Eliot Feld
Encyclopedia
Eliot Feld is an American modern ballet choreographer, performer and director.
in New York and studied at the School of American Ballet
and the New Dance Group
, as well as with Richard Thomas and Donald McKayle
. He performed as a child in George Balanchine
's original production of The Nutcracker
as the prince; and later with the companies of Mary Anthony, Pearl Lang
, and Sophie Maslow.
At sixteen he appeared on Broadway in West Side Story and was cast as Baby-John in the movie version of the musical
. Feld was sick with pneumonia during the filming of "Cool" in West Side Story, one of the hardest dances in the film. By twenty-five he broke away from American Ballet Theatre to form his own company, American Ballet Company. Feld used his new company to explore a variety of dance genres. He appeared on television on The Garry Moore Show
and The Ed Sullivan Show
. His other Broadway credits include: I Can Get It for You Wholesale
and Fiddler on the Roof
.
Feld was inspired by Jewish material along with the influence of Martha Graham from his studies with her. His work has always been within the realm of ballet and he has always "loved the point shoe". His works are varied and contain anything from off beat music to aerobic excercises that have included somersaults, push-ups, sprints, leaps, and calisthenics.
Feld has choreographed 140 ballets since 1967. His three most recent ballets premiered at the Joyce Theater in New York on March 25, 2009: Dust, Radiance and The Spaghetti Ballet.
Feld works have been performed by: American Ballet Company, American Ballet Theatre
, Atlanta Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov
, Ballet Tech, Boston Ballet
, Feld Ballets/NY, The Joffrey Ballet, John Curry
Skating Company, Kids Dance, London Festival Ballet, National Ballet of Canada
, New York City Ballet
, The New York City Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet
, Richmond Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, San Francisco Ballet
, among others.
In 1974, Feld began a ballet company now known as Ballet Tech. Today, Ballet Tech’s activities include MANDANCE PROJECT, the tuition-free New York City Public School for Dance, and Kids Dance, a pre-professional children’s group. Since its founding in 1978, the Ballet Tech school has auditioned 649,798 New York City public school students, and provided classes for 17,240 children.
Feld works in an atmosphere between modern dance and classical ballet. He uses aspects from both styles and continues to fuse them together in his work. " The down of one, the up of the other - both beauties attracted me, I think I've spent my choreographic life trying in some way to reconcile, cope, deal with these two elements."
In addition, with Cora Cahan, Feld founded The Joyce Theater
. Feld was also instrumental in the creation of The Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance & Theater at 890 Broadway in NYC.
Feld has been honored with numerous awards, including The John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
(1969), The Dance Magazine Award (1990), and an Honorary Doctorate degree from Juilliard (1991).
Life and career
Feld was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Alice (née Posner), a travel agent, and Benjamin Noah Feld, an attorney. Feld attended the High School of Performing ArtsHigh School of Performing Arts
The High School of Performing Arts, more formally known as The School of Performing Arts: A Division of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, informally known as "PA", was a public alternative high school in New York, New York, USA that existed from 1948 through...
in New York and studied 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...
and the New Dance Group
New Dance Group
New Dance Group, or more casually NDG, is a performing arts organization in New York City, USA.-History:New Dance Group was established in 1932 by a group of artists and choreographers dedicated to social change through dance and movement...
, as well as with Richard Thomas and Donald McKayle
Donald McKayle
Donald McKayle is an African American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and writer best known for creating socially conscious concert works during the 1950s and 60s that focus on expressing the human condition and more specifically, the black experience in America...
. He performed as a child in George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George 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...
's original production of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
as the prince; and later with the companies of Mary Anthony, Pearl Lang
Pearl Lang
Pearl Lang was an American dancer, choreographer and teacher renowned as an interpreter and propagator of the choreography style of Martha Graham, and also for her own longtime dance company, the Pearl Lang Dance Theater....
, and Sophie Maslow.
At sixteen he appeared on Broadway in West Side Story and was cast as Baby-John in the movie version of the musical
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
. Feld was sick with pneumonia during the filming of "Cool" in West Side Story, one of the hardest dances in the film. By twenty-five he broke away from American Ballet Theatre to form his own company, American Ballet Company. Feld used his new company to explore a variety of dance genres. He appeared on television on The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer, Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don...
and The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
. His other Broadway credits include: I Can Get It for You Wholesale
I Can Get It for You Wholesale
I Can Get It for You Wholesale is a musical with music and lyrics by Harold Rome and a book by Jerome Weidman based on his 1937 novel of the same title. It marked the Broadway debut of 19-year-old Barbra Streisand, who was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in...
and Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
.
Feld was inspired by Jewish material along with the influence of Martha Graham from his studies with her. His work has always been within the realm of ballet and he has always "loved the point shoe". His works are varied and contain anything from off beat music to aerobic excercises that have included somersaults, push-ups, sprints, leaps, and calisthenics.
Feld has choreographed 140 ballets since 1967. His three most recent ballets premiered at the Joyce Theater in New York on March 25, 2009: Dust, Radiance and The Spaghetti Ballet.
Feld works have been performed by: American Ballet Company, 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...
, Atlanta Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
, Ballet Tech, Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
, Feld Ballets/NY, The Joffrey Ballet, John Curry
John Curry
John Anthony Curry, OBE was a British figure skater. He was the 1976 Olympic and World Champion. He was famous for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating.-Early life:...
Skating Company, Kids Dance, London Festival Ballet, National Ballet of Canada
National Ballet of Canada
The National Ballet of Canada is Canada's largest ballet troupe. It was founded by Celia Franca in 1951 and is based in Toronto, Ontario. Based upon the unity of Canadian trained dancers in the tradition and style of England's Royal Ballet, The National is regarded as one of the premier classical...
, 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...
, The New York City Opera, 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...
, Richmond Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
, among others.
In 1974, Feld began a ballet company now known as Ballet Tech. Today, Ballet Tech’s activities include MANDANCE PROJECT, the tuition-free New York City Public School for Dance, and Kids Dance, a pre-professional children’s group. Since its founding in 1978, the Ballet Tech school has auditioned 649,798 New York City public school students, and provided classes for 17,240 children.
Feld works in an atmosphere between modern dance and classical ballet. He uses aspects from both styles and continues to fuse them together in his work. " The down of one, the up of the other - both beauties attracted me, I think I've spent my choreographic life trying in some way to reconcile, cope, deal with these two elements."
In addition, with Cora Cahan, Feld founded The Joyce Theater
Joyce Theater
The Joyce Theater is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea area of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The Joyce Theater Foundation, the organization founded in 1982 that operates the theater, also owns the Joyce SoHo dance center located in a former firehouse on Mercer...
. Feld was also instrumental in the creation of The Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance & Theater at 890 Broadway in NYC.
Feld has been honored with numerous awards, including The John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(1969), The Dance Magazine Award (1990), and an Honorary Doctorate degree from Juilliard (1991).
Further reading
- Percival, John. Modern Ballet. New York: Harmony Books, 1980.
- Chase's Calendar of Events 2007. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.