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Marcia Dale Weary


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According to their Facebook page, through an announcement by Nicholas Ade, Marcia Dale Weary has passed away.  It is a sad day for many, as she was responsible for so many having a career in the ballet world:

It is with enormous love and sadness that I share that our Founding Artistic Director, Marcia Dale Weary has passed. She built a legacy through the best in classical ballet training. Her legacy will continue through all of us at CPYB who share the same values and love for what she stood for. Marcia will be missed as she is loved by so many. We thank you Marcia for the beauty you brought to this world. Memorial services and tributes for Marcia with further information will be forthcoming.

Thank you,

Nicholas Ade
Chief Executive Officer
Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet

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It's difficult to overstate how much Marcia Dale Weary has shaped American dance today—her students perform, many as principals, in virtually every major U.S. company and in many companies overseas. As her dancers transition into teaching roles elsewhere (like Vanessa Zahorian, moving from a career as a principal at San Francisco Ballet to heading Pennsylvania Ballet Academy), I expect we'll see that influence continue: dancers with incredible technique and presence in performance. 

Ms. Weary's commitment to teaching every child has paid off, too. Ballet training often means that students are routed onto a certain track early, based on aesthetics: length of their legs, arch of their feet. But CPYB trained many, many dancers whose bodies didn't fit the "ideal" framework, and many of these dancers blossomed into some of the greatest American dancers we see today. Because Ms. Weary pushed many of these dancers as students, we have the gift of seeing many of these incredible artists in major roles.

American ballet was very, very lucky to have Marcia Dale Weary. Here's to her legacy continuing into the future.

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54 minutes ago, tutu said:

It's difficult to overstate how much Marcia Dale Weary has shaped American dance today—her students perform, many as principals, in virtually every major U.S. company and in many companies overseas. As her dancers transition into teaching roles elsewhere (like Vanessa Zahorian, moving from a career as a principal at San Francisco Ballet to heading Pennsylvania Ballet Academy), I expect we'll see that influence continue: dancers with incredible technique and presence in performance.

Indeed -- I'm hoping to see that influence spread liberally!

We've been lucky in Seattle to have a number of dancers with that training join the company here.  They are often the people I look at to see how something should be done, and point other people to -- "see, that's what it's supposed to be like."

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Currently at PNB, Leta Biasucci and Noelani Pantastico.  Carrie Imler was as well. Enrico Hippolito went to CPYB after he was a PD at PNB.

At NYCB Ashley Bouder is the most prominent dancer who was CPYB-trained.  I remember Deborah Wingert and Darla Hoover from the '80's on.

This list on CPBY's website is out-of-date, and I'm not sure what the criteria are for being on the list, ie, years of study, year-round vs. summer, etc., but there are a lot of familiar names:

https://cpyb.org/alumni/alumni-in-the-field/

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Numerous students have posted today on Facebook and Instagram.  My feed has been flooded with them all day long.  Many are dancers. Ashley Bouder, Jeffrey Cirio, Lia Cirio, Ian Hussey, Carli Samuelson, Julia Rowe, just to name a few.  Many were former dancers like Deborah Wingert, Tina LeBlanc and Tracy Julias.  And  then there were teachers from all over the world sharing the news.  There were parents expressing their gratefulness.  And, finally, there were students who never went on to be professional dancers.  The recurring theme of all their posts was that she pushed them, she inspired them, she gave them work ethic, and she gave them a love for the art form and for other art forms.  She demanded excellence and she got it.  And whether they danced professionally or they didn't, what she instilled in them carried forward into their lives.  I don't know if there will be another like her.  I was blessed to witness it.

 

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22 hours ago, Helene said:

Currently at PNB, Leta Biasucci and Noelani Pantastico.  Carrie Imler was as well. Enrico Hippolito went to CPYB after he was a PD at PNB.

Abby Jayne DeAngelo is a PNB apprentice--also a "barn baby." I had a VHS of Children with a Dream growing up, and it made such an impact on me in terms of understanding the importance of a solid technical foundation. I'd love to see if it is available on the PBS website or online anywhere while I'm thinking about CPYB and MDW's legacy. 

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