WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.,
May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Stars of the American Ballet Theatre recently performed at
the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in a
showcase that netted $200,000 to
fully endow a scholarship honoring ABT Principal Dancer and UNCSA
alumna Gillian Murphy.
Murphy, who received her high school diploma from the UNCSA
School of Dance in 1996, is celebrating her 20th anniversary with
ABT this month. She performed along with fellow alumnus
Blaine Hoven (high school,
'06) and ABT colleagues Misty
Copeland, Isabella Boylston,
James Whiteside, Stella Abrera and Marcelo Gomes.
In addition to the performance in Winston-Salem, N.C., the ABT stars took dance
classes and held a question-and-answer session for students, all at
the invitation of UNCSA Dance Dean Susan Jaffe, a former ABT
principal dancer and ballet mistress.
"Gillian is one of the most important American ballerinas in the
dance world today," said Jaffe. "She is an amazing dancer,
possessing power, beauty and artistry, and is thrilling to watch.
We are so proud to have this scholarship named in her honor."
Established in 2014, the Gillian Murphy Endowed Scholarship in
Dance provides an annual merit-based scholarship of $25,000 to a talented student for up to four
years. Jaffe awards the scholarship during the finals of the Youth
America Grand Prix. This year, the scholarship will go to
Carolyne de Freitas Galvao of
Brazil.
"There is so much possibility for greatness at this school,"
Murphy said recently about the scholarship. "The more they recruit
very talented artists, the better. It only helps UNCSA to keep
developing young artists who take the world stage by storm."
Following the showcase performance, the dancers attended a
dinner with friends and supporters of the UNCSA School of Dance. "I
call it the $200,000 dinner," said
UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman, who noted the donations brought
the scholarship corpus to more than $650,000.
"Susan Jaffe hosted an
extraordinary event. Our guests were dazzled by the talent and
artistry of Gillian and her colleagues, just as our students had
been awestruck earlier in the day," Bierman said. "We're profoundly
grateful these world-class artists invested their time to benefit
our School of Dance."
Murphy and Whiteside performed "On the Water Pas de Deux,"
choreographed by Whiteside to music from Franz Schubert, and "Don Quixote Act III Wedding
Suite," choreography after Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan
Jones to music by Ludwig
Minkus.
Copeland and Hoven danced "Toccare," choreographed by Gomes to
music by Ian Ng. Hoven partnered
with Boylston for "Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux," choreographed by
George Balanchine, staged by Richard
Tanner to music by John Philip
Sousa.
Also on the program was "Leaves are Fading Pas de Deux," danced
by Abrera and Gomes, choreography by Anthony Tudor to music by Antonin Dvorak.
Murphy joined ABT at the age of 17 after studying at UNCSA for
three years under Melissa
Hayden.
"From my first moment on campus, I felt part of a community of
young artists who were intent upon training and growing as artists
and people," she said. "It was so special, at the age of 14, to be
surrounded by peers who had that same passion for their art that I
did."
She danced principal roles in several of the school's ballet
productions, including "The Nutcracker" and George Balanchine's
"Concerto Barocco," "Western Symphony," "Tarantella" and "Theme and
Variations."
Murphy was born in England and
began her ballet training in Belgium at the age of three. Her family moved
to Florence, S.C., and she began
training with the Columbia City Ballet.
When she was 14, a story in Dance Magazine sparked Murphy's
interest in UNCSA. "The article featured a student who had won a
Princess Grace Award. My mother and
I were impressed by that. It spoke very highly of the school that
one of their dancers would win that award."
In 1998, she herself was bestowed with the Princess Grace
Foundation-USA grant. The Princess
Grace Foundation would go on to award Murphy its highest honor, the
Statue Award, in 2009.
Murphy has appeared as a guest artist all over the world,
including Japan, Chile, Greece, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Australia, New
Zealand and throughout the United
States. In December 2015, she
returned to UNCSA with her husband, famed former ABT dancer,
choreographer and director Ethan
Stiefel, who is a former dean of the UNCSA School of Dance.
They were guest artists in residence, coaching students for the
annual production of "The Nutcracker."
"UNCSA is a gem of a school. I loved the community there, the
support from the faculty and my fellow students, the great academic
program," she said recently. "For me, North
Carolina School of the Arts is an incredible place to
learn."
During her recent visit to UNCSA, Gillian Murphy sat down
with Dance Dean Susan Jaffe for a discussion about her training and
her career.
The University of North Carolina School of
the Arts is America's first state-supported arts school, a
unique stand-alone public university of arts conservatories. With a
high school component, UNCSA is a degree-granting institution that
trains young people of talent in dance, design and production,
drama, filmmaking, and music. Established by the N.C. General
Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem ("The City of Arts and
Innovation") in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system when it was
formed in 1972. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.
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SOURCE University of North Carolina School
of the Arts