Profiles

PAMELA ROBINSON HARRIS

Choreographer, Precious Jewels Variations from Aladdin Born in Landstuhl, Germany, Pamela received her formative training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Joffrey School of Ballet Summer Intensive, and National Academy of the Arts. Graduating early from high school at 17, she received her first job as an apprentice with Cleveland Ballet, followed by the State of Alabama Ballet in 1982 and Ballet Mississippi in 1984. Pamela joined Ballet West in 1985, advancing to the rank of Principal in 1988. In 1997, Pamela joined the Ballet West artistic staff as a Ballet Master. She served from 2006-2007 as Ballet West’s Interim Artistic Director. She has collaboratively choreographed many ballets for Ballet West’s Family Classics series - The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast with Peggy Dolkas, Snow White with Christopher Sellars, and now The Glass Slipper. She has also reworked major sections of Ballet West’s productions of The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle, and has choreographed for Ballet West II and the Ballet West Academy Professional Training Division. Pamela has now been with Ballet West for over 36 years, and continues to serve as the company’s Principal Ballet Master.

Chris Hardy Photography

VAL CANIPAROLI

Choreographer, Aria and Lambarena Val Caniparoli’s versatility has made him one of the most sought after American choreographers internationally. He is most closely associated with San Francisco Ballet, his artistic home for more than 46 years, where he also served as resident choreographer. Caniparoli has contributed to the repertoires of more than 50 companies, including Joffrey Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet West (Resident Choreographer 1993-97), Washington Ballet, Israel Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, State Theatre Ballet of South Africa, and Tulsa Ballet (Resident Choreographer 2001-06). He has also choreographed for the Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera. He has worked on productions with the San Francisco Symphony and with the esteemed American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), with his work for the latter including choreography for A Christmas Carol, A Doll’s House, A Little Night Music, Arcadia, and the creation, with Carey Perloff, of a new movement-theater piece, Tosca Cafe. One of his most popular ballets, Lambarena, was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse in 1997 for Best Choreography and was also featured on Sesame Street with dancers Lorena Feijoo and Lorna Feijoo. In 2015, Caniparoli co-choreographed, with Helgi Tomasson, a commercial for the 50th Anniversary Super Bowl with dancers from San Francisco Ballet.

Caniparoli’s full evening-length ballets include Lady of the Camellias, four different productions of The Nutcracker for Cincinnati Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet and Grand Rapids Ballet, Val Caniparoli’s, A Cinderella Story, danced to music by Richard Rodgers, for Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Jekyll & Hyde for Finnish National Ballet.

Born in Renton, Washington, Caniparoli opted for a professional dance career after studying music and theatre at Washington State University. He received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to attend San Francisco Ballet School. He performed with San Francisco Opera Ballet before joining San Francisco Ballet in 1973, where he continues to choreograph and perform as a Principal Character Dancer.

AUBREY ADAMS-MCMILLAN

Mezzo Soprano, Aria Aubrey Adams-McMillan joined the voice faculty of Westminster College, SLC, in August of 2011. Hailed for her incredibly balanced voice, even tone and sensitive musicianship, Aubrey enjoys an active career singing Opera, music theater, chamber music, art song, and symphonic works. Her love for music began young and she continues to explore repertoire that challenges her. She discovered her love for twentieth century music and collaborating with composers during her work with Claudio Abaddo and the New York philharmonic singing Schönberg and Debussy. In her home of Salt Lake City, she performs with the prestigious Utah Symphony, Intermezzo, Utah Opera, Eutopia, Cathedral of the Madeleine concert series and Utah Lyric Opera. Among the list of works, Aubrey has performed: Sea Pictures, Barber of Seville, Mahler’s fourth symphony, Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, Man of La Mancha, St. Paulus, Rutter spirituals, Lucia Di Lammermoor, Handel Dixit Dominus, and Messiah. Mozart C Minor Mass, Requiem, La Clemenza di Titto, Marriage of Figaro, and Cosi fan Tutte. Aubrey has been a recipient of the Marion Anderson Scholarship at Westminster choir College, the Penrose Scholar at Central City Opera, and a two-time district finalist in the Metropolitan Opera competition and received the encouragement award. Aubrey also enjoys working with composers and singing new works. She was involved in the workshop of Ricky Ian Gordan’s Grapes of Wrath and has performed in Little Women by Mark Adamo at Central City and Utah opera. She debuted the Requiems of both Alfonso Tenriero, and Jeff Manookian. In addition to Aubrey’s busy performance career, Aubrey teaches and serves as Vice President of the National Association of Teachers of Singing on the Northern Utah Chapter. As professor of Voice at Westminster College, Aubrey has overseen the recitals of over twenty students and serves as the voice clinician and assistant conductor to the community choir.

GEORGE BALANCHINE

Choreographer, Tarantella and Emeralds George Balanchine is regarded as one of the foremost contemporary choreographers in the world of ballet. He came to America in 1933 and established the School of American Ballet in 1934. In 1948, Balanchine established the New York City Ballet and presented its first program, which consisted of Concerto Barocco, Orpheus, and Symphony in C. Balanchine served as ballet master for the New York City Ballet from 1948 until his death in 1983, choreographing the majority of the productions the company has introduced since its inception. An authoritative catalogue lists 425 works created by Balanchine in his lifetime. Balanchine’s style has been described as neoclassical. A gifted musician himself, his response to Romantic Classicism was to deemphasize the plot in his ballets, preferring to let “dance and music be the star of the show.” Nevertheless, tantalizing hints of a story color his ballets such as Apollo, Harlequinade, Liebeslieder Walzer, and La Sonnambula. The New York City Ballet and School of American Ballet remain dedicated to the preservation of Balanchine’s ideals.

©Anton Dolin Foundation

SIR ANTON DOLIN

Choreographer, Variation for Four Sir Anton Dolin, born Patrick Healey Kay, was the first internationally acclaimed British Dancer Noble, whose career began with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.

Together with Alicia Markova, Dolin was instrumental in the formation of the Vic-Wells Ballet, founded by Lilian Baylis and Ninette de Valois, which developed into The Royal Ballet. At that time, Dolin’s reputation was akin to that Rudolf Nureyev later enjoyed.

In 1935, Markova and Dolin left the Vic-Wells Ballet to form their own company, the Markova-Dolin Ballet, which performed and toured for several years. The two young Diaghilev alumni formed one of the great partnerships of classical ballet.

Anton Dolin first performed the role of Albrecht in 1937, partnering Olga Spessivtzeva, who taught him the role and coached him, passing on this ballet’s great tradition. After working with the great Russian ballerina, Dolin was inspired to stage his own production of the 19th-century ballet, which was much acclaimed and performed around the world.

In 1940, Dolin joined New York’s newly formed Ballet Theater as a principal dancer. He soon began to stage classics, such as Swan Lake and Giselle, for the company, as well as creating his own choreography, including his own version of Pas de Quatre.

As a dancer, Dolin repeatedly found himself the male star in ballet companies that were launched under his auspices or in which he played an influential role. He became known as an excellent partner. Ninette de Valois defined his style as follows: “In the mid-1920s, his dancing brought a spark of virility to the male classical dance picture. It was Bronislava Nijinska who first brought out his particular virtuoso form of attack”.

In 1949, Anton Dolin founded a new British company, Festival Ballet (which became London Festival Ballet in 1950) with Alicia Markova. As its Artistic Director and Principal Dancer until 1961, he presented an eclectic repertory and toured widely. As a result, the company helped to introduce ballet to many new audiences. The company is now known as English National Ballet.

One of Dolin’s most famous stagings, Pas de Quatre, pays homage to 19th-century Romantic ballet with his own choreography for four female dancers, who portray four celebrated ballerinas. In 1957, the choreographer created a modern counterpart for four male dancers in his virtuoso showpiece Variations for Four.

In his early years, as Principal Dancer, Musical Theater Artist and Actor, later as Artistic Director, Choreographer, Teacher, Coach and Lecturer, Dolin was a familiar figure in the international ballet and theater world. A witty raconteur, he was the author of six books, including several memoirs.

For his outstanding services to ballet throughout his life Anton Dolin was knighted in 1980 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

GERALD ARPINO

Choreographer, Kettentanz Gerald Arpino was born in Staten Island, New York, and died in 2008 in Chicago. He received his early dance training in Seattle by Mary Ann Wells. He co-founded The Joffrey Ballet with Robert Joffrey in 1956 and served as Associate Director for many years. Upon Joffrey’s death in 1988, Arpino succeeded him as Artistic Director. In 1995, he moved The Joffrey Ballet to Chicago.

A leading dancer with the company in its early years, Arpino choreographed his first work for the Joffrey, Ropes, in 1961. Shortly thereafter, he became the Joffrey’s resident choreographer and to-date has created more than one-third of the Company’s repertoire. His amazingly diverse work ranges from social commentary to pure dance gems. His ballets are in the repertoires of companies around the world. Arpino is the first choreographer commissioned to create a ballet honoring the Office of the American Presidency: The Pantages and the Palace Present Two-A-Day. He was the first American commissioned to choreograph a ballet for a city, San Antonio, Jamboree. In 1993, Arpino produced America’s first full-evening rock ballet, Billboards, set to the music of Prince. In addition, Arpino is the only choreographer to have had four of his ballets performed at the White House.

Arpino served on numerous boards and councils including the national advisory council of the ITI/USA International Ballet Competition and the board of the Dance Notation Bureau. He was a member of the Arts Advisory Committee of the New York International Festival of the Arts. He served as an advisor to the Artists Committee for The Kennedy Center Honors. He was a member of the Board of The Chicago Academy For The Arts. Among many awards and tributes, he held honorary doctorates from The College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and Wagner College. He was a recipient of the 1974 Dance Magazine Award and the Vaslav Nijinsky Medal. He was honored twice by the Chicago Tribune as one of the “Chicagoans of the Year” for his important contribution to the arts in Chicago and the world.

LAR LUBOVITCH

Choreographer, Concerto Six Twenty-Two Lar Lubovitch is one of America’s most versatile, popular and widely seen choreographers. Based in New York City, Lubovitch’s company has performed throughout the world, and his dances have also been performed by many other major companies, including American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and many others. His dances are renowned for their musicality, rhapsodic style and sophisticated formal structures. His radiant, highly technical choreography and deeply humanistic voice have been acclaimed worldwide.

ERIN DOUGLAS VOELLINGER

Clarinet, Concerto Six Twenty-Two Erin is the Principal Clarinet player for the Ballet West Orchestra. She began her tenure with the orchestra in 2014 and continues to be thrilled at every opportunity to play with the group. Before joining the Ballet West Orchestra, she played a season with the Utah Symphony and was the principal clarinetist with the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra from 2007-2014. In addition to her work with various groups around the Salt Lake area, including the Utah Symphony, studio recording, and chamber works, Erin is currently an adjunct clarinet professor at the University of Utah.

While Erin loves playing ballet literature, she also likes to spice up her musical life with something completely different. She is the founder, contractor, and music arranger of the Park City Polka Players. She and her husband both play in the polka band along with other Ballet West Orchestra members. They have performed at Swiss Days, Snowbird Oktoberfest, the Park City Canyons Oktoberfest, the Utah Motorsports Oktoberfest, several breweries, and many other smaller parties.

Erin grew up in Littleton, Colorado, and began playing the clarinet when she was handed her stepmother’s old instrument in the 6th grade. Having already had a couple of years of piano lessons under her belt, she took to the clarinet very quickly. She teaches both clarinet and piano lessons in Park City, Utah, where she and her husband live with their one-and-a-half-year-old son. They enjoy spending as much time outside as possible-skiing, biking, hiking, paddle boarding, camping, and playing ultimate frisbee.

MARIUS PETIPA

Choreographer, Paquita Marius Petipa (1818–1910) was one of the most influential figures of classical ballet. His choreography forms the basis of The Royal Ballet’s productions of The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, La Bayadère and Coppélia, among others.

Petipa was born in Marseilles. His father was a dancer, and Petipa began dancing in his father’s traveling company aged nine. Aged 16 he joined Théâtre Nantes, where he also created a number of ballets. He studied in Paris with Auguste Vestris before going on to work as a dancer around France. In May 1847 he arrived in St Petersburg and two months later made his debut as principal dancer and ballet master of the Mariinsky, starring in his re-staging of Joseph Mazilier’s Paquita. His breakthrough as a choreographer came in 1859 with his production of La Fille du pharaon, and in 1869 he was made Chief Choreographer. In addition to creating original works such as Don Quixote (1869) and La Bayadère (1877), he restaged preexisting works, including Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot’s Giselle (1884) and Arthur Saint-Léon’s Coppélia (1884). Petipa’s 1890 production of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty was followed by productions of The Nutcracker (1892) and Swan Lake (1895), both created with Lev Ivanov. His last great work was Raymonda (1898), before he retired in 1903.

Petipa’s ballets were grand spectacles that made magnificent use of the corps de ballet and placed the lead ballerina centre stage. His theatre and school became a model for all ballet around the globe throughout the 20th century.