Helene

They don't event call the Statue Award a prize, even though the recipient gets the money directly. Statue Awards are given to former award recipients, and both Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel received them. Looking through the website, I found these dance recipients from NYCB/SAB: 1984: Runsheng Ying 1985: Carlo Merlo, Margaret Tracy (SAB) 1988: Santhe Tsetsilas, Elizabeth Walker (SAB) 1990: Pauline Golbin (listed as NYCB on the 1990 page, but Miami City Ballet on the dance page) 1991: Ethan Stiefel 1992: Jennie Somogyi (SAB) 1995: Miranda Weese 1997: Alexandra Ansanelli 2001: Jared Angle 2004: Tyler Peck (SAB) ABT winners have been: 1986: Amanda McKerrow, 1987: Amanda McKerrow (Statue Award) 1990: Robert Conn 1998: Gillian Murphy, also Statue Award 2009 1999: Michelle Wiles, Ethan Stiefel (Statue Award) 2002: David Hallberg 2007: Sarah Lane 2009: Isabella Boylston 2011: Joseph Gorak Judging from the number of recipients from the companies, the usual suspects -- Pennsylvania Ballet, Houston Ballet, Washington Ballet, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theater, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet -- have a history of nominating their dancers and winning. According to the FAQ winners, "Princess Grace Awards Winners may apply for Special Projects grants and the Works in Progress Residency. You may not apply for scholarships, apprenticeships or fellowships," which, if I'm reading this correctly, means scholarship winners from SAB could not get fellowship awards as members of NYCB (or other companies). I had forgotten that Li Cunxin won one (1986). I also never realized that Amber Merkens, a fantastic dancer with Mark Morris, was in the Limon Company when she won hers. Carlos Acosta won in 1995 as a member of Houston Ballet. There's no direct link. To view, click "Award Winners" from the left menu of the http://www.pgfusa.org/. The default is by year, but there are options to sort alphabetically by name or discipline.

According to the Princess Grace Foundation-USA website, in order to be considered for dance, a dancer or choreographer must be nominated by the Artistic Director of a non-profit (with 501-c-3 charitable status) company: http://www.pgfusa.com/#q1 If NYCB people are getting Princess Grace Awards, it's because NYCB has actively nominated its members. According to this "Dance Magazine" article on Fellowship winner Margaret Mullin, It's not just a nomination, but also an application. I wonder if, for dance, it's like the Emmy process, where a selection tape is produced and reviewed. According to the website FAQ, I don't know if Russell and Stowell ever nominated anyone, but with the tradition that NYCB has, it's not surprising that Boal has continued it at PNB. There's financial incentive to make nominations. The FAQ is interesting reading: the average grant is $5-$25 and "grant requests should be based up actual figures for annual salary (or artistic fee), tuition, or thesis project costs, whichever is applicable, and require substantiation (letter of verification from nominator)." Another answer states that the money is given to the school or company, which suggests that for salaries, the winner doesn't necessarily receive any additional money, but that the grant is really a salary subsidy. For dance scholarships, the money goes to the school, and the school can take any or all of the grant to offset any scholarship the school is granting to the student. Only dance choreography grants are a set amount of $10K, with $8 having to go to the choreographer, and up to $2K used for production costs.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh... My funnybone hurts.

I don't think Somova needs to answer to anyone for attending the funeral of her coach's husband, nor to not returning to a tour after such a difficult time.

I saw Marguerite Porter dance Odette/Odile when she closed the NYC portion of the 1981 Royal Ballet tour. I quite liked her and preferred her to Leslie Collier, whom I saw at the matinee. While her career trajectory may have been similar to Somova's, I found her dancing to be direct, modest (in the best sense), and unmannered. I don't remember that many details from 30 years ago, but I do remember being impressed, and it didn't hurt that Anthony Dowell was her partner. Of Porter's NYC debut in the roles of Odette/Odile, Anna Kisselgoff wrote: Perhaps compared to dancers who had strong technique and even stronger style, Porter paled, but if Kisselgoff is correct -- and I didn't have enough exposure to the Royal Ballet to know the grades of style to know -- then she at least exhibited the schooling and style that, sadly, no longer exists in the company. Many of the complaints about Somova are that she doesn't reflect the style and schooling of the Vaganova Academy and can point to others dancing currently with the Mariinsky who do.

Amen.

Many thanks, MRR!

Many thanks to Gary Tucker who forwarded this press release from the Princess Grace Foundation: PRINCESS GRACE FOUNDATION-USA ANNOUNCES 2011 AWARDS WINNERS IN THEATER, DANCE & FILM Jon M. Chu receives Princess Grace Statue Award NEW YORK, NY – (August 15, 2011) The Board of Trustees of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) and its Chairman, Hon. John F. Lehman, announced today the winners of the 2011 Princess Grace Awards. The Awards for theater, dance and choreography, and film continue the legacy of Princess Grace (Kelly) of Monaco, who anonymously helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during Her lifetime. This year’s 21 Awards winners will travel to New York City as guests of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, where they will receive their Awards at the annual black-tie Princess Grace Awards Gala, on November 1, 2011 at Cipriani 42nd Street. This year’s Awards Gala will be highlighted by the unveiling of a unique tribute to Princess Grace by Montblanc. The Princess Grace Foundation-USA, a public charity, was formed after the death of Princess Grace in 1982. They present scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships to assist artists at the start of their careers. The Foundation has cultivated a diverse group of nearly 600 artists to date who continue to advance the spectrum of performing arts with innovative, cutting-edge, and vibrant theater, dance, choreography, film, playwriting and design. Since the Foundation’s inception, more than 700 Awards have been given to recipients, totaling more than $8.5 million. At the Gala, The Montblanc Collection Princesse Grace de Monaco will be premiered in the U.S.- a spectacular, new tribute collection to one of the most remarkable individuals of all time, celebrated for Her iconic, timeless style; Her artistic talent as an Oscar©-winning actress and Her unrelenting commitment to helping others. The Montblanc Collection Princesse Grace de Monaco is a continuation of the privileged relationship the brand has enjoyed with the Principality of Monaco in recent years. Consisting of fine jewelry pieces, timepieces and writing instruments, the Montblanc Collection is true to Princess Grace’s enduring style and sophistication. Feminine and elegant, the pieces from this collection are some of the most exquisite ever crafted in Montblanc’s Ateliers, rich in details and inspired by this icon’s spirit and attention to style. For the third year in a row, celebrated artist Alex Soldier, known for his mastery of precious miniatures, has created an objet d’art to symbolize the Princess Grace Awards. The Award symbolically combines the three art forms lauded by the Foundation: theater, dance, and film by using precious metals and Swarovski crystal accents. The sculpture is made for each recipient to wear as a pin, a special reminder of their Award for the world to see. PRINCESS GRACE STATUE AWARD Past winners of the Awards who distinguish themselves in their artistic disciplines since receiving their initial Princess Grace Awards are eligible to win the coveted Princess Grace Statue Award. It includes a $25,000 unrestricted cash gift and a special Bronze Statue of Princess Grace created by Dutch artist Kees Verkade. This year’s Statue Award winner is Jon M. Chu. Jon M. Chu won his original Princess Grace Award, a Film Scholarship at University of Southern California, in 2001. He is the director of Step Up 2 The Streets (2008), and Step Up 3D (2010). Combined, these two films have grossed over 300 million dollars theatrically. In 2011, his third film, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, garnered rave reviews and claimed the title as the highest grossing concert-themed film of all time in the U.S. and the third highest grossing documentary of all time. Jon M. Chu is the creator, writer and director of The League of Extraordinary Dancers (The LXD), which is the number one original program for Hulu. He is currently in production on the next film in the G.I. Joe franchise, to be released next summer. PRINCESS GRACE AWARDS Each year, the Foundation presents the Princess Grace Awards to artists who show excellence and promise in the areas of theater, dance, and film. Students are eligible for scholarships; emerging artists working in companies qualify for apprenticeships and fellowships. A playwriting fellowship is available for individual artists through a residency at New Dramatists in New York City, which includes the opportunity to have the winning play be licensed and published by Samuel French, Inc. In addition to these, the Foundation also gives honorable mention grants to applicants through Honoraria. The 2011 Princess Grace Awards winners (listed below) represent 20 colleges, universities, and not-for-profit theater and dance companies throughout the United States. The Awards winners exemplify both classical and experimental artistic disciplines and, while still considered emerging talent, already show exceptional promise in their areas of expertise. The Foundation’s support assists their theater and dance studies, helps pay their artistic fees at non-profit theater and dance companies and helps support their thesis film projects. In addition to the Awards, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA extends general operating monies to companies hosting an Awards winner. This year’s Princess Grace Awards winners are: THEATER AND PLAYWRITNG Carlos Alexis Cruz Theater Fellowship, Grace Le Vine Award Miracle Theatre Group Miriam Hyman Theater Scholarship, George C. Wolfe Award Yale School of Drama Matthew Jones Theater Apprenticeship, Robert & Gloria Hausman Award Alternative Theater Ensemble Hana Sooyeon Kim Theater Scholarship, Fabergé Award University of California, Los Angeles Sarah Rasmussen Theater Apprenticeship, Pierre Cardin Award Oregon Shakespeare Festival Sadieh Rifai Theater Fellowship, Gant Gaither Award American Theater Company Johnna Adams Playwriting Fellowship New Dramatists, Inc. DANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY Alisa Alba Dance Fellowship The National Institute of Flamenco Joseph Gorak Dance Fellowship American Ballet Theatre Margaret Mullin Dance Fellowship Pacific Northwest Ballet Jeffrey Van Sciver Dance Scholarship, Chris Hellman Award Dominican University/LINES Ballet Casia Vengoechea Dance Scholarship The Julliard School-Dance Division Frederick (Pete) Walker Dance Fellowship North Carolina Dance Theatre Zoe Scofield Choreography Fellowship DiverseWorks ArtSpace Olivier Wevers Choreography Fellowship Spectrum Dance Theater FILM Valerie Bischoff Film Graduate Scholarship Columbia University Emily Hyde Film Undergraduate Scholarship Pacific Northwest College of Art Gina Napolitan-Witz Film Graduate Scholarship California Institute of the Arts Raul Paz Pastrana Film Graduate Scholarship, Cary Grant Award School of Visual Arts Temra Pavlovic Film Undergraduate Scholarship, John H. Johnson Award California Institute of the Arts Iva Radivojevic Film Undergraduate Scholarship CUNY Hunter College HONORARIA R. Davis McCallum Theater Honorarium The Public Theater Jacqueline Burnett Dance Honorarium Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Nigel Campbell Dance Honorarium Luna Negra Dance Theater Chanel DaSilva Dance Honorarium Trey McIntyre Project Shreyasi Das Film Honorarium Rochester Institute of Technology Nick Twemlow Film Honorarium University of Iowa SPECIAL PROJECT and WORKS IN PROGRESS AWARDS Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center are grants available to past Princess Grace Awards winners and Honoraria recipients for uniquely significant projects that advance their artistic development. This year’s Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies are: SPECIAL PROJECT AWARDS Rose Bond Regina Garcia Alex Ketley Rashaun Mitchell Jimmy Orrante Alice Reagan Amie Siegel Karolina Sobecka WORKS IN PROGRESS RESIDENCIES Charlotte Brathwaite Branden Jacobs-Jenkins David Neumann ABOUT THE PRINCESS GRACE FOUNDATION – USA The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a not-for-profit, publicly-supported foundation, headquartered in New York City and founded more than 25 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in honor of his wife, Princess Grace [Kelly]. The Foundation's mission, that mirrors Princess Grace's in Her lifetime, is to support emerging artists in theater, dance and film through the awarding of scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships. Since the Foundation’s inception, more than 700 Awards have been given to recipients, totaling more than $8.5 million. Some notable Princess Grace Awards recipients in Theater include: 2008 Tony® Award winner for Best Direction of a Play, Anna D. Shapiro; Pulitzer and Tony® Award winning playwright Tony Kushner; and Academy Award® winner Eric Simonson. Film recipients include: Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants; Greg Mottola, director of Paul, Adventureland and Superbad; and Cary Joji Fukunaga, writer and director of Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre. Dance/Choreography Awards recipients include: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle; American Ballet Theatre’s Gillian Murphy, Ethan Stiefel and Sarah Lane; as well as choreographers Andrea Miller and Dominic Walsh. For more information, please visit www.pgfusa.org. For Gala ticket information contact Tamara Leuchtenburg at Event Associates at 212.245.6570, x15, Tamaral@eventassociatesinc.com.

I think that every dancer who worked with Jerome Robbins for over a year on "Goldberg Variations" and was expected to learn and remember versions a-z.1.3.g should receive a purple heart. That is going to be some group gracing that stage. Congratulations to them all and a toast to the memory of Hayden, Kaye, LeClercq, and Reed.

Margaret Mullin just won a Princess Grace dance fellowship, after having been nominated by Peter Boal, described in a recent "Dance Magazine" article by Rosie Gaynor, and Olivier Wevers, whose early choreography was seen on the mainstage as part of the PNB choreography workshop received a Choreography Fellowship, after having been nominated by Donald Byrd of Spectrum Dance Theater. Here is the press release: PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET CONGRATULATES PRINCESS GRACE AWARD-WINNER MARGARET MULLIN! Pacific Northwest Ballet was thrilled to learn today that corps de ballet dancer Margaret Mullin has been chosen as a recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award. Presented by the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, the Awards help emerging artists pursue their artistic goals in theater, film, dance and choreography. Margaret Mullin is from Tucson, Arizona. She studied on scholarship at Ballet Arts Tucson and at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and attended summer courses at Ballet Tucson, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. She was the recipient of a Thurber Scholarship Award in 2003 and 2004, and the 2007 Founding Director Scholarship Award from Angela Whitehill of Burklyn Ballet. Ms. Mullin joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2008 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2009. A recent profile of Ms. Mullin by Rosie Gaynor in the August, 2011 issue of Dance Magazine noted “her strong stage presence, musicality, clean lines, and ability to fly across the stage.” “We collectively congratulate Margaret Mullin on being awarded a Princess Grace Award,” said PNB artistic director Peter Boal. “Maggie is an artist of tremendous potential and versatility. Her talent along with a strong work ethic and an engaging stage presence are all part of this well-deserved honor.” Past recipients of the Princess Grace Award from Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School include current PNB dancers Benjamin Griffiths (Boston Ballet, 2003), Andrew Bartee (PNB School, 2007), and Lucien Postlewaite (PNB, 2008); former PNB dancers Miranda Weese (New York City Ballet, 1995), Seth Belliston (PNB, 1996), Stanko Milov (Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, 1997), and Le Yin (Houston Ballet, 1998); and former PNB School students Drew Jacoby (LINES, 2005) and Meredith Webster (LINES, 2007). Former PNB principal Olivier Wevers was another of this year’s Princess Grace Award-winners, receiving a choreography fellowship through Spectrum Dance Theater. “I am so pleased to learn of Olivier’s award,” continued Mr. Boal. “Watching Olivier develop and grow as a choreographer over the past decade has been rewarding for all of us at PNB. We congratulate him on the distinguished honor and look forward to his bright future as a choreographer.” PNB also congratulates Seattle-based choreographer Zoe Scofield, who received this year’s other choreography fellowship from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA.

Congratulations to Mr. Gorak for winning a dance fellowship

It's definitely not a problem to revive old threads. (If there's an issue with them, we "lock" them, which means you'd get an error message if you tried to post.) However, any links -- to videos, audio files, or text -- can expire, be deleted, or the original poster may have lost a domain, which is more of a risk the older the links are. I'm afraid there have been several posters whose entire set of uploads was deleted from YouTube because of copyright issues with a subset of them, and this may have been either a copyright issue or a case of the baby being thrown own with the bathwater. Does anyone know if they've been re-posted on YouTube?

Here is the press release; I've highlighted the names of the dancers, who appear towards the end: THE 2011 JEROME ROBBINS AWARD WILL BE GIVEN TO 26 NEW YORK CITY BALLET FORMER AND CURRENT PRINCIPAL BALLERINAS ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 Hosted by New York City Ballet, the Jerome Robbins Award will be presented on stage. 26 New York City Ballet former and current ballerinas, all of whom worked with Jerome Robbins, will be presented with the 2011 Jerome Robbins Award on stage at an all-Robbins New York City Ballet evening at the David Koch Theater on September 30, 2011. The award will be presented during the second intermission and will be followed by the ballet, "West Side Story Suite." "We are grateful to Peter Martins and New York City Ballet for hosting the Robbins Award on stage that evening," says Christopher Pennington, Executive Director of The Jerome Robbins Foundation and The Robbins Rights Trust (http://jeromerobbins.org). " We are especially honored that Chita Rivera, whose Broadway work with Jerry is legendary, will present the awards." In 1970, Jerome Robbins, a preeminent figure in the dance and theater world, established The Jerome Robbins Foundation with the intent to support dance, theater and their associative arts. Following the outbreak of AIDS, Mr. Robbins directed the Foundation's resources almost exclusively to addressing the AIDS crisis. Before his death in 1998, Mr. Robbins expressed his wish that the foundation again extend its resources to the performing arts -- dance and theater especially, but not exclusively -- including what developed into The Jerome Robbins Award. "I would like there to be established a prize to some really outstanding person or art institution," explained Mr. Robbins in 1995. "The prizes should lean toward the Arts of dance and its associative collaborators but not necessarily be defined by that surround." Mr. Robbins cited many callings, from teachers and designers to choreographers and presenting organizations, enjoining the directors to award the prize only when warranted by the distinction of the person, organization, or project. Past recipients of the award are Mikhail Baryshnikov, Twyla Tharp, Jennifer Tipton, Robert Wilson, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet. This year, 26 former and current New York City Ballet principal ballerinas, so vital to the decades of Robbins' creative life at New York City Ballet, will share the honor. "Robbins was a groundbreaking choreographer and director who made NYCB his artistic home for nearly 40 years. It is only appropriate that we host this wonderful event, honoring Jerry and his incredible ballerinas, right here from the NYCB stage. We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting evening," states Peter Martins, New York City Ballet's Ballet Master in Chief. "We are so happy to recognize the Robbins ballerinas that helped make Jerry's work dance for us,” says Allen Greenberg of The Jerome Robbins Foundation. Ellen Sorrin, also of the Foundation, added, "The ballerinas themselves have been so moved on learning of the award and are all looking forward to this wonderful evening.” Images of each ballerina, in a Robbins ballet, will be projected as they accept their award. The ballerinas will also offer remembrances of working with Robbins, which will be included in that evening's printed program. The Robbins Award carries an honorarium, as well as a statue representing the award. The dancers receiving the award are: Helene Alexopoulos, Alexandra Ansanelli, Merrill Ashley, Yvonne Borree, Maria Calegari, Suzanne Farrell, Judith Fugate, Jillana, Allegra Kent, Gelsey Kirkland, Darci Kistler, Maria Kowroski, Sara Leland, Lourdes Lopez, Kay Mazzo, Patricia McBride, Yvonne Mounsey, Kyra Nichols, Jenifer Ringer, Melinda Roy, Stephanie Saland, Margaret Tracey, Violette Verdy, Heather Watts, Miranda Weese, and Wendy Whelan. Melissa Hayden, Nora Kaye, Tanaquil Le Clercq, and Janet Reed will be recognized posthumously. "The legacy of Jerry's ballets took years to form and years to be maintained and strengthened," stated Daniel Stern of the Foundation. "Only a series of committed ballerinas following one another in waves could do that, each adding her uniqueness. We celebrate the Robbins legacy and those whose talent has carried it forward."