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Dancers Coming in 2011-12 and Promotions


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According to Rosie Gaynor's blog entry on the eight dancers who are leaving PNB at season's end, Peter Boal plans to hire eight dancers.

The first hiring confirmation we've had is the Matthew Renko will join PNB next season:

From Time Out Chicago

Renko was a member of New York City Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Suzanne Farrell Ballet. In a NYCB thread, mira attested to his skill as a choreographer:

I hope he choreographs for next year's "Next Step", a performance in which PNB dancers choreograph for Professional Division students. I'd love to see his work.

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Peter Boal confirmed that there would be eight hires, all as corps or apprentices, and he's confirmed the following five:

  • Two professional division students, both of whom have been in "Giselle" and other productions this year, Sarah Pasch and Steven Loch
  • Matthew Renko
  • Someone from Ballet West
  • A woman from Oregon Ballet Theatre, whose name I only heard partially and don't recognize from the current company roster.

The rest are not announced, as they're still making decisions.

According to the Renton Reporter, Kiyon Gaines has been promoted to Soloist for next season.

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PNB announced five of the eight new dancers today on its Facebook Page and "Additional hires and promotions will be announced at a later date.":

Corps de Ballet, starting now:

Leta Biasucci, trained at CPYB ( :clapping:) and danced most recently at Oregon Ballet Theatre, Elizabeth Murphy, who apprenticed at NCDT and danced with Pennsylvania Ballet and Ballet West, and Matthew Renko, formerly of NYCB.

Apprentices from the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, starting 19 September:

Steven Loch and Sarah Pasch, both of whom had been dancing in PNB productions as Professional Division students.

:flowers: to all of them. I look forward to seeing more of Loch and Pasch and to seeing Biascucci, Murphy, and Renko.

Rehearsals start this month for Ratmansky's "Don Quixote", which will be performed in February 2012.

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According to Rosie Gaynor's blog entry on the eight dancers who are leaving PNB at season's end, Peter Boal plans to hire eight dancers.

The first hiring confirmation we've had is the Matthew Renko will join PNB next season:

From Time Out Chicago

Renko was a member of New York City Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Suzanne Farrell Ballet. In a NYCB thread, mira attested to his skill as a choreographer:

http://balletalert.i...post__p__256041

I hope he choreographs for next year's "Next Step", a performance in which PNB dancers choreograph for Professional Division students. I'd love to see his work.

Matthew Renko! Good for him, and good for you!

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PNB released an official notice today about some of their new hires -- here is the gist.

Pacific Northwest Ballet Announces New Company Members for 2011-12 Season

SEATTLE, WA – Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal is pleased to announce that he has hired three new dancers: When the company returned to the rehearsal studios today they were joined by Leta Biasucci, Elizabeth Murphy and Matthew Renko as the newest members of the corps de ballet. Additionally, two new apprentices will join the company in mid-September: Steven Loch and Sarah Pasch, both of whom were most recently two-year members of the PNB School Professional Division. (Mr. Loch and Ms. Pasch’s official start-date is September 19.)

Additional hires and promotions will be announced at a later date.

Leta Biasucci is from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She studied under Marcia Dale Weary at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and became a trainee at San Francisco Ballet School in 2006. She joined Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2008. At Oregon Ballet Theatre, Ms. Biasucci performed leading and featured roles in George Balanchine’s Emeralds, The Four Temperaments, The Nutcracker, and Tarantella; Nicolo Fonte’s Left Unsaid; James Kudelka’s Hush; Trey McIntyre’s Speak; Yuri Possokov’s Raymonda; and Dennis Spaight’s Gloria. She originated leading roles in the collaborative Stravinsky Project by Jamey Hampton, Anne Mueller, Ashley Roland, and Rachel Tess, and Christopher Stowell’s A Holiday Revue.

Elizabeth Murphy is from Chelmsford, Massachusetts. She studied at Academy of Ballet Arts and the Rock School for Dance Education, and she attended summer courses on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and Chautauqua Summer Program. She was an apprentice with North Carolina Dance Theater and also danced with Pennsylvania Ballet before joining Ballet West II in 2006 and Ballet West in 2007. At Ballet West, Ms. Murphy danced leading and featured roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, The Four Temperaments, Serenade, and Stars and Stripes; William Christiansen’s Nutcracker; Nicolo Fonte’s Bolero; Jiri Kylian’s Sinfonietta; Helen Pickett’s But Never Doubt I Love; and Adam Sklute’s Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

Matthew Renko was born in Tampa, Florida and raised in Sumter, South Carolina. He studied at Columbia Conservatory of Dance, North Carolina School of the Arts with Warren Conover, Kee-Juan Han, and Melissa Hayden, and on scholarship at the School of American Ballet with Peter Boal. He became an apprentice with New York City Ballet in 2007 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2008. In 2009, he joined the Suzanne Farrell Ballet. At New York City Ballet, Mr. Renko performed featured roles in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and Jerome Robbins’ Watermill. With the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, he performed leading and featured roles in Balanchine’s La Sonnambula and La Source and Paul Mejia’s Eight by Adler. Mr. Renko has choreographed for the School of American Ballet Student Choreography Workshop and the New York Choreographic Institute.

Steven Loch is from Dallas, Texas. He studied at Ballet Conservatory in Lewisville, Texas, and on scholarship at Harid Conservatory and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. While a student at PNB School, Mr. Loch performed corps de ballet roles with Pacific Northwest Ballet in George Balanchine’s Coppélia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Square Dance; Peter Boal’s Giselle; Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty; Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH; Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite; Kent Stowell’s Cinderella and Nutcracker; and Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles. He performed leading roles in Balanchine’s Chaconne and Western Symphony for PNB School’s annual School Performances and also performed leading roles in Bruce Wells’ Hansel and Gretel and Pinocchio. He originated roles in ballets by Andrew Bartee, Kiyon Gaines, Paul Gibson, Barry Kerollis, Margaret Mullin, and Seth Orza for PNB School’s annual School Performance and PNB’s Choreographers’ Showcase and Next Step performances. Mr. Loch has performed as a guest artist at the International Ballet Festival of Miami and the Youth America Grand Prix Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala. He has performed the role of Albrecht in Giselle, opposite ABT soloist Sarah Lane, Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, and the lead in Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie with LakeCities Ballet Theatre.

Sarah Pasch is from Dublin, California. She studied at San Ramon Valley Dance Academy, Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, and on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She attended summer courses at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, Lines Ballet, the Kirov Academy, and PNB School. While a student at PNB School, Ms. Pasch performed corps de ballet roles with Pacific Northwest Ballet in George Balanchine’s Coppélia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Serenade; Peter Boal’s Giselle; Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty; Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces and West Side Story Suite; Kent Stowell’s Cinderella and Nutcracker; and Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles. She performed leading roles in Balanchine’s Chaconne and Western Symphony for Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s annual School Performances, and she originated roles in ballets by Andrew Bartee, Kiyon Gaines, and Margaret Mullin for PNB’s 2011 Next Step performance. She has also performed with Houston Ballet.

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Oregon Ballet Theatre just posted the following to PNB's Facebook Wall:

Congratulations to former Oregon Ballet Theatre dancer Leta Biasucci on her invitation to join the corps de ballet of our neighbors to the north, Pacific Northwest Ballet!

It's wonderful to see fellowship between companies.

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A few news tidbits: on her Balancing Pointe podcast, Kimberly Falker has added a question to the few she asks each dancer at the end of the podcast, and that is who they would like to listen to an interview with. NYCB apprentice Daniela Aldrich, who grew up in Carlisle and studied for ten years at CPYB before SAB, answered Janie Taylor and fellow CPYB alum Leta Biasucci. I'd love to hear an interview with Biasucci.

Matthew Renko has choreographed a classical trio for three ballerinas that premieres this Friday, 13 June at 7:30pm as part of the Next Step program.

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