Columbus Youth Ballet Announces 2001-2002 Season
Columbus, Ohio - The 2001-2002 season promises to be one of great advances for Columbus Youth Ballet, Artistic director and founder Shir Lee Wu's performing company will make its Riffe Center debut with its spring presentation of Laura Alonso's "Don Quixoe - Prologue and Act III" and George Balanchine's "Waltz Fantasie" and "Stars and Stripes." CYB's academy also will extend to include a new Ballet Tech division for its most advanced pre-professional students and will welcome several new faculty members including former New York City Ballet dancer Jade Adam Layman.
In August, students will begin returning to Columbus from summer programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Chautaugua (n.Y.) Institute, the Briansky-Saratoga Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and the School of American Ballet, where two CYB dancers, Courtney Muscroft and Tiffany Graves, were among the 200 worldwide applicants accepted.
Once back in Columbus, they will be welcome by the returning faculty which includes Wu, Yong Ge Chen, Neda Treadwell, Steffany Stearns and Elaine Holdren. New faculty members for the 2001-2002 year include Jade Adam Layman, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, and contemporary jazz/modern teacher Allison Lanaman, formerly a member of the Ohio State University dance Company.
Wu also has announced plans to develop an outreach program for CYB. Over the summer of 2001, she will be meeting with consultants who will help her create a recruiting and development program to bring more economically desadvantaged students to CYB.
To facilitate its amitious performance schedule, CYB will welcome back Carol Sumner during is Aug. 9-16, 2001, intensive summer workshop. Sumner, a former principal dancer and soloist with NYCB, has been selected by the Balanchine Trust to restage "Waltz Fantasie" and "Stars and Stripe." CYB previously has been awarded the copyright to perform the concert version of Balanchine's "Who Cares" and his "Elegie."
From Sept. 21-23, 2001, Katrina Killian, former soloist with NYCB and now a School of American Ballet faculty member, will visit the CYB Academy to conduct master classes and rehearsals. CYB, Summer 2001 press release, pge 2/2.
From Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, 2001, CYB will present its seventh annual production of "the Nutcracker" at Ohio Stage University's Thurber Theatre. The classic ballet features 150 students, ages 4 through 18, and welcomes back as guest male dancer, Rogelio Corrales, a principal with the Minnesota Ballet. Corrales, a 1991 graduate of Cuba's acclaimed National School of Ballet, has previously appeared wth CYB in "The Nutcracker" and as Franz in their spring 2000 production of "Coppelia, ActIII."
Laura Alonso, also a product of Cuba's renowned ballet traditions, will spend Feb. 9-25, 2002, with CYB as its guest choreographer. Alonso is the daughter of world famous ballerina Alicia Alonso and is currently the artistic director of the Centro Pro Danza in Havana, Cuba. Alonso will restage her version of "Son Quixote - Prologue and Act III" with the CYB cast. The 85-member company will perform Alonso's work on April 26, 2002, at the Riffe Center in downtown Columbus. As part of that program, CYB will also present the Balanchine pieces.
During February, members of CYB's Ballet Tech division will compete again in the Youth American Grand Prix. Last year, in only the second year of this international dance competition, CYB dancers scored high honors at several regional competitions, and at the May finals in New York City, CYB dancer Courtney Muscroft, 13, took home a Top 12 award in the junior GrandPrix division.
On March 23, 2002, CYB will again participate in the Ohio Festival at Cuyahoga Community College near Cleveland. The dance festival features performances, classes and compeition.
The 2001-2002 performance season closes eith CYB's annual recital programs, held June 2, 2002, at Ohio Stage University's Thurber Theatre.