Contact: Stephanie Heston Phone: 785-383-7918 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Email: [email protected] Kick off your shoes and join Kansas Ballet for vacay vibes …
KANSAS BALLET’S 6th ANNUAL SUMMER SHOWCASE Presented with Funding From Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission and National Endowment for the Arts
JULY 28, 2018 | TOPEKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Peter and the Wolf Ballet: A Symphonic Fairy Tale for Children Featuring Guest Artists from Oklahoma City Ballet & The Washington Ballet 5:00 P.M. – 6:30 P.M.: Dinner, Select Wines & Beers 6:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.: Performance
Tickets: $35/Adult and $15/Child, available online: https://www.tututix.com/client/kansasballetacademy/
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Family-Friendly Fun — Beloved Childhood Favorite
Kansas Ballet’s Sixth Annual Summer Showcase will be presented at 6:30 p.m. at Topeka Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 28. From 5:00 p.m. until 6:15 p.m. guests will enjoy sumptuous pre-performance fare prepared by Aboud’s-Engroff Catering. The vibe will be relaxed and family-friendly. Adult ticket-holders may sample selections from and Norsemen Brewery and Crooked Post Winery. Chris Foster will entertain guests during dinner, while little ones will be delighted by Topeka Airheads, sponsored by AJ's Pizzeria.
The ballet performance centers on a childhood favorite, Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. The company will feature professional guest dancers Nicole Graniero and Corey Landolt of The Washington Ballet in D.C.; Alvin Tovstogray and Miki Kawamura of Oklahoma City Ballet; and the student dancers of Kansas Ballet Academy. Tickets are on sale online at https://www.tututix.com/client/kansasballetacademy/ or by calling TutuTix at 855-222-2849. The cost is $35/Adult and $15/Child. A portion of each ticket will be used to benefit Kansas Ballet’s community outreach programs.
VISITING ARTISTS / SUMMER INTENSIVE STUDY: The Summer Showcase is a culmination of three weeks of intensive study by students at Kansas Ballet Academy. Academy dancers train several hours per day, five days per week to prepare for the event, while they participate in special workshops and coaching sessions with the visiting artists. (See page 3 for Artist Bios.)
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TOPEKA: As part of our summer camp programming at Boys & Girls Clubs, campers will be introduced to the story of Peter & the Wolf, and invited to attend the Summer Showcase as special guests of Kansas Ballet. Participating clubs include Tecumseh North, Tecumseh South, Northern Hills, Montara, and the Teen Center.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Kansas Ballet’s Visiting Artist program is funded in part by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC), which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. We are deeply grateful for additional support provided by these Summer Showcase partners: Parrish Hotels, Capital City Bank, Capitol Federal Foundation, Westar Energy, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.
PRE-PERFORMANCE FUNDRAISER: Proceeds benefit Kansas Ballet’s Dream Big programming, serving area youth in partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Topeka, Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center, USD 501, YWCA, and many other organizations throughout Shawnee County and Northeast Kansas. (Continued on next page)
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Kansas Ballet Guest Artists | The Washington Ballet
Nicole Graniero of New York City is in her third season with The Washington Ballet in D.C. She studied at Studio Maestro, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Stiefel and Stars and Chautauqua Ballet Festival. Graniero performed with American Ballet Theatre as a studio company member from 2004-2006, then as a full-company member until 2015. She recently returned as a guest artist for the 2016 summer season. She was sponsored by the Georgia Hiden Charitable Foundation and danced many featured roles in ballets choreographed by Ashton, Balanchine, Kudelka, Kylián, Millepied, Morris, Petipa, Ratmansky, Taylor, Tharp and Tippet. Graniero has performed as a guest artist/company member with Craig Salstein's Intermezzo Dance Company; Benjamin Millepied’s Danse Concertantes; Stiefel and Stars; Tom Gold Dance as well as in galas all over the world. She was featured in the 2014 short film On a Grass Field. Her repertoire with The Washington Ballet includes principal roles in Septime Webre's The Nutcracker, George Balanchine's Theme and Variations and featured roles in works by Mauro de Candia, William Forsythe, Edwaard Liang, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Trey McIntyre and Septime Webre.
Corey Landolt of New Jersey is in his ninth season with The Washington Ballet Company after dancing for three seasons with TWB’s Studio Company. He began classical ballet training at the Academy of Ballet in Berlin, New Jersey under David Gallagher. During his training, he performed with Ballet New Jersey in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and a full-length production of La Bayadère. Landolt later attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts to study under Warren Conover, Melissa Hayden and Kee Juan Han. In 2004, he was selected for the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company Associate Program (now the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT) where he danced in Jessica Lang’s world premiere at ABT’s Studio Company 10th Anniversary Gala. Notable roles with The Washington Ballet include Sanguinic in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments; lead in Balanchine’s Theme and Variations; Birbanto in Le Corsaire; Benvolio in Romeo + Juliet and several premieres by Septime Webre, Edwaard Liang and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
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Kansas Ballet Guest Artists | Oklahoma City Ballet
Alvin Tovstogray began his training at the age of eight and in 2008 graduated from Dnipro State Choreographic School under Viacheslav Volkov. From 2008 to 2010 Mr. Tovstogray studied at San Francisco Ballet School under Parrish Maynard and Jorge Esquel. He then spent two seasons with The Washington Ballet’s Studio Company. Alvin’s repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, August Bournonville, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, Twyla Tharp, Helen Pickett, Ma Cong, Stanton Welch, Septime Webre, Matthew Neenan, Amy Seiwert, Sarah Tallman, Brian Enos, Yui Sato, Jacob Sparso, Artistic Director Robert Mills and others. Mr. Tovstogray has received multiple awards at International Ballet competitions including 3rd place at the Istanbul International Ballet Competition (2010), Bronze medal at World Ballet Competition Orlando (2011), and Gold medal at Tanzolymp (2012). Mr. Tovstogray joined the company in 2012, was named Soloist in 2014 and promoted to Principal in 2015. His favorite roles with Oklahoma City Ballet include ‘Romeo’ in Mills’ Romeo and Juliet, ‘That’s Life’ from Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, ‘Albrecht’ in Giselle. and ‘Prince Siegfried’ inSwan Lake. He is an American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum. He teaches ballet technique at The Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet for pre-professionals as well as open classes for adults.
Miki Kawamura began her training at the age ten in Sapporo, Japan. She continued trained at Pacific Dance Arts in Vancouver, Canada before joining Eugene Ballet/Ballet Idaho. Ms. Kawamura also danced with City Ballet of San Diego and Charleston Ballet Theatre. With Oklahoma City Ballet she has danced Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Principal in George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie and August Bournonville’s Napoli Divertissements, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Caroline in Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden, Belle in Beauty and the Beast , Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Ariel in The Little Mermaid, the title roles in Paquita, Carmen, Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet, Giselle, and Dennis Spaight’s Scheherazade – 1001 Arabian Nights, works from Gerald Arpino, Margo Sappington, Nicolo Fonte, Twyla Tharp, Stanton Welch, Paul Vasterling, and Jiří Kylián. She has also created roles in new works by Jessica Lang, Alan Hineline, Matthew Neenan, Ma Cong, Brian Enos, and Oklahoma City Ballet Artistic Director Robert Mills. She is an ABT Certified Teacher in Primary through level 5 of the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum. She was awarded “2014 Artist of the Year” presented by the Paseo Arts Association.
Kansas Ballet Company is a non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage new standards of artistic excellence in the art of classical ballet, and to educate, uplift and inspire our community through quality ballet performances. Visit www.kansasballet.com or call 785-383-7918 for more information. Tax-deductible donations to Kansas Ballet Company can be sent to 5240 SW 17th St, Topeka, KS 66604.
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