Former NYC Ballet Dancer Deborah Wingert Visited SNHYB

In January, Southern NH Youth Ballet dancers were given the exciting opportunity to work with former New York City Ballet principal dancer Deborah Wingert. Wingert journeyed to NH to set George Balanchine’s ballet Valse Fantaisie on the company, which will be performed at Spring Fling, March 31st, at the Palace Theatre.

At the age of 16, Deborah Wingert was selected by George Balanchine to join New York City Ballet. During her 15 years with the company, Wingert danced over twenty five principal, soloist, and featured roles in productions that include Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coppelia, Orpheus, Symphony in C, Jewels, Who Cares?, LaValse, Stars and Stripes, Prodigal Son, The Nutcracker, and Peter Martins' The Sleeping Beauty.

Wingert is also a prize-winning choreographer, receiving third place in the Northeast Regional Festival for Emerging Female Choreographers for her work Six by Six: Opus 56. She is one of a small group of artists selected by the Balanchine Trust to set his choreography. In this capacity she has traveled throughout the United States and Europe setting and staging the Balanchine repertoire for companies including the Vancouver Ballet Society, West Virginia Ballet Company, Boston Dance Company, Northeast Ballet, and most recently, Southern NH Youth Ballet.

Wingert set Valse Fantaisie on the company, a ballet originally choreographed by Balanchine for NYC Ballet in 1967 to music by Mikhail Glinka, Russia most beloved composer, who is often called the Mozart of Russia. Balanchine was first exposed to Glinka’s music when he was danced in one of Glinka’s operas at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Valse Fantaisie features a quartet of four women and a pas de deux. SNHYB company member Elisabeth Wilson, 15, and former ABT dancer Jeremy Collins will dance the pas de deux. Wilson said, “ Deborah Wingert inspired me to dance more artistically, rather than technically.” Several other company members raved about working with Wingert, who was positive and complimentary to the dancers both in class and rehearsal.

“Working with Deborah was fun because she has a great sense of humor, but at the same time, she pushed us to our best,” said Melissa Reed, 15. Company director Patricia Lavoie was also pleased with the experience of working with Wingert. Lavoie said that providing her dancers with these special opportunities was one of the reasons she was inspired to start a pre-professional dance company.