ballet tech cincinnati, winner of the 2008 Scripps-Corbett Innovation Award and ONE Award Finalist, will host its Eighth Annual Gala of International Dance Stars on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009 at 8 p.m. at Cincinnati’s premier venue, the Aronoff Center. Featuring the best dancers from the best companies and the best choreography in the world, the Gala of International Dance Stars will once again astonish, astound and amaze the audience with the gravity defying athleticism, artistry and strength of the dancers, the traditional and new, on-the-edge choreography, remarkable diversity of cast, music and dance styles and the sheer joy of the experience! This year’s cast of 12 fabulous dancers represent 9 world renowned companies and 9 Countries. The only International Dance Gala in the Midwest and one of only a few in the entire nation, each year the Gala of International Dance Stars brings audiences to their feet with rousing standing ovations and comments like, “You hit a home run! This was the most thrilling thing I’ve ever seen!” “It was spectacular!”… “The performance was absolutely AWESOME” and “the most outstanding local dance performance that I’ve ever seen.” “As a former modern dancer, I really appreciated the quality and diversity of the dances.”
BALLETNY’s Kellye A. Saunders will return for her fifth Gala appearance with partner, Dancer-Choreographer Matthew Prescott, of Suzanne Farrell Ballet and formerly with Joffrey Ballet. “…time spent with Kellye A. Saunders, a dancer of special eloquence and elegance, is time unwasted” New York Times.
National Ballet of Canada’s Sonia Rodriguez and Aleksandar Antonijevic, who stole the hearts of the audience in 2005 with an excerpt from Madame Butterfly return for their fourth Gala appearance together to perform Val Caniparoli’s Camelia Dama.
Jamal Story, COMPLEXIONS ” a standout young technician with heart … The strutting male in a solo excerpt from the group dance “This is Your Dance Life” is also familiar, but here the beefcake is bashful… The performance by Jamal Story was as serious and stunningly danced as it was comical.” Jennifer Dunning, NY Times and partner Francesca Harper, founder of The Francesca Harper Project, a New York City based company dedicated to creating groundbreaking dance, music, and theater works.
“The remarkably engaging Alejandro Alvarez” David Lyman, Cincinnati Enquirer formerly of the National Dance Company of Spain and award winning choreographer Shawn Hounsell formerly of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal will each perform Cincinnati Premiere solos and a duet commissioned by Bravo Network together.
Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk, partners/co-founders of Jacoby & Pronk and principal
dancers with Morphoses/TheWheeldon Company, were formerly with LINES Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. They will return with Cincinnati premieres of two new works. “Their relationship was positively palpable; almost juicy in its connection.” Art & Seek “The independent duo of Rubinald Rofino Pronk, a sleek dancer…and Drew Jacoby, a tall, perfectly-ripped woman…were sensational — all sinewy dynamite and flexy agility — in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s angular showpiece, One.” – Houston Chronicle
Carolina Aguero and Yaroslav Ivanenko of Hamburg Ballet will perform a wonderful, exciting and virtuosic world premiere by Ivanenko, an award winning choreographer with a uniquely athletic style evolving out of his background as a classical ballet dancer.
GALA GLOBAL FARE
Meet, greet and eat at the Gala Global Fare Pre Show Reception with International Cuisine Buffet, Silent Auction, Live Jazz Music by the Hank Stephens Experience, and cash bar. $20. Tickets are available now; to purchase, call 513.621.ARTS (2787) or go to http://www.cincinnatiarts.org For more information call 513.841.2822.
TICKETS
Tickets are available now; to purchase, call 513.621.ARTS (2787) or go to http://www.ballettechcincinnati.org or http://www.cincinnatiarts.org . Enjoy the Arts/START, Senior and Group Discounts available. For more information call 513.841.2822.
SPONSORS
Macy’s is the Performance Sponsor, PNC Bank is a Couple Sponsor, The Millennium Hotel is the Hotel Sponsor. WGUC 90.9 FM and The Cincinnati Herald are Media sponsors for the Gala of International Dance Stars. This production is made possible, in part by the support of the Aronoff Center Rental Subsidy Grant of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the Fine Arts Fund, Ohio Arts Council, Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./US Bank Foundation, Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Duke Energy, and The Robert H. Reakirt Foundation, PNC Bank Trustee. Carl Lindner, the State of Ohio and the City of Cincinnati are Raising the Barre Capital Campaign Sponsors. For more information, call ballet tech cincinnati at (513)841.2822, email info@ballettechcincinnati.org or visit our website at http://www.ballettechcincinnati.org
ballet tech cincinnati
The mission of Scripps-Corbett Award winner and ONE Award Finalist, ballet tech cincinnati is to educate, entertain and inspire by providing diverse and innovative performances that have a phenomenal community impact. Founded in 1997, ballet tech cincinnati is a non-profit 501 (C ) (3) organization offering community dance classes and performances in its Kennedy Heights World Headquarters and numerous other venues including the Aronoff Center as a resident company. ballet tech cincinnati presents many community performances each year featuring a wide variety of pre-professional and professional dancers, dance styles and music. Last season, we served over 12,000 audience members. We have the most diverse audience of any Cincinnati area presenter, and we are the only company that presents guest companies, an international Gala, and preprofessional dancers as part of our season series. Dance 2 Community Kids community outreach program introduces youth from underserved communities to dance and the Aronoff Center expanding the audience for the arts and downtown Cincinnati venues. Over 1300 children have attended ballets in this outreach. The Leaping for Literacy Project presents an annual spring production based on beloved children’s stories, Touring Company performances in area schools, free outreach performances in area libraries and bookstores, a poster and poetry contest, and a book giveaway to promote family literacy. ballet tech cincinnati also collaborates with Cincinnati Ballet Company, Closing the Health Gap and The West End Arts Access Initiative to extend our reach and make dance more accessible for everyone. For more information about ballet tech cincinnati, visit http://www.ballettechcincinnati.org
