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KAB's Spring Performance Series:

KAB proudly announces its spring 2012 performance series May 24, 25 and 26, featuring performances of Valse-Fantaisie, staged and rehearsed for KAB by the two dancers upon whom George Balanchine originally created the work in 1967: John Clifford, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and Mimi Paul, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. See them together again here, working with KAB’s students!

“Valse-Fantaisie was one of Balanchine’s favorite chamber ballets and he used to schedule it every season,” says John Clifford. “KAB’s dancers rose to the challenge, and, in so doing, not only preserved this ballet in its original form but improved themselves as technicians and artists. Having the chance to pass on this ballet was a joy for me personally.”

Giselle, Act II will also be part of this spring performance series, along with other selected works, including Rossiniana, a world premiere choreographed by Eli Lazar.

Tickets are on sale now!
 

History of KAB:

Founded in 1990, the Kirov Academy of Ballet (KAB) is a world-class, classical ballet training Academy where serious ballet students come to experience a complete and supportive environment in which to achieve their professional dance career goals. KAB’s mission is “to find, train, and educate students who show excellence in their artistic potential for ballet.” The Academy is fully-accredited by the Commission on Secondary Schools of the Middle Atlantic States Association and confers a high school diploma upon graduation.

Further still, KAB is the only school outside of St. Petersburg, Russia with the right to use the “Kirov” name, representing a tradition and legacy which the Academy has proudly upheld. KAB’s artistic faculty is among the strongest of any classical ballet training academy in the world, under the direction of Martin Fredmann, our new Artistic Director (a 1999 Dance Magazine Award winner and former Artistic Director/CEO of Colorado Ballet).

Under this leadership, our internationally-recognized faculty trains aspiring young dancers in pedagogy based on that of the St. Petersburg-based Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet (previously, known as the Imperial Ballet School), established in 1738 and noted as the most famous and influential classical ballet school in the world. Such training has produced many of the 20th and 21st century’s most exceptional dancers and choreographers, including Pavlova, Nijinsky, Nureyev, Sizova, Baryshnikov, Makarova, Vishneva and the inimitable George Balanchine.

Academically, KAB’s fully-accredited program of studies features an on-site Academic Director and faculty whose mission it is:

1. To provide an excellent secondary education.
2. To integrate the study of the arts into all aspects of academic instruction.
3. To establish an educational environment that promotes awareness, understanding and acceptance in a diverse          population.
4. To encourage the development of critical thinking skills, problem solving strategies, as well as moral and ethical behavior.
5. To provide the necessary educational services to our international students who require English language skills (ESL).

During the current 2011-2012 academic year, KAB has 77 students enrolled in its year-round training program, ranging in ages from 10 – 18 and representing a wide range of cultural and geographical perspectives. KAB continues to boast a graduation rate of 100%, with more than 75% of its students going on to join such professional dance companies as The Washington Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and the Royal Ballet upon graduation.

In addition to its year-round and Summer Intensive training programs, KAB now offers Evening and Weekend ballet instruction through its Early Prep Program (for ages 2 – 6), its Preparatory Program (for ages 6 – 14) and its Adult Ballet Class (with Artistic Director, Martin Fredmann).