I asked Whitney Huell and Jenna Herrera to report to you on their Chicago Dancing Festival experience.

Fresh off the plane we arrived at the Seneca Hotel ready to hit the streets of Chicago.

We walked through Navy Pier and saw the beautiful Chicago Skyline.  Navy Pier is a big tourist attraction that has shopping, an indoor garden, a carousel and the largest Ferris wheel in the USA.

A few of the dancers went to the Museum of Contemporary Art to attend The Dancing Skyline Demonstration.  Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall of the New York City Ballet performed Liturgy choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performed a duet from Meadow choreographed by Lar Lubovitch.  Pictured are some of the dancers in front of the museum in the classic Serenade opening pose.

The company arrived at Millennium Park to perform at the Pritzker Pavilion.

During our break we walked around Millennium Park and posed in front of “The Bean”.

Haley Henderson Smith with Artists of Ballet West

The performance!

Silver Barkes, Christiana Bennett, Elizabeth McGrath, Emily Adams

A photo at the Post Performance Party at the home of Irwin and Harriet Ross.

Thanks Whitney and Jenna!

-Mark

Ballet West will travel to Chicago to take part in the CHICAGO DANCING FESTIVAL.  We will perform George Balanchine’s SERENADE at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion on Saturday, August 28th at 7:30pm.

Artists of Ballet West in George Balanchine's Serenade

Artists of Ballet West in Serenade

Christiana Bennett in Serenade

Chicago's Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park

A link to the Chicago Dancing Festival’s website   –  Home

-Mark

The company is back and looking good!   We’ve been working on SERENADE for the Chicago Dancing Festival, CARMINA BURANA for our fall program and THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS for the fall program.

Melancholic rehearsal with Silver Barkes, Jamie Lynn Schultz, Elizabeth Murphy, Kathryn Meeusen and Elizabeth Wheldon

-Mark

Sandra Jennings

Sandra Jennings was born in Boston and began her dance training with June Paxman of the Washington Ballet and later with E. Virginia Williams at Boston Ballet. Other teachers include Harriet Hoctor, Shanna Bereska, Margaret Gill, and her mother, Jacqueline Cronsberg. At the age of 13, she received Ford Foundation scholarship to SAB in New York. At the age of 15, Jennings performed Balanchine’s Tarantella at New York’s City Center. In 1974, Jennings was asked by George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet, where she worked with him for the next nine years. During her tenure, she danced a vast repertoire that included principal and soloist roles in many ballets by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. In addition to becoming a renowned repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust, staging over 30 ballets for companies all around the world, Jennings has taught at schools and companies in the United States and abroad, and has taught at San Francisco Ballet School’s Summer Session since 2000. She was company teacher and ballet mistress at Pennsylvania Ballet for nine years and was company teacher and ballet mistress for the San Francisco Ballet from 2002 until 2006. She currently tours the world as a guest teacher and repetiteur of Balanchine’s works.

Sandra Jennings teaching Sanguinic. Christiana Bennett and Rex Tilton, Katherine Lawrence, Michael Bearden and Christopher Sellars

Sandra Jennings teaching Phlegmatic to Michael Bearden and Jason Linsley

-Mark

This past week six choreographers from the Ballet West organization worked with Ballet West II dancers on their entries for consideration by Adam Sklute for Ballet West’s INNOVATIONS 2011.  As Adam said, it will be very difficult to pick only three from the six as the level of talent rises every year.  Emily Adams, Christopher Anderson, Peter Christie, Aidan DeYoung,Thomas Mattingly and Christopher Sellars workshopped their choreography which culminated in a showing in the big studio on Friday.

Jamie Lynn Schultz working on Christopher Anderson's choreography

Elanor Bock and Ryan Sargent in Thomas Mattingly's choreography

Christopher Anderson with Beckanne Sisk

-Mark