ABT NY Summer Intensive Final Perf.

[Dale]

From the company:

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S NEW YORK SUMMER INTENSIVE

FINAL PERFORMANCES SCHEDULED FOR

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 12:30 P.M. AND 4:30 P.M.,

AT THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AT PURCHASE COLLEGE

7/12/2006 - Final performances for American Ballet Theatre’s New York Summer Intensive Program are scheduled for Friday, July 28, 2006 at 12:30 P.M. and 4:30 P.M. at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College in Purchase, New York. The performances mark the conclusion of ABT’s eleventh annual New York Summer Intensive, a six-week training program for dancers, ages 12 to 22.

Summer Intensive final performances will include excerpts from Raymonda, La Bayadère, Études, Sylvia, Swan Lake and Theme and Variations. The program will also feature original choreography from Leslie Browne, Daniel Baudendistel, Hilary Cartwright, Olga Dvorovenko, Tina Fehlandt, Jessica Lang and Brian Reeder.

Participants in American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensives are chosen through a cross-country audition tour sponsored by Freed of London, Ltd. This year, more than 3,500 students auditioned in 24 cities across the United States. ABT’s 2006 Summer Intensives will reach over 900 participants in New York City and through satellite programs in Michigan, Alabama, Texas, California and Bermuda.

255 students were selected to participate in the 2006 New York Summer Intensive. The annual program at ABT’s New York City studios is a comprehensive course that begins with daily ballet technique class and includes specialized classes in pointe work, partnering, choreography, jazz, character and modern dance. To complement the dancers’ training, seminars are offered on nutrition, music theory, dance history and composition.

Under the direction of Nancy Raffa, ABT’s 2006 New York Summer Intensive Program incorporates a faculty of distinguished alumni and renowned teachers, including Franco de Vita, Kirk Peterson, Ethan Brown, Leslie Browne, Hilary Cartwright, Olga Dvorovenko, Cynthia Harvey-Murphy, Susan Jones, Clinton Luckett, Kate Lydon, Brian Reeder and Marianna Tcherkassky.

Aria Alekzander, Joseph Gorak, Devon Teuscher and Faye Hideko Warren, students from the 2006 New York Summer Intensive, will be joining ABT’s Studio Company, a small classical company that prepares dancers for professional careers with ABT and other leading companies worldwide. In addition, a select group of students will be invited to join the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, a pre-professional training program for dancers ages 12 to 18.

The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College is located at 735 Anderson Hill Road in Purchase, New York. For detailed directions please visit www.artscenter.org/directions.html. Tickets, priced at $15, can be purchased at the door. For more information, please call 212-477-3030, ext. 3416.

[Dale]

For people who are interested in this thing, this news about new Studio Company members was buried at the bottom of the release:

Aria Alekzander, Joseph Gorak, Devon Teuscher and Faye Hideko Warren, students from the 2006 New York Summer Intensive, will be joining ABT’s Studio Company, a small classical company that prepares dancers for professional careers with ABT and other leading companies worldwide. In addition, a select group of students will be invited to join the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, a pre-professional training program for dancers ages 12 to 18.

[nlkflint]

I thought Joseph Gorak's position in Studio Company was awarded at YAGP. The press release makes it sound as if these dancers were chosen on the basis of their SI attendence. And as I recall, he was not a competing soloist in YAGP and their was some controversy about the award. Where any of the other dancers aware of their Studio selection/contract prior to attending the SI? It just that ABT's summer program has 900-1000 dancers at multiple locations filled with dancers hoping to earn a spot, when many of the spots were already determined. Yet a press release like this muddies the waters on how the dancer "got" to Studio Company. Just curious.

[Dale]

I took it as just an update.

[Helene]

I read the sentence "Aria Alekzander, Joseph Gorak, Devon Teuscher and Faye Hideko Warren, students from the 2006 New York Summer Intensive, will be joining ABT’s Studio Company" as a statement of fact, not as a statement on the selection process, but I can see how it might be read differently.

Congratulations to all of the new Studio Company members.

[Nyankeesy01]

Did anyone go to the performances? I couldn't because it wasn't in NYC this year but I was wondering about the pieces they performed. Were they any good?