Ann Marie DeAngelo is an American choreographer, director, producer, teacher, consultant and former dancer. She was a leading ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet, where early on she was pegged by Time magazine as "one of America's most outstanding ballerinas" and where she later served as associate director at the time of the company's move to Chicago in 1995.[1]
DeAngelo was the founding artistic director of Ballet de Monterrey, and served as artistic director of Ballet Omaha during the 1990s. She founded her own experimental troupe in the late 1980s called Ballet D'Angelo, creating several full-evening productions that toured extensively in Europe.
She is currently the director of DeAngelo Productions, an umbrella company for creating and producing dance-related projects. She continues to work internationally as a director, choreographer, and teacher.
Early life and education
DeAngelo was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Glendale, California.[2] Her mother enrolled her in ballet at the age of three-and-a-half to help her overcome shyness before kindergarten.[2] DeAngelo later trained in Burbank, California, at Roland & Reid Dance with Cecchetti specialist Frederika Mohr,[3] and subsequently studied on a Ford Foundation scholarship at the San Francisco Ballet School with former Kirov Ballet principals Anatole Vilzak and Ludmilla Schollar.[4]
Career
Ann Marie DeAngelo in performance, known for her virtuosic ballet technique and expressive artistry.
In 1976, she competed in the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, where she received a special award for technical excellence.[9] She was the featured dancer in a TV documentary special on CBS. At the competition, she met the legendary ballerina Alicia Alonso, and was invited to perform at her International Ballet Festival in Havanna, Cuba. She later created works for the company.[10]
Throughout her performing career, DeAngelo worked internationally as a guest artist dancing the classical ballets such as Coppelia, Giselle, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty with various ballet companies including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Royal Ballet of Flanders and The National Ballet of Cuba; festivals including Jacob's Pillow; and independent tours such as Stars of American Ballet (dancing with Danilo Radojevic and Fernando Bujones), Stars of World Ballet in Australia, dancing with both Danilo Radojevic and Fernando Bujones in Le Corsaire, Flames of Paris and Don Quixote pas de deux; and alongside other talent including Margot Fonteyn, Peter Breuer, Wayne Eagling, Flemming Flindt, Maina Gielgud, Cynthia Gregory, Birgit Keil, Māris Liepa, Yoko Morishita, Merle Park, and David Wall; and Dance, Dance, Dance Canadian tour with Frank Augustyn.[11]
In 1980, DeAngelo was featured in a dance film about Anna Pavlova called Pavlova: A Tribute to the Legendary Ballerina (1982).[12]
In 1989, DeAngelo performed on Sesame Street with James "Skeeter Rabbit" Higgins in a duet created by Toni Basil called Stop Dancing.
Choreography
DeAngelo has choreographed over 60 ballets, including for opera and other dance venues. She created her first work in 1980, called La Grande Faux Pas. In 1984, she received a Jerome Robbins Foundation grant to create a piece for the Joffrey II called In Kazmidity with music by Léo Delibes[13] (later staged for Ballet Trockadero in 1990[14]). She soon began to explore her choreographic aesthetic of mixing dance styles and blending forms. She choreographed Autumn Baachanal for the film Pavlova: A Tribute to the Legendary Ballerina, performing with Ron Reagan Jr.[15]
In 1990, DeAngelo created Out of Silence with music by Yanni for the National Ballet of Cuba; and also a pas de trois called Lilith featuring Lorena Feijoo.[16] Both these works later were integrated into a piece for Ballet de Monterrey called Paradiso (1991). Hip-hop pioneer Steffan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente was featured in that work in a leading role, the first time a street dancer had been integrated into a traditional ballet.
DeAngelo created several works for Ballet de Monterrey, including Mademoiselle de M, a 35-minute work based on Theophile's Mademoiselle de Maupin with music by Franz Liszt and Enigma; Le Papillon, to music of Jacques Offenbach; and a re-staging of The Nutcracker.
DeAngelo was a choreographer for the first National Choreographers Initiative,[19] and for Dance Break, 2006. In 2007, DeAngelo began a work-in-development called In the Mix! The piece included ballet dancers, hip hop and tap dance artists, Cirque du Soleil veterans, gymnastics, and cheerleading in a cross-genre exploration of movement in many forms.[20] This show was later in development as America Dances, a variety show of dance, eventually produced as part of Capezio's 130th anniversary celebration.[21]
In 2010, DeAngelo choreographed The Promise, a new musical created for the Shanghai Expo 2010. DeAngelo returned to Beijing, China in 2017 choreographing for another new musical based on Kublai Khan called Xanadu. Later the title was changed to Dream Dances when it as recreated in Lanqi a province of Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia.[22]
DeAngelo has presented choreography from 2002 to 2015 as part of her multigenre dance-extravaganza productions that she also produced and directed at City Center in New York City, and in 2018 The Cobbler & the Ballerina at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ballet D'Angelo – under DeAngelo's direction, Ballet D'Angelo toured extensively in Europe and Cuba from 1984 to 1988. Works included Zeitgiest I and II, The Last of the Best, and Gypsie Band.[24]
Ballet de Monterrey – as founding artistic director of Ballet de Monterrey, DeAngelo worked with mentor Alicia Alonso who allowed her to use several Cuban dancers, teachers and ballet masters.[25] DeAngelo also used American dancers and imported unique talent such as US Olympic team rhythmic gymnast Charlene Edwards and Mr. Wiggles − introducing a cross-pollination of work to Mexico. DeAngelo created a classical yet innovative "company of the Americas". She received the Margot Fonteyn Award for special artistic achievement for her contributions.
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago – in 1995 as associate artistic director,[27] DeAngelo created a vision for the Joffrey's relocation from New York, and along with Artistic Director Gerald Arpino, a successful vision for its artistic future. Arpino created an evening called "Legends" spotlighting female choreographers choreography about iconic female legend singers. Choreographers included DeAngelo, Laura Dean, Joanna Haigood, Ann Reinking, and Margo Sappington.[28]
In the 2000s, DeAngelo was co-artistic director of the Hamptons Dance Festival with Cynthia Gregory.[29][30]
Director, producer, and other work
DeAngelo has created and staged many special shows and events, including Shall We Dance, a dance tribute to composer Richard Rodgers as part of the Rodgers Centenary celebration in 2002.[31]
In 2012, she conceived, produced, and directed the 125th anniversary gala for Capezio at City Center in New York City in 2012.[36]
In 2016, Career Transition for Dancers merged with the Actors Fund[37] and is a part of Bebe Neuwirth's Dancers Resource; however, DeAngelo continued to produce and direct fundraisers in 2016 and 2017.[38]
She has taught for numerous dance companies and universities, as well as workshops to non-dancers called "Bringing Performance to Life" at resorts and spas. She has taught personalities such as Bette Midler.
Choreography
2018 The Cobbler & The Ballerina, Capezio 130th Anniversary, Las Vegas
2017 Code Vivaldi, Hotchkiss School; Dream City, Beijing, China
2017 Dream City (Kublai Kahn), LanQi, Inner Mongolia
2016 The Cello Song, Rosie's Theater Kids, New York City
2015 American Dance Collage, City Center, New York City
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