Damian Woetzel

Damian Woetzel, former ballet star, is a producer and director of dance and music performances. Among his recent projects was directing the first performance of the White House Dance Series in September 2010, which took place in the East Room of the White House and was hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama.[1]

Contents

Career as Director and Producer

Vail International Dance Festival

Since 2006, Woetzel has been the artistic director of the summer Vail International Dance Festival, where he presents dance performances and commissions.[2] He has instituted a number of initiatives as director, including bringing to the Vail Valley the educational arts program Celebrate The Beat which targets local underserved children in the public schools.[3][4]

Aspen Institute

In June 2011, Woetzel was named the Director of Arts Programs at the Aspen Institute. In this capacity, he works to develop ideas and policies to assure vibrancy and dynamism in all artistic realms, and to enrich civic society in ways only the arts can.

World Science Festival

In 2009 and 2010, Woetzel produced and directed the World Science Festival Gala Performances at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. For the 2010 event he created an arts salute to science honoring the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, featuring performances by Yo-Yo Ma, John Lithgow, and Kelli O’Hara among others.[5][6]

New Essential Works Program

In the fall of 2009, Woetzel helped create and began directing the Jerome Robbins Foundation's New Essential Works (NEW) Program, which supports choreographers and dance companies during the current financial crisis by giving grants to enable the production of new works.[7][8]

Studio 5 Performance Series

In 2009, Woetzel launched as curator and director the new Studio 5 performance series at New York’s City Center, which features in-depth examinations of today’s most compelling dance artists and companies highlighted by in-studio performances and demonstrations.

Silk Road Connect

Woetzel works with Yo-Yo Ma on his Silk Road Connect program in the New York City Public Schools, in June 2010 directing the culminating year end event which took place at New York’s Museum of Natural History, and featured the participation of the Silk Road Ensemble and 450 6th grade students.[9] In April 2011, Woetzel organized an "arts strike" at Inner-City Arts in downtown Los Angeles with Yo-Yo Ma, The Silk Road Ensemble, and Memphis Jooker Charles "Lil Buck" Riley.[10] The event included a demonstration and workshop for more than one hundred elementary school students from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Harvard Law School

In the fall of 2010, Woetzel was a visiting Lecturer at Harvard Law School, where he co-taught a course on Performing Arts and the Law with Jeannie Suk.[11]

New York State Summer School for the Arts

Woetzel was the artistic director of the New York State Summer School for the Arts School of Ballet from 1994-2007.

Dance career

New York City Ballet

Woetzel was a Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet from 1989 until his retirement from the stage in 2008, where he had works created for him by Jerome Robbins, Eliot Feld, Twyla Tharp, Susan Stroman, and Christopher Wheeldon among others.[12]

Guest Appearances

During his career, Woetzel frequently performed internationally as a guest star and was a visiting artist with numerous companies including the Kirov Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

Choreography

Woetzel has choreographed a number of ballets for New York City Ballet, among other companies.

Honors and Appointments

Woetzel is the recipient of a Choo San Goh award for new choreography. He serves on the Artists Committee of the Kennedy Center Honors and as a judge for the Astaire Awards. He has also served as a juror for the Princess Grace Awards, and in 2011 Woetzel became of a member of the Knight Foundation's National Arts Advisory Committee; he was the 2008 Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence of the Aspen Institute, and he is a frequent speaker on the arts and arts policy.[13] Woetzel served on the recent Harvard Task Force on the Arts. In November 2009, President Obama appointed Woetzel to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.[14] Woetzel also serves on the boards of directors of New York City Center, The Clive Barnes Foundation and The Sphinx Organization.

Education

Woetzel holds a Master in Public Administration Degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.[15]

Personal life

Woetzel has been married to Heather Watts since 1999.

References

  1. ^ At the White House, dancers get room to move in the East Room — The Washington Post
  2. ^ Vail International Dance Festival
  3. ^ Eagle County kids invited to White House — The Vail Daily
  4. ^ Saturday's Yo-Yo Ma Event Shows Cellists' Passion for Art Education — The Vail Daily
  5. ^ World Science Festival to Start with a Big Bang — The New York Times
  6. ^ Salute of the Stars, Cosmic and Otherwise — The New York Times
  7. ^ The Jerome Robbins Foundation and Robbins Rights Trust
  8. ^ Make It Relevant but Make It — The New York Times
  9. ^ Big Lights Will Inspire You — National Geographic
  10. ^ Yo-Yo Ma performs for Inner City Arts kids on Los Angeles's Skid Row
  11. ^ Harvard Law School Faculty
  12. ^ Bowing Out, but Still Fancy Free — The New York Times
  13. ^ Aspen Ideas Festival Opens — The Aspen Times
  14. ^ President’s Arts Group Names 25 Members — The New York Times
  15. ^ He Parked His Barre in Harvard Yard — The New York Times

External links

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