PA Ballet Promotions for 2012-13 announced

[Ray]

Copied from the Company's press release. Especially notable (to me, anyway) is Jermel Johnson, an amazing dancer.

Pennsylvania Ballet Announces Promotions for 2012-2013 Season

Fadeley, Hussey, Johnson, and Moore promoted to Principal

Philadelphia, PA (May 24, 2012) – Pennsylvania Ballet announces four promotions from within to

Principal Dancer. Soloists Lauren Fadeley, Ian Hussey, Jermel Johnson, and Brooke Moore will

ascend to the Company’s highest tier for the 2012-2013 Season.

“Each of our new Principal Dancers has developed their own unique artistry while here at

Pennsylvania Ballet,” Artistic Director Roy Kaiser says. “I am so pleased to honor their talent and

dedication with these promotions.”

In addition to the promotions above, Company Members Evelyn Kocak and Jong Suk Park will be

promoted to Soloist. Apprentices Alexandra Hughes, Elizabeth Mateer, Alexander Peters, and

Eric Trope will be promoted to the Corps de Ballet. Pennsylvania Ballet II dancers Amy Holihan

and Harrison Monaco will be promoted to Apprentice.

All of the promoted artists can be seen onstage next in the finale to Pennsylvania Ballet’s 2011-

2012 Season, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, May 31-June 3, 2012 at the Merriam Theater. Tickets are

available online at paballet.org, by phone at 215.893.1999, or in person at the Kimmel Center Box

Office.

Lauren Fadeley was born in Orlando, FL, where she began her dance training at age four. She

studied at The Rock School for Dance Education and The School of American Ballet. At age 16,

Ms. Fadeley was invited to join New York City Ballet. In May 2007, she graduated Cum Laude

from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an outside field in

Kinesiology. Ms. Fadeley joined Pennsylvania Ballet in fall 2007 and was promoted to Soloist for

the 2011-2012 Season. She has performed principal roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake

(Odette/Odile); Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan (Wendy); and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™

(Sugarplum Fairy and Dewdrop), Agon (Pas de Deux), and The Four Temperaments (First

Theme). She has originated featured roles in works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Peter Quanz,

and Matthew Neenan. Ms. Fadeley was one of fourteen Pennsylvania Ballet dancers who

performed in the Academy Award-winning film Black Swan. She is married to Principal Dancer

Francis Veyette.

Ian Hussey was born in Westmont, NJ and began his ballet training at age nine at The Rock

School for Dance Education. Mr. Hussey continued his training at Central Pennsylvania Youth

Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary and at various prestigious summer intensives.

Mr. Hussey was a member of Pennsylvania Ballet II and an apprentice before being promoted to

the Corps de Ballet for the 2007-2008 Season. He was promoted to Soloist for the 2010-2011

Season. Since joining the Company, Mr. Hussey has danced featured roles in ballets such as

Matthew Neenan’s Carmina Burana, Val Caniparoli’s Lambarena, Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to

Shove and Nine Sinatra Songs, Paul Taylor’s Company B, Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake

(Pas de Quatre), Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée (Alain), and George Balanchine’s The

Four Temperaments (Melancholic) and Agon (First Pas de Trois). He has also danced the title

role in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and Cavalier in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™.

Mr. Hussey has originated leading roles in ballets such as Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for

a Rose and Jorma Elo’s Pulcinella.

Jermel Johnson began his dance education at the Baltimore School for the Arts’ after school

program. He went on to study at The School of American Ballet under such choreographers as

Peter Martins, Peter Boal, Jock Soto, and Andrei Kramerevsky. Mr. Johnson joined Pennsylvania

Ballet II in September 2003 and rose through the ranks of the Company to a promotion to Soloist

in 2009. He has performed featured roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake (Pas de Trois),

George Balanchine’s The NutcrackerÔ (Cavalier), and Robert Weiss’s Messiah. During the 2007-

2008 Season, Mr. Johnson received audience and critical acclaim for his performances at City

Center in Manhattan and in the world premiere of Matthew Neenan's Pampeana No. 2 in

Philadelphia. In October 2008, Mr. Johnson received a prestigious Ballet Fellowship from the

Princess Grace Foundation-USA, which supported his salary for the season and will support his

choreographic endeavors in the future.

Brooke Moore was born in Latrobe, PA, where she began studying ballet at age eight with Laurel

Youth Ballet. She went on to study at Chautauqua Institution, American Ballet Theatre, and San

Francisco Ballet School. Ms. Moore earned an apprenticeship with San Francisco Ballet and

danced with the company for eight years. She joined Pennsylvania Ballet in 2007 and was

promoted to Soloist for the 2008-2009 Season. Ms. Moore has performed featured roles in

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ (Dewdrop, Sugarplum Fairy, and Coffee), The Four

Temperaments (Second Theme), Concerto Barocco (2nd Violin), and Agon (First Pas de Trois);

Ben Stevenson's Cinderella (Fairy Godmother); William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of

Exactitude; and Matthew Neenan's As It’s Going. In 2011, she performed the principal role of

Odette/Odile in Christopher Wheeldon's Swan Lake.

[Rosa]

Thanks Ray. I remember being impressed by Jermel in the pas de trois in Wheeldon's Swan Lake when he was an apprentice in 2004.

Congratulations to all the promoted dancers!