Charles Askegard
Encyclopedia
Charles Askegard was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began his dance training at the age of five with Loyce Houlton and the Minnesota Dance Theatre
. He continued his studies in Minneapolis until the age of 16, spending one summer at the School of American Ballet
in 1983
Mr. Askegard joined American Ballet Theatre
as a member of the corps de ballet in 1987, and was promoted to soloist in 1992. In 1997, he left ABT to join New York City Ballet
as a soloist and was promoted to principal the next year.
Mr. Askegard appeared in PBS' Live from Lincoln Center
broadcast, "New York City Ballet's Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography" in 2002, dancing in Them Twos and two years later in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast, “Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100,” in Vienna Waltzes
. He has been a guest artist with Pacific Northwest Ballet
, Ballet Etudes of South Florida, the Bavarian State Ballet, Philippine Ballet Theatre
, The Daring Project] and Stars of American Ballet. He also appeared in Fred Wiseman's documentary Ballet
.
Mr. Askegard danced his farewell performance the last day of the Fall 2011 season, Sunday, October 9th; the program consisted of the Diamonds pas de deux from Jewels, Episodes
, In Memory of ...
and Western Symphony
. He will be forming his own ballet company, Ballet Next.
Peter Martins
Christopher Wheeldon
George Balanchine
Jerome Robbins
Peter Martins
Eliot Feld
Minnesota Dance Theatre
The Minnesota Dance Theatre dance company and school in Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded by Loyce Houlton in 1962 as the Contemporary Dance Playhouse. Lise Houlton succeeded her mother as artistic director in 1995. Each holiday season MDT presents the ballet Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy...
. He continued his studies in Minneapolis until the age of 16, spending one summer at the School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
in 1983
Mr. Askegard joined American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
as a member of the corps de ballet in 1987, and was promoted to soloist in 1992. In 1997, he left ABT to join New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
as a soloist and was promoted to principal the next year.
Mr. Askegard appeared in PBS' Live from Lincoln Center
Live from Lincoln Center
Live From Lincoln Center is an ongoing series of musical performances produced by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with Thirteen/WNET in New York City....
broadcast, "New York City Ballet's Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography" in 2002, dancing in Them Twos and two years later in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast, “Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100,” in Vienna Waltzes
Vienna Waltzes
Vienna Waltzes is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to music by Johann Strauss, Jr., Franz Lehár and Richard Strauss:...
. He has been a guest artist with Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington in the United States. Founded in 1972 as part of the Seattle Opera and named the Pacific Northwest Dance Association, it broke away from the Opera in 1977 and took its current name in 1978. It is said to have the highest per...
, Ballet Etudes of South Florida, the Bavarian State Ballet, Philippine Ballet Theatre
Philippine Ballet Theatre
The Philippine Ballet Theatre is the pre-eminent classical ballet company in the Philippines. The Philippine Ballet Theatre was founded in 1987 out of an alliance of leading dance groups; it quickly won recognition as a resident ballet company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.The...
, The Daring Project] and Stars of American Ballet. He also appeared in Fred Wiseman's documentary Ballet
Ballet (film)
Ballet is a 1995 American documentary film directed by Frederick Wiseman. It portrays rehearsals, choreography, performances, business transactions, and other day to day life of the American Ballet Theater. Much of the footage dates from the 1992 season...
.
Mr. Askegard danced his farewell performance the last day of the Fall 2011 season, Sunday, October 9th; the program consisted of the Diamonds pas de deux from Jewels, Episodes
Episodes (ballet)
Episodes is a two-part ballet made by Martha Graham and George Balanchine to Anton von Webern's Symphony, Op. 21; Five Pieces, Op. 10; Concerto, Op. 24; and the Ricercata in Six Voices from Bach's Musical Offering which Webern had arranged in homage to Bach as Balanchine conceived the ballet as...
, In Memory of ...
In Memory of ...
In Memory of ... is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to Berg's Violin Concerto of 1935 , based on themes from Mahler, a Carpathian folk song and Bach's O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20...
and Western Symphony
Western Symphony
Western Symphony is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to music arranged by Hershy Kay. The premiere, Tuesday, September 7th, 1954, at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, was conducted by Leon Barzin and presented in practice clothes...
. He will be forming his own ballet company, Ballet Next.
Peter MartinsPeter MartinsPeter Martins is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was named man of the year by Danish American Society, 1980...
- Harmonielehre
- River of Light
- Swan LakeSwan Lake (Martins)Swan Lake is a two-act ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster in chief Peter Martins after Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov and George Balanchine to Tschaikovsky's eponymous music...
- Them Twos
- Thou SwellThou Swell (ballet)Thou Swell is a ballet made by New York City Ballet's balletmaster in chief Peter Martins to the songs of Richard Rodgers in an arrangement by Glen Kelly with orchestrations Don Sebesky: *"Where or When" *"Manhattan"...
- Viva Verdi
Christopher WheeldonChristopher WheeldonChristopher Wheeldon is an international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Born in Somerset, England, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at the age of 8. He attended the Royal Ballet School between the ages of 11 and 18...
- Carnival of the AnimalsCarnival of the Animals (ballet)Carnival of the Animals is a ballet made by Christopher Wheeldon on New York City Ballet to Camille Saint-Saëns' eponymous music. The narration was written by John Lithgow, who also performed in the premiere, which took place on Wednesday, May 14th, 2003, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln...
George BalanchineGeorge BalanchineGeorge Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
- Allegro Brillante
- ApolloApollo (ballet)Apollo is a ballet in two tableaux composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky. It was choreographed by balletmaster George Balanchine in 1928, the composer contributing the libretto...
- Brahms-Schoenberg QuartetBrahms-Schoenberg QuartetBrahms–Schoenberg Quartet is a ballet made by New York City Ballet founding balletmaster George Balanchine to Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg in 1937...
- Concerto BaroccoConcerto BaroccoConcerto Barocco is a ballet made on students at the School of American Ballet by George Balanchine, subsequently balletmaster and co-founder of New York City Ballet, to Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043...
- CoppéliaCoppéliaCoppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
- Cortège Hongrois
- Firebird
- The Four TemperamentsThe Four Temperaments (ballet)The Four Temperaments is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to music he commissioned from Paul Hindemith for the opening program of Ballet Society, immediate forerunner of City Ballet...
- Jewels: Diamonds
- IvesianaIvesianaIvesiana is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Charles Ives' Central Park in the Dark , The Unanswered Question , In the Inn , and In the Night shortly after the composer's death. The premiere took place September 14, 1954, at the City Center of...
- Kammermusik No. 2
- Liebeslieder WalzerLiebeslieder WalzerLiebeslieder Walzer is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Johannes Brahms' Liebeslieder, op. 52, 1869, and Neue Liebeslieder, op. 65, 1874, waltzes for piano duet and vocal quartet, set to poems by Daumer and Goethe...
- A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream (ballet)A Midsummer Night's Dream is a two-act ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for Shakespeare's play of the same name. In addition to the incidental music, Balanchine incorporated other Mendelssohn works into the ballet including Overtures to Athalie, Son...
- Monumentum pro GesualdoMonumentum pro GesualdoMonumentum pro Gesualdo is a ballet by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to eponymous music by Igor Stravinsky composed in honor of the 400th birthday of Don Carlo Gesualdo and consisting of Stravinsky's orchestrations of Don Carlo's madrigals...
- Movements for Piano and Orchestra
- The NutcrackerThe Nutcracker (Balanchine)Choreographer George Balanchine's production of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker has become the most famous stage production of the ballet performed in the U.S. The Balanchine Nutcracker uses the plot of the Alexandre Dumas, père version of E.T.A...
- OrpheusOrpheus (ballet)Orpheus is a ballet made by George Balanchine on Ballet Society, which he founded together with Lincoln Kirstein and of which he was ballet master, to eponymous music from 1947 by Igor Stravinsky, his frequent collaborator, with sets and costumes by Isamu Noguchi.The premiere took place on April...
- Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
- Scotch Symphony
- SerenadeSerenade (ballet)Serenade is a ballet by George Balanchine, subsequently co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet, to Tschaikovsky's 1880 Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48...
- Stars and StripesStars and Stripes (ballet)Stars and Stripes is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine in 1958, using original music by John Philip Sousa and performed in 5 acts . It lasts an average of 28 minutes...
- Stravinsky Violin Concerto
- Swan LakeSwan Lake (Balanchine)Swan Lake is a one-act ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine after Lev Ivanov to Tschaikovsky'seponymous music...
- Symphony in CSymphony in C (ballet)Symphony in C, originally titled Le Palais de Cristal, is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Bizet's Symphony in C , which he wrote at the age of 17 while studying with Charles Gounod at the Paris Conservatory...
- Tschaikovsky Pas de DeuxTschaikovsky Pas de DeuxThe Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to an excerpt from Swan Lake, Op. 20, Act III, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky...
- Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (ballet)Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 is a ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine on his earlier company, American Ballet Caravan to eponymous music from 1879–80. The premiere took place on May 29, 1941, at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro,...
- Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to Tschaikovsky's Suite No. 3 for Orchestra in G major, Op. 55...
- Union JackUnion Jack (ballet)Union Jack is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to traditional British tunes, hornpipe melodies and music-hall songs, ca...
- Vienna WaltzesVienna WaltzesVienna Waltzes is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to music by Johann Strauss, Jr., Franz Lehár and Richard Strauss:...
- Walpurgisnacht BalletWalpurgisnacht BalletWalpurgisnacht Ballet is a ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine for a 1975 production of Gounod's 1859 Faust at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra including the additional ballet music from 1869...
- Western SymphonyWestern SymphonyWestern Symphony is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to music arranged by Hershy Kay. The premiere, Tuesday, September 7th, 1954, at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, was conducted by Leon Barzin and presented in practice clothes...
- Who Cares?Who Cares? (ballet)Who Cares? is a ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to the songs of George Gershwin in an orchestration by Hershy Kay...
Jerome RobbinsJerome RobbinsJerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
- The Four SeasonsThe Four Seasons (ballet)The Four Seasons is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to excerpts from Giuseppe Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani , I Lombardi and Il Trovatore...
- Glass PiecesGlass PiecesGlass Pieces is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to Philip Glass' Rubric and Façades from Glassworks and excerpts from his opera Akhnaten. The premiere took place on Thursday, May 12th, 1983, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center...
- In Memory of ...In Memory of ...In Memory of ... is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to Berg's Violin Concerto of 1935 , based on themes from Mahler, a Carpathian folk song and Bach's O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20...
- In the NightIn the NightIn the Night is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to solo piano music of Chopin: The premiere took place on Thursday, January 29, 1970, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by Anthony Dowell and lighting by Jennifer Tipton...
- Ives, SongsIves, SongsIves, Songs is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to songs of Charles Ives: *The Children's Hour*Memories, Part A: Very Pleasant*Waltz*The Cage*The See'r*Two Little Flowers*At the River and Serenity*He is There...
Peter MartinsPeter MartinsPeter Martins is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was named man of the year by Danish American Society, 1980...
- Barber Violin ConcertoBarber Violin Concerto (ballet)The Barber Violin Concerto is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master in chief Peter Martins toSamuel Barber's Violin concerto, opus 14, 1941. The premiere was conducted by Robert Irving and took place on May 12, 1988 at the New York State Theater, as part of City Ballet's American...
- Fearful Symmetries
- Morgen
- Naïve and Sentimental MusicNaive and Sentimental MusicNaïve and Sentimental Music is a symphonic work by the composer John Adams. The title of the work alludes to an essay by Friedrich Schiller, "On Naïve and Sentimental Poetry", that contrasts a creative personality that creates art for its own sake versus one conscious of other purposes, such as...
- The Sleeping Beauty
- The Waltz Project
Eliot FeldEliot FeldEliot Feld is an American modern ballet choreographer, performer and director.-Life and career:Feld was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Alice , a travel agent, and Benjamin Noah Feld, an attorney...
- Intermezzo No. 1
- The Unanswered QuestionThe Unanswered Question (ballet)The Unanswered Question: Some Intimations of the American Composer Charles Ives is a ballet made by Eliot Feld to Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question, Calcium Light Night, Fugue in Four Keys, Mists, From the Housatonic at Stockbridge, Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Violin , Remembrance and An Old...
External links
- San Francisco Chronicle, Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press, October 10, 2011
- Time Out New York, Gia Kourlas, October 20 – November 19, 2011
- Grand Rapids Press, Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk, September 16, 2011