Celebrating the Life and Work of Ilona Copen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL BALLET COMPETITION GALA TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE AND WORK OF CO-FOUNDER ILONA COPEN ON MARCH 22 AND HONOR JEAN-PIERRE BONNEFOUX AND PATRICIA MCBRIDE AS RECIPIENTS OF THE FIRST ILONA COPEN AWARD BEING PRESENTED BY VIRGINIA JOHNSON, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM

 

Featuring performances by artists from **American Ballet Theatre, **Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, **Dance Theater of Harlem Ensemble, **Joffrey Ballet/Chicago, **Limón Dance Company, **New Jersey Ballet, and **North Carolina Dance Theatre.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:30 PM
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South, New York, NY
Tickets to Champagne Reception, Performance and post-Gala Dinner/Dance available from $500
Contact: (212) 956-1520 or purchase online: nyibcgala.charityhappenings.org
Tickets to Performance Only: $45; $15 for students/seniors
Contact: (212) 352-3101 or purchase online: skirballcenter.nyu.edu/calendar/nyibc

Dancers from prominent ballet and contemporary dance companies will unite on March 22 in a gala performance at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts to pay tribute to The Life and Work of Ilona Copen, the late Co-Founder and Executive Director Emerita of the New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC). A longtime major figure on New York’s dance scene, Ms. Copen was a founding Board member of the World Dance Alliance (WDA), Board member for several dance companies, and an invaluable advisor, mentor, and friend to individual artists and innumerable institutions.

A highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the first Ilona Copen Award. The recipients Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride are the artistic leaders that helm the North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte, North Carolina, where more recently a new performing arts and administrative facility opened and was named in their honor.

Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride were selected by the Artistic Board of NYIBC as the first honorees to be acknowledged for their contributions toward nurturing the lives and artistry of young dancers, as well as the world of dance at large. Virginia Johnson, founding company member and Artistic Director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, will present the first Ilona Copen Award to its recipients.
Members of the NYIBC Artistic Board for the 2011 Gala are Frank Andersen, Julio Bocca, Eleanor D’Antuono (Artistic Director of NYIBC), Frederic Franklin, Paul McRae, John Meehan, Ben Stevenson, Denise Jackson Sutherland, and Violette Verdy. The Executive Director of NYIBC is Marcia De La Garza.

PROGRAM

José Manuel Carreño (NYIBC Alumn 1987) Ave Maria…… Igal Perry
Carreño, longtime principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre, was a Gold Medalist
at the second NYIBC in 1987
Alessandra Ball & Addul Manzano Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux…… George Balanchine
North Carolina Dance Theatre
George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Ana Luiza Luizi & Junio Teixeira (NYIBC Alumn 2005) Meditation…… Vladimir Salimbaev
New Jersey Ballet
Flavia Garcia & DaVon Doane Diana and Acteon…… Agrippina Vaganova
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Matthew Rushing A Song for You…… Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Roxane D’Orleans Juste Spanish Dance…… Daniel Nagrin
Limón Dance Company
Victoria Jaiani (NYIBC Alumna 2003) The Dying Swan…… Michel Fokine
Joffrey Ballet
* * *

Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux
Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, born in France, began his dance training at age 10 at the School of the Paris Opera Ballet. At age 14, Bonnefoux joined the company of the Paris Opera Ballet, and by age 21, he was named Danseur Etoile, a title reserved for the most distinguished dancers in France. Bonnefoux went on to dance with the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballets before being invited by George Balanchine to dance with New York City Ballet. After 10 years with NYCB, Bonnefoux dedicated himself to work as an artistic director, choreographer, and teacher. Bonnefoux served as chair and artistic director of the ballet department in the School of Music at Indiana University. Since 1983, he has been the artistic director for the ballet company and school at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. Bonnefoux joined North Carolina Dance Theatre as artistic director in 1996 and named president in 2003. His wife, former New York City Ballet star Patricia McBride, serves as associate artistic director. Together they received a lifetime achievement award from The Arts & Science Council of Charlotte, N.C. in 2008. Bonnefoux added new works to Dance Theatre’s repertoire, attracted talented dancers from all over the world, and championed the effort to build a new facility for Dance Theatre. In June of 2010, Dance Theatre opened the Patricia McBride & Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance.

Patricia McBride

Patricia McBride began her dance training in her hometown of Teaneck, N.J., before receiving a scholarship to the School of American Ballet. An apprenticeship with the New York City Ballet followed and shortly thereafter McBride was asked to join the corps de ballet. Within a year, George Balanchine choreographed a solo for her in The Figure in the Carpet. McBride attained
Facebook: facebook.com/NYIBC Twitter: NYIBC_Inc
the rank of soloist in 1960. By 1961 at age 18, she became the youngest principal dancer in NYCB. She spent three decades with NYCB and danced for five American presidents. Balanchine created leading roles for her in many memorable ballets, including Harlequinade, Tarantella, the “Rubies” section of Jewels, Brahms-Shoenberg Quartet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Coppélia, Union Jack, Who Cares? and Vienna Waltzes. Jerome Robbins choreographed principal roles for her in his Dances at a Gathering, In the Night, The Goldberg Variations, Dybbuk, Opus 19, and The Four Seasons. Her years of performing under Balanchine’s direction have gained her the expertise and approval necessary to restage many of his master works. McBride joined North Carolina Dance Theatre in 1996 as associate artistic director. She also serves as a master teacher at N.C. Dance Theatre’s School of Dance and Chautauqua Ballet’s School of Dance. McBride is married to Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and they have two children.

Ilona Copen

During her lifetime, Ilona Copen worked tirelessly to unite dancers throughout the world and to encourage and educate young dancers. She was deeply committed to inspiring and changing their lives. A wise and experienced leader, she combined professional excellence with warmth and generosity. It was always her hope that NYIBC participants would return home better dancers and better people because of their experience. In addition to her full-time position as executive director of NYIBC, Copen was a founding board member of the World Dance Alliance. As president of the International Theatre Institute’s International Dance Committee, Copen created an extraordinary annual celebration, International Dance Day at UNESCO. She also served as an invaluable board member and advisor to numerous dance companies and artists. Giving back was at the core of everything she did.

 

New York International Ballet Competition
Educating, mentoring and providing performance and career advancement opportunities since 1984.
Founded by ILONA COPEN and IGOR YOUSKEVITCH
New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC) is a three-week intensive professional training, performance and artistic education program for forty-eight talented young dancers from countries around the world, all of whom receive full scholarships. NYIBC nurtures promising dancers aged 17 to 24 from all ethnicities, providing them with an exceptional opportunity to completely focus on training to perform at their highest artistic level. The contemporary duet form and the classical pas de deux are the core of the repertory NYIBC participants learn from world renowned coaches under high standards of fairness. In addition, NYIBC attracts hiring artistic directors and choreographers who are confident that a dancer who has been mentored and trained at NYIBC can endure the rhythm of work and life in a ballet company. Beyond having access to extraordinary performance and career advancement opportunities, during their time at NYIBC the dancers form a versatile international company in which lifelong associations are born. For more information, visit the NYIBC website: http://www.nyibc.org

Press Contact
Audrey Ross,  212-877-3399
audreyrosspub@aol.com


The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at NYU
The Skirball Center is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for NYU and Lower Manhattan. The programs of the Skirball Center reflect NYU’s mission as an international center of scholarship, defined by excellence and innovation and shaped by an intellectually rich and diverse environment. Since 2003, the 860-seat Center has provided a unique venue for enhancing a sense of community while continuing the Greenwich Village traditions of creativity and artistic discovery with a broad range of compelling performance events at affordable ticket prices. Led by Executive Producer Jay Oliva (President Emeritus, NYU) and Director Michael Harrington, a natural and vital aspect of the Center’s mission is to build young adult audiences for the future of live performance. skirballcenter.nyu.edu