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OZSOY SCHOOL OF BALLET |
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Newsletter
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Newsletter
CELEBRATING 21 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS!! VOTED BEST SOUTHWEST DANCE SCHOOL 2010 Final costume payments are due by January 14, 2012 -- NO EXCEPTIONS. Two former students, Stephanie Stewart and McKinley Willis, both home for the holidays from UTA and OU, respectively, have been taking classes the last couple of weeks. It is always so nice to have our kids visit when they are in town. We are excited about American Ballet Theatre coming to Dallas on January 20 and 21, 2012. Former student, Daniel Mantei Keene, will be dancing both nights. Tickets are going very fast, so if you want to see a fabulous mixed bill (and Daniel), you need to order your tickets now. The recital date is Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at Cedar Hill High School Auditorium. Stage blocking rehearsal (no costumes) is Friday, May 25, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. Rachel McSween will once again be teaching Jazz and Modern classes for our studio with help from Alicia Peques. Thank you, Rachel and Alicia. Daniel Mantei (Keene) was here for Thanksgiving on break from American Ballet Theatre and taught a master class for our Level IV and V students, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you, Daniel. We always love seeing you. Mr. Ozsoy's friend, Engin Ertan, a photographer from Turkey, was in the studio for a couple of days taking pictures of our students. Hopefully, we will have copies of those photos soon to place on the website. The recital went very well this year. We are forever grateful to the people that made it such a success -- either backstage or in the lobby. Our parents are awesome. The folks at Cedar Hill High School are fantastic, as always. We were especially lucky to have had Pavel Perebillo from Stage Corps to do the lighting for the stage. Thank you. Mr. Ozsoy will be doing his usual summer stints in Shreveport at Louisiana Dance Foundation, Plano at KJ Dance and New York at Joffrey Ballet School, with the added bonus of Mexico City at the Compania Nacional de Danza teaching company classes. Our dancers will be busy this summer at various summers programs: Valarie Cardenas will be attending Louisiana Dance Foundation in Shreveport, LA; Rachel Perry will be attending American Ballet Theatre's program in Austin, Katarina Jakimier will be attending ABT's New York program; Layla Brent and Tiara Edwards will be attending Texas Ballet Theatre; Destiny Goodman and Jordan Willis will be attending Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and Destiny will also be attending Metropolitan Ballet's summer program; Mykaela Johnson will be attending Dallas Contemporary Ballet and Black Academy of Dance; Llynsie Iglehart and ShirJuanda Woodson will be attending Debbie Allen's program in Los Angeles, while Jordan, Mykaela, Caitlyn Jones, Monique Barrett, Bria Morgan and Scarlett McGraw will be attending Debbie Allen's program in Dallas; and McKinley Willis will be attending American Dance Festival in Durham, NC. Our 2011 seniors, ShirJuanda Woodson will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University and McKinley Willis will be attending Oklahoma University. They will both be continuing their dance studies. We were fortunate to be able to see former student Daniel Mantei Keene perform in ABT's production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Metropolitan Opera House on July 5, 2010. It was wonderful to see Daniel dancing on such a magnificent stage in such an outstanding production. Daniel looked wonderful, as usual. When we were visiting with Daniel, he was telling us how he was auditioning to choreograph a piece for ABT later that week. Well, Daniel was selected to be one of four dancers, out of 17 that auditioned (including a couple of principal dancers), to choreograph a piece for American Ballet Theatre. The choreography will have its World Premiere at The Innovation Initiative, a one-night-only benefit for ABT at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center on October 12, 2010. We are so excited for Daniel to have this opportunity. He has always wanted to choreograph and to do so on his fellow company dancers is an amazing accomplishment. We are so proud of you, Daniel. Here is a link to see what he is doing: http://www.abt.org/contactus/enews/innovationinitiative.asp The recital was a resounding success. We are so proud of our students and teachers. They did an outstanding job and had a great performance. Thank you to everyone who helped back stage and out front!! We have several senior girls leaving us in 2010. As of this posting, this is where they will be headed: Claire Hackman will be attending Notre Dame in the fall. She was also accepted into Joffrey Ballet's Summer Workshop in New York; Geneinde' Taylor-Edwards was awarded scholarships to Austin College and Baylor University and will attend Drexel University. Sarah Hammonds was accepted into UT Austin, TCU, Cornish and Long Island University, but will be attending Sam Houston State University majoring in dance and business. Stephanie Stewart was also accepted into several colleges, including SMU, and summer dance programs, and will be attending Boston University. We are so proud of our seniors! Mr. Ozsoy will be doing his usual 2 weeks in Shreveport and 8 weeks at Joffrey New York. * * * Alianna Whiteaker-Chudecke, our 2009 graduating senior, is having a great first year at Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania. She had an opportunity to sing in New York City over the Christmas holidays. Then she auditioned for and got the lead in her school's production of "Sweeney Todd." She will also be performing in the Opera Pops and Sizzles in March as Mimi from "La Boheme" and Caro Nome from "Rigoletto." I certainly hope she is still able to throw in some dance classes with her busy schedule. We are so proud of Alianna. * * * Karen Nalley-Raines moved to the Texas Hill Country in October, 2008. She has been an integral part of Ozsoy School of Ballet for many years and we will miss her very, very much. We hope you got to say goodbye to "Ms. Karen". Ashley Schlachter will be replacing Karen as the pre-ballet teacher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Brandon Addicks will be teaching the beginner jazz class on Wednesdays.
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It's hard to believe that Claire Allen has graduated from SUNY Purchase this May. Wow! She auditioned and was selected from hundreds of applicants to become a member of Yuri Zhukov's new group of nine dancers performing a new piece in San Francisco. They are hoping for funding to continue the group past the summer to form a new company. What a wonderful opportunity for Claire to be part of something so new and exciting. We couldn't be more proud. Daniel Mantei (Keene) returned to American Ballet Theatre in New York in December, 2007 after a short stint at The National Ballet of Canada. At last report, he is very happy to be back living and working in New York City and ABT. Mr. Ozsoy had an eventful first week in New York during the summer of 2007. On Tuesday night, he got tickets from Daniel Mantei to ABT's performance of Romeo & Juliet. He's so happy he got to see Daniel perform again with ABT before he moves on to the National Ballet of Canada at the end of July. On Wednesday afternoon, he accompanied 30 students from Joffrey Ballet School's summer program to a seminar and lecture on George Balanchine, after which the group got to go to a performance of New York City Ballet to see first-hand Mr. Balanchine's choreography. Mr. Ozsoy also attended a different New York City Ballet matinee program on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday night, he was lucky enough to get tickets to the second round of the New York International Ballet Competition. While backstage, he ran into Donna Davis, mother of former student Elizabeth Davis who is now attending Fordham University in New York. Well lo and behold, Elizabeth was working as Assistant to the Coordinator for the competition and there were squeals of delight when her mother called her to tell her to come backstage for a surprise. ******************************************* Daniel Keene was one of the dancers at a Night of Stars Gala in Mobile, Alabama on November 1, 2003 with other members of ABT. Also on the bill was Rasta Thomas, among others. August 2003 -- Daniel Keene will be dancin' with the big boys come October. He was awarded a contract with American Ballet Theatre in New York beginning in October, 2003. Daniel will continue with ABT's Studio Company until October. Way to go, Daniel. We couldn't be more proud of you!! Our Level V-VI students performed with Louisiana Dance Foundation at LA: Dance Alive! at the historic Strand Theater in Shreveport, Louisiana on Saturday, May 3, 2003. It is always a thrill for our kids to be able to perform with Carol Anglin and her company. Mr. Ozsoy is an artistic advisor to Louisiana Dance Foundation and is on faculty at their summer intensive workshop. March 2003 -- Another update on Daniel -- He is now traveling to Belfast, Ireland and London, England with ABT II. That is the studio company for American Ballet Theatre in New York. We wish Daniel and the company well in their travels. We ran into a long-absent student, Lauren Lettenmaier. She is attending UTA and is still dancing. She is performing with a jazz group in the Dallas area and is still as sweet as ever. November 2002 -- Daniel Keene came in town for Thanksgiving for only two days. Of course, while he was here he talked Mr. Ozsoy into giving him a class. It's an addiction. Daniel has been performing all over New York with ABT II and will be dancing with Hartford Ballet in their Nutcracker this season. Our teacher, Debbie Brynteson, has moved with her husband and the twins to Denver, Colorado. Our kinder and elementary students will miss her very much, as do the staff and the other students at the school. Debbie has been a part of Ozsoy's everyday life for several years. She has been a tremendous help to all of us. We wish the family the best of luck in Denver. Ashley Stirrat, a former student, is getting married during the Thanksgiving weekend. We wish her a long and happy marriage! Congratulations. January, 2002 -- Mr. Ozsoy has just returned from a triumphant trip to Turkey where he taught master classes and coached dancers at the Ankara State Ballet Company where he danced as a principal dancer. The dancers loved him and he had a great time seeing the new generation of dancers and he was quite impressed. December, 2001 -- Daniel Keene came in for the holidays from London where he is a scholarship student at the Royal Ballet School. He is still as impressive as when he left here for Great Brittain in July. His time home was too short and he didn't get to spend enough time with Mr. Ozsoy who was in Turkey when Daniel got home. To the delight of his former classmates, Daniel taught two classes while Mr. Ozsoy was gone. The studio is still in one piece, so I guess they enjoyed it. He is returning to London on January 5 to begin rehearsals for "Swan Lake" with the Royal Birmingham Ballet Company. He also danced in their "Nutcracker" before coming home for the holidays. It seems London agrees with him and he is enjoying his time there.
© 2003 Ozsoy School of Ballet |
