Damian Woetzel, Festival Director

Since September 2006, Damian Woetzel has been the Director of the Vail International Dance Festival. Under Woetzel’s direction, the festival has been widely acclaimed for its innovation and growth as a nationally recognized summer showcase for dance; featuring such performances as the world-wide debut of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, Savion Glover, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, as well as musical collaborations with Philip Glass, Wendy Sutter and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

Woetzel is the 2008 Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence of the Aspen Institute, a role in which he has conducted presentations on a variety of arts related topics and has participated in forums and exchanges examining Cultural Diplomacy and Arts Education among other subjects. Woetzel is also active as a producer of dance and music performances around the world.

Woetzel was a Principal Dancer at the New York City Ballet (NYCB) from 1989 until June of 2008, where he originated roles in ballets by Jerome Robbins, Eliot Feld, Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp and Susan Stroman, among others. In addition to his work at NYCB, Woetzel has performed regularly as an international guest artist, starring with many of the world’s great ballet companies including American Ballet Theatre and the Kirov Ballet, and has also frequently led his own touring productions in performances around the world. Woetzel has choreographed a number of ballets for New York City Ballet and other dance companies, and was Artistic Director of the School of Ballet at the New York State Summer School for the Arts from 1994-2007. Among other awards, he has received the Dance Magazine Award, the Choo San Goh Award for new choreography, and awards from New York State in recognition of his contributions to arts education.

Woetzel holds a Master in Public Administration Degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and in the fall of 2007, he was appointed to the new Harvard Task Force on the Arts. Woetzel is a charter member of the National Committee on U.S. China Relations’ Young Leaders Forum, dedicated to forming bonds between future business and cultural leaders from the United States and China. Since 2004, Woetzel has been a member of the Artists Committee of the Kennedy Center Honors, he is a nominating judge for the Astaire Awards, and he will be a juror for the Princess Grace Awards in 2009. Woetzel also serves on the Board of New York City Center.