American Repertory Ballet Company Director, Douglas Martin, is pleased to announce seven new additions and three promotions at American Repertory Ballet (ARB) for its 2011-2012 Season.

Talin Kenar

ARB welcomes new Company members Euphrosyne Avery, Alice Cao, David DuBois, Monica Giragosian, Talin Kenar, Katie Moorehead and Claire van Bever. The new additions will bring a deep and diverse array of artistry and experience to the company.

Katie Moorehead

Kenar has danced with Hong Kong Ballet, Colorado Ballet and Carolina Ballet; Moorehead, an honors graduate from the Kirov Ballet Academy, has most recently performed with Morales Dance and Octavia Cup Dance Theatre; 

David DuBois

and DuBois is fresh off his appearance at the annual Sibiu International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition held in Sibiu Romania earlier this year.

 

Cao joins ARB after an apprenticeship with Ballet Memphis, while Giragosian arrives after a traineeship with BalletMet.   

 Ms. van Bever is a recent graduate of The Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, and Avery performed with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet and Eglevsky Ballet last season.

 

Euphrosyne Avery

Alice Cao

Monica Giragosian

Claire van Bever

These dancers join returning Company dancers Stephen Campanella, Alexander Dutko, Samantha Gullace, Joshua Kurtzberg, Karen Leslie Moscato, Marc St-Pierre and Edward Urwin.  ARB also congratulates Trainee Shaye Firer, who will be interning with the company as an apprentice for the upcoming season.

American Repertory Ballet sadly says goodbye to several departing dancers, including Brittany Fridenstine and Audra Johnson, who sent us these exciting updates:

Fridenstine is looking forward to her next "exciting step in [her] evolution as a dancer," as she prepares to join Morphoses next season. "ARB has been a great family and I will cherish the time that I spent there," Fridenstine said. "I am excited to be the company's biggest fan for future performances."

Johnson, who will join the Suzanne Farrell Ballet Company in Washington D.C. next season, spent seven years with American Repertory Ballet. "I have been able to work with talented, creative choreographers and coaches who have inspired me," Johnson said of her time with ARB. "There are so many memories that will be treasured in my heart."

American Repertory Ballet opens its highly anticipated season at Raritan Valley Community College on Oct. 22, 2011. The program features world premieres by Resident Choreographers Mary Barton and Matthew Keefe, as well as Kirk Peterson's "Eyes that Gently Touch". 

The School

In the PBS studios this summer (from l-r): Hand in Hand, Children's Ballet, Summer Intensive Intermediates (Photos by Caroline Pallat), and Summer Intensive (Photo by George Jones).

For the past five weeks, Summer Intensive 2011 has been in full swing. Attendees at this year's Intensive came from across the U.S., France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and Israel to train in our beautiful facilities with our top tier faculty. The 30th Anniversary program culminated last Friday with a performance at McCarter's Berlind Theatre.  The performance featured new works by Mary Barton and Janell Byrne, an excerpt from Don Quixote, restaged by Maria Youskevitch, and student choreography directed by Katie Glasner. 

Read all about Princeton Ballet School's 30th Anniversary Summer Intensive Program in the New York Times. 

For the inside scoop on the action, including glimpses into our Summer Intensive Juniors program, read Katarina Rafael's blog on the Summer Intensive. Katarina, who performed the lead roles in Princeton Ballet School's productions of Coppélia, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake over the last three years, will be joining Princeton University's Class of 2015 next fall. She was our Summer Intensive Inside Blogger this year.