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April 28, 2010

Ailey Company Names Robert Battle New Director
by Daniel J. Wakin
April 28, 2010
The New York Times

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the nation’s most successful dance troupes, said Wednesday that it would entrust its future to Robert Battle, a 36-year-old outside choreographer who has had a long association with the company.

Ailey announced Mr. Battle’s appointment as artistic director, to succeed Judith Jamison when she retires in June 2011. He will begin working with the company a year earlier in tandem with Ms. Jamison, who will then take on the title of artistic director emerita.

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Two Dance Visions in a Creative Pas de Deux
by Felicia R. Lee
April 26, 2010
The New York Times

A theater merging with a choreographer’s company? As the New York dance world puzzled over the unusual prospect of a union between the downtown presenter Dance Theater Workshop and Bill T. Jones’s company — one surprised former staff member of the workshop likened it to a merger of a museum and an artist — new details have emerged about the proposal.

The executive directors of both groups now say the plan calls for an umbrella organization that would include Mr. Jones’s troupe. The new brand — with a new name and a new mission — would link the 28-year-old company of Mr. Jones, who is known for work that tackles social topics like racism and AIDS, with an arts center that holds more than 110 performances annually by some 45 artists and companies.

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Bill T. Jones Honored with Jacob's Pillow Dance Award
April 19, 2010

Jacob's Pillow announced that Executive Director Ella Baff will soon present the fourth annual Jacob's Pillow Dance Award to Bill T. Jones, acclaimed choreographer, co-founder, and artistic director of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Tony Award winner for Spring Awakening, and director of the current Broadway hit FELA! The Jacob's Pillow Dance Award honors outstanding visionary artists and carries a prize of $25,000, one of the largest cash awards in the dance industry, to be used by the choreographer to enhance their artistry in any way they choose. The official in-person presentation of the Award will take place at the Jacob's Pillow Season Opening Gala on Saturday, June 19.

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At City Ballet, Sweating Many Firsts
by Claudia La Rocco
April 23, 2010
The New York Times

THE choreographer Christopher Wheeldon strode into a New York City Ballet studio one recent afternoon for the first rehearsal of a new work. As an accompanist played the opening melody, he read the young principal dancer Tiler Peck a few notes about the 1941 Ginastera score “Estancia,” involving romance, horse wrangling and ranch culture.

“So, with that in mind: wild horses and go!” Mr. Wheeldon deadpanned.

Yet, just an hour later the two had sketched out the beginnings of a phrase or two for her character. Ballet magic: what had been theoretical was now tangible.

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Aspen Sante Fe Ballet Directors Honored at Joyce Theater Foundation Annual Gala
The Joyce Theater Foundation honored Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s Tom Mossbrucker (Artistic Director) and Jean-Philippe Malaty (Executive Director) at its annual Spring Gala on Monday, April 19. at ESPACE (635 West 42nd Street).

The Gala featured dance performances by the Stephen Petronio Company, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and the cast of Broadway’s Million Dollar Quartet. Proceeds from the Spring Gala will support The Joyce’s education program as well as dance companies that will perform at The Joyce Theater and Joyce SoHo.

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New Rounds for EmcArts' Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts
In 2010, EmcArts, the leading nonprofit provider of innovation services to the arts sector, will further advance its pioneering Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts, an immersion program for arts organizations, thanks to a generous $1.6 million grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF). EmcArts is pleased to partner with DDCF to deliver three more Rounds of the program to 11 participating organizations from across the country in 2010 and 2011. Eligible organizations are producing, presenting (including arts and college-based presenters) and service organizations in theater, dance, and jazz.

The application deadline is Wednesday, May 19, 2010.

For more information about the Innovation Lab, RFP process for selection and past participants, you may also visit our website at www.EmcArts.org.

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Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Receives Major Funding Increase in Support of USArtists International Program
April 21, 2010

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation announced that it has received a grant of $700,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The funding will support the USArtists International (USAI) program and represents a significant increase over Mellon's previous grant of $500,000. A unique public-private partnership between Mellon, Mid Atlantic and the National Endowment for the Arts, USAI is the only national initiative solely dedicated to ensuring that the impressive range of expression of the performing arts in the United States is represented abroad. The program works to strengthen the creative and professional development of American dance, music and theatre artists by providing grants to support their performances around the world at significant international festivals and engagements that represent extraordinary career opportunities.

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NEA Announces the Second Round of FY2010 National Endowment for the Arts Grants
April 22, 2010

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman announced the NEA’s latest round of funding for fiscal year 2010 in the categories of Access to Artistic Excellence, Learning in the Arts, Arts on Radio and Television, and Partnership Agreements (State and Regional). The Arts Endowment will distribute $97,632,100 through 1,323 grants to nonprofit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide.

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Princess Grace Award Applications Must Be Postmarked by April 30
The postmark deadline for the Princess Grace Award applications for dance and choreography is coming up on April 30, 2010.

Dance Performance Awards take the form of scholarships and fellowships. Awards are based on the applicant's artistic merit, significance of the Award to current artistic development, and the potential for future excellence and impact on the field.

Choreography Awards offer emerging choreographers the opportunity to create a new work with organizations with which they have little experience.

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Philippe Braunschweig, Prix de Lausanne Founder, Dies at 82
by Anna Kisselgoff
April 6, 2010
The New York Times

Philippe Braunschweig, the heir to a Swiss watchmaking fortune who founded the innovative and prestigious Prix de Lausanne ballet competition for young dancers, died on April 3 in Vevey, Switzerland. He was 82 and lived in Vevey.

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Arnold Spohr, Former Artistic Director of Winnipeg Ballet, Dies at 86
by Anna Kisselgoff
April 20, 2010
The New York Times

Arnold Spohr, who, as artistic director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for 30 years brought a small regional company on the prairie to international prominence, died April 12 in Winnipeg, where he lived. He was 86.

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It's Time to Bring Dance to the White House, and Obama Should Take the Lead
by Sarah Kaufman
April 25, 2010
The Washington Post

Anger, distrust, apprehension: America is caught up in a angry swirl of operatic passions it hasn't experienced in years. As a nation, we're becoming ever more fragmented. Which means there's never been a better time for the White House to showcase the performing arts -- especially dance, which demonstrates what unity, harmony and perfection look like.

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Online Giving Continues to Grow but at a Slower Pace, Chronicle Survey Finds
by Noelle Barton and Nicole Wallace
April 18, 2010
The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Internet gifts to charities rose by 5% in 2009, according to The Chronicle’s annual survey.

Online giving continues to be a bright spot for charities during the recession, but the rate of growth has slowed significantly, according to The Chronicle’s annual survey of online fund

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