Margaret Tracey

[Dale]

I figured I'd put this notice here, because we sometimes wonder what's become of certain dancers. Well, this is what Margaret Tracey is doing.

MARGARET TRACEY NAMED ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF BOSTON BALLET CENTER FOR DANCE EDUCATION

April 18, 2007: Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announced today that former New York City Ballet principal dancer Margaret Tracey will become the new associate director of Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education (CDE). Tracey will establish and maintain artistic standards for Boston Ballet School, consistent with the artistic director’s goal. She will also oversee the staff at all three Boston Ballet School studios – in the Sound End of Boston, the South Shore community of Norwell, and the MetroWest town of Newton – in addition to the Summer Dance Program and Dance Lab.

Tracey will join the staff on July 1, 2007. “Margaret Tracey is a spectacular addition to our artistic staff,” said Nissinen. “She was one of New York City Ballet’s finest dancers for 16 years, and has gone on to earn an excellent reputation as a superb teacher. She is a consummate professional who cares deeply about nurturing young talent. I admire her intelligence, her artistic integrity, and her humanity, and I believe she will take Boston Ballet School to the next level. Margaret will work closely with Elizabeth Benjes, managing director of the CDE, and they will make an outstanding team.”

Tracey trained at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, with legendary teachers including Alexandra Danilova, Suki Schorer, Antonina Tumkovsky and Stanley Williams. She is currently on the staff of Ballet Academy East in New York City, and has spent the past two summers teaching at Boston Ballet School’s Summer Dance Program.

“It is a great honor to have been asked by Mikko to take on this responsibility, and a terrific opportunity to be part of this world-renowned institution,” said Tracey. “I have a great passion for teaching and working with students, and I look forward to working with Mikko and the faculty to make Boston Ballet School an even greater destination than it already is. The School has a tremendous amount of potential for growth. I am inspired and excited by the CDE’s mission to make dance available at all levels – from youngsters to adults, from community outreach to intensive professional training.”

Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education instructs more than 3,000 students of all ages each year through Boston Ballet School, Young Dancers Summer Workshop, Summer Dance Program, DanceLab, Citydance, Adaptive Dance and Taking Steps.

MARGARET TRACEY BIOGRAPHY

Margaret Tracey was born in Pueblo, Colorado, and began studying ballet with her mother, Nancy Tracey, at the age of six. In 1982 she went to New York City to study at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet (NYCB), where she was an Atlantic Richfield Foundation scholarship student for three years. While at SAB, Tracey was one of 15 scholars nationwide to receive a 1985 Princess Grace Foundation award in recognition of her “exceptional promise and dedication to excellence.” She joined the corps de ballet of NYCB in May, 1986 and was promoted to the rank of soloist during the company’s spring season in 1989. She was promoted to principal dancer two years later.

Tracey’s vast Balanchine repertory included Agon, Apollo, Ballo della Regina, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, Chaconne, Concerto Barocco, Coppélia, Divertimento No. 15, Donizetti Variations, Harlequinade, Ivesiana (The Unanswered Question), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy and Dew Drop), Serenade, Sonatine, La Source, Stars and Stripes, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, Tarantella, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3 (Theme and Variations), Valse-Fantaisie (1967 version), Vienna Waltzes, Western Symphony and Who Cares?. She also danced the role of Marzipan Shepherdess in the film version of Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, released in 1993. Tracey originated a featured role in Jerome Robbins’ Ives, Songs and also danced his Afternoon of a Faun, Andantino, The Four Seasons (Spring), and The Goldberg Variations. She originated roles in Peter Martins’ Les Petits Riens, Mozart Serenade, Fearful Symmetries, Reliquary, Zakouski, and The Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird Pas de Deux), and also danced the role of Princess Aurora. Other choreographers who created roles on Tracey include Richard Tanner (Sonatas and Interludes) and William Forsythe (Herman Schmerman).

Tracey toured with NYCB in Europe and Asia, appeared as a guest artist with Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet, and traveled throughout the world performing as a guest artist with various concert groups. In 1993, she danced Stars and Stripes with Damian Woetzel on Live from Lincoln Center’s broadcast of Dinner with Balanchine, which concluded NYCB’s Balanchine Celebration, and in 1996 she danced for President and Mrs. Clinton and a national television audience as part of the Kennedy Center Honors, performing Sylvia Pas de Deux with Angel Corella in tribute to Maria Tallchief. Tracey has also staged Martins’ Zakouski for the Bavarian State Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet and Fearful Symmetries for Pennsylvania Ballet.

Since retiring from NYCB in February 2002, Tracey has been a guest teacher in New York and throughout the United States. In 2005 and 2006, she was on the faculty of Boston Ballet School’s Summer Dance Program. Tracey has also worked for The George Balanchine Trust, staging and coaching ballets. She is presently on the staff of Ballet Academy East in New York City. Tracey is married to Russell Kaiser, a ballet master at NYCB. They have a son, Avery, and a daughter, Paige.