Herman Cornejo, Benois de la Danse best male dancer
American Ballet Theatre swept the 22nd annual Benois de la Danse Awards in Moscow, winning three of the four honors: Alexei Ratmansky for choreography and principals Polina Semionova and Herman Cornejo for best dancer awards. Former Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Yuri Grigorovich serves as chair of the jury.
Nita Braun, left, in her early teaching days
The Dance Council of North Texas
honored Nita Braun as the recipient of its Mary McLarry Bywaters Award for Lifetime Achievement, and Beth Wortley with its Larry White Dance Educator Award, on August 31 in Dallas. Braun, who passed away in 2012, ran her Nita Braun’s Talent Workshop studio in Farmers Branch, Texas, for 25 years. Wortley has taught at Tufts University and Boston University and has been the chair of the performing arts department at the Hockaday School in Dallas since 2008.
Photos from top: by Michail Logvinov, courtesy of Benois de la Danse; courtesy of Dance Council of North Texas