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NEW YORK CITY BALLET STAR DAMIAN WOETZEL NAMED NEW DIRECTOR FOR VAIL INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL VAIL, Colorado— The new Artistic Director for the Vail International Dance Festival will most certainly be a familiar figure to both festival organizers and audiences as New York City Ballet star Damian Woetzel has agreed to take the reins of the summer dance program for the 2008 season and serve as Artistic Advisor for the 2007 season. Woetzel will continue to dance as a principal dancer at New York City Ballet and as a guest artist nationally and internationally. “We are thrilled to have Damian join forces with the Foundation for the Vail International Dance Festival,” explained Ceil Folz, president of the Vail Valley Foundation, “Not only is he one of the preeminent dancers in the world today, but he is also familiar with the festival, having performed here numerous times, dating back to 1993. We are very excited to have his unique vision and leadership at the helm of the Festival.” Born in Boston, Woetzel began studying ballet at age 4, joined New York City Ballet in 1985, and has been a principal dancer since 1989.He dances all the important classical roles as well as the Balanchine repertoire, and he has appeared as a guest with many of the world’s great companies, including American Ballet Theatre, the Kirov Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera. Woetzel has choreographed ballets for the New York City Ballet and New York City Opera among other companies, and has been the director of the ballet program at the New York State Summer School for the Arts since 1994.He also serves on the Artists Committee for the Kennedy Center Honors. In addition to his artistic activities, Woetzel is currently finishing a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and is a charter member of the National Committee on U.S./China Relations “Young Leaders Forum”, which is dedicated to forming bonds between the future leaders of the two countries. Woetzel first came to the Vail Valley in 1993 as part of a one-time dance showcase entitled the International and American Evening of Dance, a collection of principal couples and soloists, which included dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Ballet du Nord, France and the Miami City Ballet. Fourteen years later, the International Evenings are the signature performances of the Dance Festival, and fittingly, Mr.Woetzel performed as a star of the 2006 International Evenings. “Having seen the Festival evolve over time is a great advantage,” offered Woetzel, “but I hope to bring a fresh and objective view to the overall planning. Over the years I have enjoyed the friendship of many of the Festival’s supporters, and I have always looked forward to my appearances in Vail.I now look forward to working with the Foundation to help move the Festival to a new level of future development.” Woetzel will replace Katherine Kersten, who leaves the Dance Festival following the conclusion of the 2006 event, to pursue other career opportunities after 15 years at the helm of the program. The Vail International Dance Festival was born during the summer of 1989 when the Vail Valley Foundation was able to coordinate a last minute replacement set of dates for the Bolshoi Ballet Academy of Moscow at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.The company was in the midst of its first American tour in almost 20 years. The 2007 Vail International Dance Festival is scheduled for July 29 through August 12 at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail and the Vilar Center for the Arts in Beaver Creek. The Vail International Dance Festival is a project of the Vail Valley Foundation.For further information on the Festival, visit www.vaildance.org or contact the Foundation at (970) 949-1999.
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