San Francisco, serving on the board of supervisors for 11 months before his assassination on Nov. 27, 1978, at age 48. Coleman helped create the Express in 1988 and led the company until 2000, when he became artistic director at Portland Center Stage in Oregon. In May, he becomes artistic director at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The concert is part of the Express’ 30th-anniversary-season celebrations. $55.

Post-show cocktail party with Coleman on Saturday is an additional $50. St. Mark is at 781 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets at 404.607.7469 or www.actors-express.com.

APRIL Ripe Frenzy

APRIL 13-MAY 6 | Synchronicity Theatre. This world premiere by Jennifer Barclay won the National New Play Network’s 2016 Smith Prize for political theater. It brings us to Tavistown, N.Y., where a recent tragedy has shaken the small community. Zoe, our narrator and the town historian, recounts the days leading to the incident, as the high school prepares for its semiannual production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Barclay, an actor-turned-playwright formerly based in Chicago and California, is now on the faculty at the University of Maryland. Atlanta-based A-listers Cynthia D. Barker, Megan Cramer (Georgia Shakespeare back in the day) and Taylor M. Dooley (Aurora Theatre’s Burnpile) lead the cast, with artistic director Rachel May directing. $27-$31 (previews cheaper; swanky seat upgrades available).

Synchronicity is in the One Peachtree Pointe building, 1545 Peachtree St. NE. Details, tickets at 404.484.8636 or www.synchrotheatre.com.

The Flower Room T H E F LOW E R ROOM BY

DARYL LISA FAZIO

APR 21-MAY 13, 2018

APRIL 21-MAY 13 | Actor’s Express. World premiere. Atlanta playwright Daryl Lisa Fazio’s comedy, part of AE’s 2016 Threshold Festival of New Plays, now gets a full staging. It follows Ingrid (Stacy Melich), an uptight academic who researches sexual behavior in primitive cultures while remaining completely closed off from her own sexual self. When she loses her university job, she writes erotica to pay the bills — unleashing her own journey of, well, discovery. Melissa Foulger directs a cast that includes Matthew Busch (The Thrush and the Woodpecker), Eliana Marianes and Joshua Quinn. $31-$44 (previews cheaper, opening night most expensive).

King Plow Arts Center, 887 West Marietta St. NW. Details, tickets at 404.607.7469 or www.actors-express.com.

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THE NEW MILLENNIUM CRUCIFIXION | Jan. 25, 8 p.m.

T

his gospel drama transforms the theater around you into the Mountain of Calvary, the site of Jesus’ Crucifixion. Audiences will feel the chill of the wind, the vibrations of thunder and the electrical charge of lightning.

It’s gritty, urban and uplifting.

The Crucifixion story follows a contemporary American family with a teenage daughter named Angela, who’s facing trials and tribulations that seem to mirror Jesus Christ’s.

Her father and mother join forces to fight the destructive influences in her life — both at school and in their neighborhood.

All threaten to destroy Angela.

When her supernatural gifts are 16 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM

exposed, the family finds itself at a crossroad.

Will Angela’s parents be able to protect her? Will her life be destroyed in a world afraid of the unknown?

Or will her suffering, ridicule and alienation lead the community to spiritual awakening?

The New Millennium Crucifixion script was written by Sylvia Thomas (I Used to Be a Church Girl, A Time for Redemption).

It features Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Le’Andria Johnson and Stella Award winner Y’Anna Crawley (Season 2 winner of BET’s “Sunday Best” and a former member of the Clark Atlanta University Concert Choir).

IN THE MOOD: A 1940S MUSICAL REVUE | Jan. 26, 3 & 8 p.m.

SWING! SWING! SWING!

“S

wingin’ on a Star,” “Tuxedo Junction,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Sing Sing Sing,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Take the A Train,” “All the Things You Are.” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. America went to war in 1941. There was much to worry about, but the crucible from which the era’s music sprang created sounds that rival music from any era before or since.

In the Mood: A 1940s Musical Revue revives that period in American history in song, dance, period costumes and the irresistible sounds of the String of Pearls Orchestra. The show is equal parts nostalgia and celebration, and a tip of the cap to all who fought to defeat the Nazis and the Japanese imperialists.

Many of In the Mood’s musical

arrangements were written by Hollywood bandleader and composer Vic Schoen (19162000), who just happened to write for a few names you might recognize — the Andrews Sisters, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Hope and Danny Kaye, among countless others.

The revue, which has toured the world for almost 25 years, began as a celebration of American music and the swing era.

On radio, in theaters and ballrooms, the big bands were drawing record crowds.

Bandleaders like Les Brown, Jimmy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Kay Kayser and Glenn Miller kept the beat that moved millions of feet.

And, for the last time in the 20th century, all of America shared a common popular music.

More: inthemoodlive.com

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MY FAVORITE MURDER LIVE | Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

THEY KILL IT Karen Kilgariff is a stand-up comic and TV writer. Georgia Hardstark is a writer and Cooking Channel host. Both are lifelong fans of true-crime stories, which brings us to murder, specifically My Favorite Murder.

The weekly comedy podcast debuted a year ago. On it, the two tell murderous tales and share hometown crime stories from friends and fans. New episodes — an hour or two — drop every Thursday. Shorter “minisodes” drop every Monday.

The Californians met at a Halloween Party in 2015. Kilgariff was talking about a brutal accident involving a drunken driver; Hardstark approached, and they talked at length about murders throughout history.

“Everyone around me was bummed out by it,” Kilgariff said in an Entertainment Weekly interview. “Except for Georgia, who reached across the circle we were in and was like, ‘Tell me everything.’”

Hardstark enjoys macabre small talk.

“I always wanted to know about people’s hometown murders,” she says. “When people would tell me where they’re from, I’d be like, ‘Oh, you guys have that murder …’

They’d ask, ‘What are you talking about?’”

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The two have been doing this crazy murder talk ever since, and are joined weekly by hundreds of listeners. The most fanatical — My Favorite Murder routinely makes iTunes’ Top 10 comedy podcast list — call themselves “Murderinos.”

Murder debuted Jan. 13, 2016, with the JonBenét Ramsey and Sacramento East Area Rapist cases. In nearly 100 podcasts to date, the duo has dug through a murderers’ row, from Chicago’s John Wayne Gacy (who sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered at least 33 teen boys and young men in the 1970s) to Theresa Knorr, convicted of torturing and killing two of her six children and using the others to facilitate and cover up her crimes in the mid-1980s.

It’s not all dark and dim, though. The emphasis is on the funny, not the grisly. As the women themselves might say to you brightly: “Stay sexy and don’t get murdered.”

More: myfavoritemurder.com

ATLANTA BALLET: DON QUIXOTE | Feb. 2-10

KIM KENNEY

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STEP-BY-STEP ROMANCE

ravel with the man of La Mancha across the Spanish countryside as he battles imaginary dragons, saves damsels in distress and encounters a cast of wily, not entirely friendly, characters on his famous quest.

The classic story ballet Don Quixote is known for its dramatic score (by Ludwig Minkus) and lush staging. It dates to 1869, when Minkus and choreographer Marius Petipa staged it at Moscow’s Ballet of the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre.

Atlanta Ballet’s version, based like all others on the 1615 novel by Miquel de Cervantes, is choreographed by Yuri Possokhov. The Chicago Sun-Times called it “an enchanting piece of dance theater.”

Mention Don Quixote to the average person, and they’ll likely think of the windmill-tilting hero from the novel. Mention it to a ballet person, however, and they’ll nod, smile and say, “Ah, yes, Kitri and Basilio.”

In the ballet, the focus is on the romance between the woman and the town barber.

Determined to stay together, they must outwit Kitri’s father and the wealthy, foppish suitor Gamache. Theirs is a quest of another kind. Don Quixote himself, that knight of the woeful countenance, is a noble, if peripheral, character.

Possokhov is not new to Atlanta Ballet audiences, who have seen his Firebird and Classical Symphony; next season brings his Nutcracker, the first new version Atlanta Ballet will dance in 24 years.

The Ukraine-born choreographer moved to America in the early 1990s to join San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer. He also danced with the Royal Danish Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet before becoming a choreographer.

You should know that there’s more to Possokhov’s Don Quixote than ballet, too.

It features such traditional Spanish dances as the seguidilla and fandango as well as castanets, fans, tambourines and capes.

Olé.

More: atlantaballet.com

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ATLANTA BALLET: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST | Feb. 8-11

ne of the world’s most famous fairy tales is danced by Atlanta Ballet 2 in an hourlong production created for ages 12 and younger. It contains all the adventure of the full story — the handsome prince, the ugly beast, the friendship, the romance and the true love.

The Beast learns that he can only become a prince again if he learns to love and is loved in return. A young woman named Beauty eventually enters his life.

(Note that his in not a danced version of Disney’s animated movie or the Broadway musical that sprang from it.)

“The theme appeals to a younger audience,” says choreographer Bruce Wells, “but I don’t choreograph it with that idea in mind.” What is different, he says, is that the story “is told at the speed of light.

It’s very, very quick.”

It’s also told with a narration that’s used sporadically and only at the most dramatic moments, much like Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. “It adds another

20 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM

element of fantasy,” Wells says.

The internationally acclaimed choreographer began his career with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet.

You may know his name from his hourlong versions of Hansel & Gretel, Snow White and Pinocchio, all danced by Atlanta Ballet.

Beauty and the Beast is performed by the members of Atlanta Ballet 2, an ensemble of 13 dancers who make up the top level of students at the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education. The company is a bridge for these artists, age 17-21, taking them from ballet training to professional performance at a defining point in their careers.

Cobb Energy Centre audiences are among the first to see this ballet, although it did have one performance in July at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth. What matters most is its magical spell, and that likely will never fail.

More: atlantaballet.com

KIM KENNEY

O

ONCE UPON A TIME

Dance

Photo: Robert Pack | KSU Dance Company

Department of

ksudance.com ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM

21

SCOTT BRADLEE’S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX | Feb. 14, 8 p.m.

POP MUSIC IN A TIME MACHINE

I

magine wandering into a nightclub somewhere on the outskirts of time. A corner jukebox plays timeless music with oddly familiar modern lyrics.

It’s a bit like a strange marriage: the 21st-century party vibe of Miley Cyrus heard with the crackly warmth of a vintage 78 rpm or the muted barrelhouse howl of a Kansas City jazzman. Revelers twerk in poodle skirts on the dance floor. At the bar, hipsters balance martinis in one hand and smartphones in the other.

If such a place exists, its soundtrack is pianist/arranger Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. The ensemble reimagines contemporary pop, rock and R&B hits in the styles of yesteryear, from swing to doo-wop and ragtime to Motown.

Bradlee calls it “pop music in a time machine.”

Postmodern Jukebox, known by the acronym PMJ, began with a series of YouTube videos filmed in Bradlee’s Queens apartment. The videos — a new one drops every week — had accrued more than 850

22 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM

million views and 3 million subscribers as of October 2017. The group performs to full houses around the world.

PMJ is a rotating musical collective that began with a few friends and morphed into something much bigger. Today it uses elaborate sets, has employed more than 70 performers and toured five continents.

The band covers songs by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, the White Stripes, Sia, Justin Bieber, Outkast, David Bowie, Carly Rae Jepson, Lorde, One Direction, James Brown and Taylor Swift, among many others.

Bradlee struggled for years after college, trying to make it as a jazz musician. His first viral video, a medley of ’80s songs done ragtime style, changed everything.

In 2016, Adweek named him one of “20 Content Creators Setting the Bar for Creativity.” To date, PMJ has recorded one EP and 16 albums (Twist Is the New Twerk, Clubbin’ With Grandpa, Top Hat on Fleek) and hit Billboard’s jazz albums chart three times.

More: postmodernjukebox.com

THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT | Feb. 24-March 4

SCREWBALL COMEDY, OPERA STYLE The opening of Daughter of the Regiment at Paris’ Opera-Comique in February 1840 was disastrous.

The tenor, it was reported, was frequently off-key.

“Donizetti often swore to me how his selfesteem as a composer had suffered in Paris,” French tenor Gilbert Duprez once said. “He was never treated according to his merits.”

Fortunately, Donizetti survived, as did his comic opera about a spirited canteen girl adopted and raised by a French army regiment before she must decide whether to follow society’s rules or her heart.

Italy’s Gaetano Donizetti was born Nov. 29, 1797, into a poor family in Bergamo. His father was a pawnshop caretaker, his mother a seamstress. He had five siblings; no one else in the family had any musical leanings.

He went on to become a leading bel canto composer. He’s known for the screwballish Daughter of the Regiment as well as Don Pasquale (a comic opera about love), Lucia

di Lammermoor (a dramatic opera in which the leading lady goes mad) and Anna Bolena (a historical opera in which the queen is beheaded).

In all, Donizetti wrote more than 60 operas, most in Italian. He was prolific in output and dominated Italy’s opera scene between the death of Vincente Bellini in 1835 and the rise of Giuseppe Verdi (Rigoletto, La traviata) in the 1850s.

In 1838, Donizetti began working in Paris — an effort to avoid the censorship prevalent in Italy then. Thus, The Daughter of the Regiment was written in both Italian and French.

The Atlanta Opera will perform it in French with English supertitles.

More: atlantaopera.org

ATLANTA’S PERFORMING ARTS PUBLICATION | ENCORE ATLANTA.COM 23

UPCOMING EVENTS at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre For the most up-to-date list of performances please visit

cobbenergycentre.com

Atlanta Ballet Black Swan

Tickets sold at the Bank of North Georgia, the box office at Cobb Energy Centre, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000

Atlanta Blues Festival Maks, Val & Peta Live on Tour: Confidential March 24

March 16-18

Festival of Praise March 30

March 25

Darren Knight’s Southern Momma An Em Comedy Tour 2018

Shen Yun Performing Arts

Atlanta Ballet Tu Tu & More

The Atlanta Opera Carmen

April 4-8

April 13-15

April 28-May 6

March 31

Atlanta Ballet Bach to Broadway

The Atlanta Opera Sweeney Todd

May 11-13

June 9-17

VENUE SPONSORS

24 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM | A DECADE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Bill Maher June 23

Celebrating Cobb Energy Centre Patrons and the Arts

The Battery Atlanta | 2605 Circle 75 Pkwy | www.c-ellets.com

Crispina Ristorante & Pizzeria Neapolitan Style Italian LOCALLY OWNED X GLOBALLY INSPIRED HOURS M-F 11:30a-2:30 M-Th 4:30p-10p F-Sa 4p-11p Su 4p-10p

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creating the future through arts education

Over 300,000 Georgia students and educators served since 2007!

ArtsBridge Foundation, the non-proďŹ t arm of the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, provides quality arts education and community engagement programming designed to inspire creativity and foster the next generation of artists and arts supporters.

2017-18 SEASON FIELD TRIPS

High-quality, educational performances that connect to Georgia Standards of Excellence and Common Core

Presented by Atlanta Ballet 2 Thursday, February 8, 2018 l 11:00 AM Grades K-6 l $10 per ticket Classic fairytale adapted for younger students

Presented by The Atlanta Opera Thursday, March 1, 2018 l 11:00 AM Grades 6-12 l $10 per ticket Action, romance, and comedy on a one-hour short

THE DAUGHTER

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

OF THE REGIMENT

SYNERGY

MOON MOUSE: A SPACE ODYSSEY

Presented by KSU College of the Arts Wednesday, March 21, 2018 l 11:00 AM Grades 6-12 l Free Admission Fusion of dance, music, theatre, and art

ArtsBridgeGA.org

Tuesday, March 27, 2018 l 10:15 AM & 12:00PM Grades K-5 l $10 per ticket A cosmic adventure told through lights and puppetry

DONATE TODAY! Visit ArtsBridgeGA.org to learn how you can help keep ticket prices low and the buses rolling!

CLASSES & TRAINING Jan. 20

Skill development for both students and educators in the performing arts

Mar. 17

Apr. 21

Above classes in partnership with Broadway Connection

FAMILY SERIES

Jun. 2 & 9

Jun. 21

Visit ArtsBridgeGA.org for the most up-to-date schedule!

Fun, engaging family performances to introduce young audiences to performing

THE JASON BISHOP SHOW Sunday, January 21, 2018 l 3:00 PM Breathtaking Double Levitation with stunning state-of-the-art magic

Celebrating Excellence in High School Musical Theatre

AWARDS SHOW Thursday, April 19, 2018

COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM VENUE STAFF

COBB-MARIETTA COLISEUM & EXHIBIT HALL AUTHORITY

MANAGING DIRECTOR Sandie Aaron

HOUSEKEEPING MANAGER Jeri Wallis

CHAIRMAN Jerry Nix | Post 6

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Barbara Kiss

HUMAN RESOURCES SPECIALIST Lorena Dominguez

VICE-CHAIR A. Max Bacon | Post 2

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & SPONSORSHIPS Tom Rowland MARKETING COORDINATOR Leah Valentine RECEPTIONIST Beryl Bernier BOX OFFICE MANAGER Carol Willis ASSISTANT BOX OFFICE MANAGER Russel Kennedy DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Susan Burchell DIRECTOR OF SAFETY & SECURITY Larry Green PUBLIC SAFETY MANAGER Jamie Wheeler PUBLIC SAFETY SUPERVISOR Eric Rascoe CULINARY DIRECTOR/ EXECUTIVE CHEF Nicholas Walker SOUS CHEF Camilo Aguirre FOOD & BEVERAGE MANAGER Ramin Djaved BANQUET MANAGER Abol Ghoreishi BEVERAGE & CONCESSION MANAGER Fernando Quintero

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Ben Tilley PRODUCTION MANAGER Jessica Coale HEAD ELECTRICIAN Mike Wolmer HEAD AUDIO ENGINEER Jon Summers

SECRETARY Johnny Gresham | Post 4 Mike Boyce | Post 5 Steve “Thunder” Tumlin | Post 1 Robert P. Voyles | Post 3 GENERAL MANAGER & CEO Michele L. Swann

HEAD CARPENTER/RIGGER Mark Newman DIRECTOR OF FACILITY SERVICES Arthur McDowell DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING Joe Green

ARTSBRIDGE FOUNDATION

CHIEF ENGINEER Marty Taylor

PRESIDENT Jack Ward

DIRECTOR EMERITUS Barbara E. Williams

LEAD ENGINEER Madjid Lakhdari

VICE PRESIDENT Joanne Truffelman

DIRECTOR EMERITUS John A. Williams

LEAD ENGINEER Victor Sgobba

SECRETARY/TREASURER Larry M. Dingle

ARTSBRIDGE FOUNDATION STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Dobbs Hill DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION & COMMUNITY OUTREACH Sarah Clay Lindvall DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Lizzy Morin

DIRECTOR Helen S. Carlos DIRECTOR Barbarella Diaz DIRECTOR Jerry Nix DIRECTOR Sam Olens DIRECTOR Clare Richardson DIRECTOR Kessel D. Stelling DIRECTOR Percy Vaughn DIRECTOR Valery Voyles

28 COBBENERGYCENTRE.COM | A DECADE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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For physician referral, please call 770-956-STAR (7827).

WellStar Health System, the largest health system in Georgia, is known nationally for its innovative care models, focused on improving quality and access to healthcare. WellStar consists of WellStar Medical Group, 240 medical office locations, outpatient centers, health parks, a pediatric center, nursing centers, hospice, homecare, as well as 11 inpatient hospitals: WellStar Atlanta Medical Center, WellStar Atlanta Medical Center South, WellStar Kennestone Regional Medical Center (anchored by WellStar Kennestone Hospital), WellStar West Georgia Medical Center, and WellStar Cobb, Douglas, North Fulton, Paulding, Spalding Regional, Sylvan Grove and Windy Hill hospitals. As a not-forprofit, WellStar continues to reinvest in the health of the communities it serves with new technologies and treatments.

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