MEDIA CONTACT: Sabrina McLaughlin, Marketing Consultant 850-712-0538 / [email protected] Northwest Florida Ballet opens season with World Ballet Stars on Sept. 30 featuring eleven dancers from five countries FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – September 5, 2017 – Fort Walton Beach, Fla. – The Northwest Florida Ballet (NFB) opens its forty-eighth season at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center on Sat., Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. with World Ballet Stars, featuring eleven dancers representing five different countries. World Ballet Stars will feature international guest artists Joseph Gatti and Danielle Diniz; Cervilio Amador and Chisako Oga of Cincinnati Ballet; Arian Molina and Dayesi Torriente of Pennsylvania Ballet; Daniel Ulbricht of New York City Ballet; Brooklyn Mack and Ayano Kimura of Washington Ballet; Lasha Khozashvili and Seo Hye Han of Boston Ballet. The production will electrify audiences with both classical and contemporary works by master choreographers all in one action packed performance. The World Ballet Stars classical repertoire will include Le Corsaire Trio with music by Ricardo Drigo and choreography by Marius Petipa; the Black Swan Pas de Deux from Swan Lake with music by Peter Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa; the Wedding Pas de Deux from Coppelia with music by Leo Delibes and choreography by Alicia Alonzo and the Wedding Pas de Deux from Don Quixote with music by Ludwig Minkus and choreography by Marius Petipa. The production’s contemporary repertoire will feature Remix 03 with music by Phillip Glass and choreography by Viktor Kabaniaev; MJ Within set to a Michael Jackson compilation with choreography by Joseph Gatti; Niris with music by Lukas Vidal and choreography by Yury Yanowsk; Dueto with music by P. Frenklenda and choreography by Ely Regina Hernandez; Moses Supposes from Singin’ in the Rain with music by Adolph Green and Betty Comden and choreography by Lorin Lataro; Sing, Sing, Sing with music by Louis Prima, arranged by Benny Goodman and choreography by Daniel Ulbricht and Wunderland with music by Phillip Glass and choreography by Edward Liang. “We are so excited to kick off our 48th Season with this performance of the worlds best classical Ballet dancers! Many of these dancers are medal winners from prestigious international ballet competitions and are also principal dancers from some of America’s best professional ballet companies. We are particularly thrilled to have New York City Ballet’s Daniel Ulbricht return to our area along with Boston Ballet’s Seo Hye Han and Washington Ballet’s Brooklyn Mack who are performing with us for the first time, ” said NFB Artistic Director & CEO Todd Eric Allen. New York City Ballet’s Daniel Ulbricht is a Florida native and returning for the second time in two years to perform on the Emerald Coast. Born in St. Petersburg, he was invited at the age of 16 to continue his training at the School of American Ballet (SAB). As the official school of New York City Ballet, Ulbricht rose through the ranks becoming a soloist with New York City Ballet in 2005 and by 2007 he was named a principal dancer. During his time with the New York City Ballet, he has danced featured roles in a number of Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, and Wheeldon ballets including George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, Tarantella, Stars and Stripes, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mozartiana, Nutcracker, Symphony in 3, The Steadfast Tin Soldier: Jerome Robbins’s Fancy Free, Interplay, Four Seasons; and Peter Martins’s Jeu de Cartes, Hallelujah Junction, Eight More, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo + Juliet among many others. Ulbricht has also danced Tarantella at the 2004 Kennedy Center Honors to celebrate the Balanchine Centenary. He has also performed at a number of national and international festivals and galas. Ulbricht is a guest teacher at the School of American Ballet, Ballet Academy East, as well as, teaching at a number of well-known national dance schools, private schools, and universities throughout the United States. He is currently the Artistic Advisor of Manhattan Youth Ballet and the Artistic Director of New York State Summer School for the Arts in Saratoga Springs, NY. He first performed with NFB last year in “Stars of American Ballet”, a touring group focusing on high art, education and outreach. He is also the founder and director of the group. Boston Ballet’s Seo Hye Han is making her debut appearance with NFB this season. A native of Seoul, Korea she began learning ballet at the age of eight and entered the prestigious Korean National University of the Arts in 2005 when she was only 16 years old. Upon graduation Universal Ballet in Korea recruited Han where she danced for three years. She would later join Boston Ballet in 2013 after winning the gold medal at the Boston International Ballet Competition. She was promoted to second soloist in 2014, soloist in 2015 and eventually principal dancer in 2016. In January 2014 Han also graced the cover of Dance Magazine, one of the country’s most influential trade publication for dance. Her repertoire with Boston Ballet has included roles as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. She has also performed in Balanchine’s Serenade, Jewels, Coppelia, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, Theme and Variations and Kammerermusik No. 2. Han has danced in a number of other brilliant productions, including: Chroma, Onegin, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Bach Chello Suites and Resonance just to name a few. As a principal dancer with the Washington Ballet and guest principal dancer with the English National Ballet, Mack is also making is inaugural appearance on the Emerald Coast. He began his dance training at age 12 with the Pavlovich Dance School under Radenko Pavlovich and Milena Leben before receiving a scholarship to study at the Kirov Academy of Ballet. After graduating from Kirov, Mack then apprenticed with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and later joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company and spent three seasons as a principal dancer with Orlando Ballet. Some of Mack’s most notable accomplishments include the Senior Silver Medal at the 2006 Jackson International Ballet Competition in Mississippi, the 2007 Princess Grace Fellowship Award, the Senior Silver Medal at the 2009 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, the Marius Liepa Prize at the 2011 Boston International Ballet Competition; the Silver Medal at the 2011 Korean International Dance Competition, the Gold Medal at the 2012 Boston international Ballet Competition, winner of the 2012 Istanbul Grand Prix and the gold medal at the 2012 International Ballet Competition in Bulgaria. During his career Mack has been featured on ABC, NBC, NPR and in Ebony Magazine. He was also listed in the Grio’s Top 100 in 2014, and was named as a top “25 [dancers] to watch” by Dance Magazine in 2012. Mack is highly in demand as a guest principal dancer the world over. In 2016, he made his debut on three of the world's greatest stages, including the London Coliseum, the historic Bolshoi in Moscow and the historic Paris Opera ballet's Palais Garnier. “We are truly honored to have these artists with us performing an exciting repertoire spanning both the classical ballet and contemporary genres of dance. If you are a dance lover don’t miss this rare opportunity to see this amazing talent,” Allen said. Box office prices for adults are $35 each and $15 for children 12 and under. A special Mattie Kelly Production Package that includes World Ballet Stars in addition to NFB’s production of The Nutcracker in November and Peter Pan in March is also available. Tickets are on sale through the Mattie Kelly Arts Center website at www.MattieKellyArtsCenter.org or by calling the box office at 850-729-6000. World Ballet Stars is sponsored in part by VIP Destin Magazine and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. The Northwest Florida Ballet celebrates its 48th year as a regionally recognized semi-professional ballet company and school. In addition, NFB has developed the nationally acclaimed Académie – an integrated academic and dance education program serving 156 students from the third to eighth grade. In 2012 the NFB introduced the Pre-Professional Program – an intensive dance program for the 9th to 12th grade students preparing for a career in dance .The NFB is led by Artistic Director and CEO Todd Eric Allen, an area native. The NFB is funded in part by the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. ### .