Up Close with GENIUS

Vail Dance Festival Salutes George Balanchine

By Joel Solari

If you have never been to an UpClose program before, you are in for a special treat as these unique performances showcase extraordinary dancing while providing audiences with valuable and entertaining insight into what is being seen on the stage. Each season, UpClose explores a new subject, and 2023 will offer a look at the genius of George Balanchine.

Famously called Mr. B by his dancers and those that knew him best, George Balanchine is widely regarded as history’s most important ballet choreographer, whose influence in America and around the world remains unrivaled. The Georgian-Russian immigrant co-founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 and later the New York City Ballet in 1948, and over the course of his six-decade career, Balanchine created a choreographic legacy of more than 400 ballets. Balanchine’s dances, and the remarkable story of how they came to be, are the subject of this year’s UpClose performance on Sunday, July 30th.

Hosted by Balanchine ballerina Heather Watts, Festival Artistic Director Damian Woetzel, and Jennifer Homans, author of the acclaimed new biography Mr. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century, the evening will feature performance excerpts of major Balanchine works danced by Festival stars, along with interviews and expert commentary.

Special guest Jennifer Homans danced with the Pacific Northwest Ballet before turning her career to the scholarly study of dance, eventually earning several fellowship awards and degrees, including a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. Her first book Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of the “10 Best Books of 2010” by The New York Times In 2014, with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, she founded the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University to “establish ballet as a serious subject of academic inquiry” and in 2019 she was appointed to the post of dance critic for The New Yorker magazine. This year’s UpClose is co-hosted by Heather Watts, an acclaimed principal dancer at New York City Ballet; Balanchine both created new works for her and cast her in leading roles in his masterpieces Apollo, Serenade, and Agon, among others. In her post-stage career, she has been a pioneering educator about Balanchine’s work, including as an inaugural fellow at Homan’s Center for Ballet and the Arts.

“Jennifer brings a keen historian’s mind and a dancer’s physical knowledge to her unflinching account of Balanchine’s life and genius,” says Watts in praise of Homans latest book. “Mr. B is brilliant -- there is nothing of its kind.”

Like the famous Balanchine quote “see the music, hear the dance,” audiences at this tribute performance will be invited to see and hear the fascinating behind-the-scenes history and development of some of the most acclaimed Balanchine masterpieces. And in true Vail Dance Festival fashion, they will be treated to first looks at dancers performing new roles, including New York City Ballet principal dancer Roman Mejia taking on Prodigal Son for the first time. “Honoring ballet history through the artists of today is a hallmark of our Festival,” says Woetzel, who himself danced for many years as a principal dancer at New York City Ballet. “In this very special UpClose performance audiences will be invited into the world of Balanchine, whose place in the development of classical ballet is unparalleled and ongoing.”

Mr. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century will be available for purchase (thanks to the Bookworm of Edwards) and a book signing with Homans will take place after the performance. This special UpClose program is supported by Tina & David Wilson and the Carol F. Storr Endowment for Classical Ballet. If you are interested in preserving classical dance with a gift to the Carol F. Storr Endowment for Classical Ballet, please contact a member of the VVF philanthropy team at (970) 777-2015.

Get carried away in Vail, where adventure meets luxury. While you’re here, take in our unique dining, shopping and outdoor experiences. And come back to enjoy more events and performances throughout the summer. Relax, unwind and discover why Vail is the place where culture and mountains meet.

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