Imagine Ballet Theatre Presents A Night on the Town

Ogden, Utah, September 23, 2011: Imagine Ballet Theatre (IBT), an Ogden-based ballet company, will present A Night on the Town on October 15^th at the Peery’s Egyptian Theater in Ogden. In conjunction with the performance, patrons may also attend the evening’s fundraiser held at the Ben Lomond Hotel preceding the show. Generous sponsors for this year’s performance and fundraiser include Jet Blue Airlines, the Ben Lomond Suites, Ogden 25^th Street Association, Ogden City Arts, RAMP, and Haute Style Affaires. For A Night on the Town, Imagine Ballet Theatre will present several of their own works, as well as the works of other artists, world-renown choreographers, and performers from around the nation. Special guest choreographers include former Broadway star Gary Flannery, Utah Valley University faculty Angela Banchero-Kelleher and Amy Markgraf Jacobson, choreographer and costume designer Oswaldo Muniz, and IBT dancer Rachel Duffin. IBT Artistic Director Raymond Van Mason also presents pieces for the performance. Guest performances from Los Angeles Ballet dancers Allynne Noelle Stoller and Jonathan Sharp will also be on the program.

Imagine Ballet Theatre’s performances in A Night on the Town include some works choreographed by Raymond Van Mason: the world premiere of “Passing” and “Ashura,” the latter of which will be performed with the Ogden Buddhist Taiko Drum Company also on stage with the dancers. IBT dancer Rachel Duffin also makes her composer debut with her piece “Delusion All.

IBT Artistic Director Raymond Van Mason wanted to bring together local and national dance for this fall performance. Allynne Noelle Stoller and Jonathan Sharp of Los Angeles Ballet will perform a Utah premiere of the piece “Pathos” choreographed by Clinton Rothwell. Stoller is a former dancer with Inland Pacific Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada. Jonathan Sharp trained at National Academy of the Arts and School of American Ballet. He danced professionally with Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and others. For A Night on the Town, Stoller and Sharp will also be performing the “Black Swan Pas de Deux” from Act III of Swan Lake.

Faculty from Utah Valley University are also presenting newly choreographed works for A Night on the Town. Angela Banchero-Kelleher, MFA, is an Assistant Professor of Modern Dance whose professional career spanned 20 years, 15 of which were with Utah’s Repertory Dance Theater. Banchero-Kelleher has also enjoyed teaching at Weber State University, Westminster College, The University of Utah, and Ohio University. She will present “Lacuna” with dancers from UVU, a piece supported by a Community of Engaged Learning grant, the UVU Dean’s Office, and UVU School of the Arts.

Broadway veteran Gary Flannery brings a new work to A Night on the Town with his jazz expertise in “Gershwin Meets Fosse” using IBT dancers. A veteran dancer of the professional stage himself, Gary Flannery was featured on Broadway in “Pippin” and “Dancin” with Bob Fosse, took both shows on their first tours, and was a featured principal dancer in the unforgettable movie “All That Jazz!” He toured the world with Shirley MacLaine, performing as her partner and co-choreographer in addition to performing in her three television specials. He has also worked in Hollywood with stars such as Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett, and Ann-Margret. A Balanchine and Juilliard scholarship winner, Flannery has danced with the Harkness Ballet, the Fred Benjamin Dancers in New York City, Les Grandes Ballet in Montreal, as well as in dozens of musicals and concert dance performances seen nationally and internationally. Distinguished dancers with whom Flannery has studied include not only Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon but also Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins, Bertram Ross, Fred Benjamin, David Howard, and many others. His impressive teaching career of over thirty years has included stints at Steps Studio in New York City, University of Central Florida’s Conservatory Theatre, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Northwestern University in Evanston, and Northern Illinois University in Dekalb among others.

Another outside choreographic influence to the program comes from New York City resident Oswaldo Muniz. Muniz trained at the School of American Ballet on full scholarship and went on to dance professionally as a Principal under Edward Villella in the Eglevsky Ballet, Ballet Oklahoma and Edward Villella and Dancers, Richmond Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and the Garden State Ballet. Muniz is also known for his incredible costumes, which have been featured in the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Imagine Ballet Theatre, worn by Olympic gold medal winner Sarah Huges, and in print such as Vogue Magazine and Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine. For A Night on the Town, Muniz presents the world premiere of his ballet “Twinkle” on dancers from Imagine Ballet Theatre, as well as his own designed and executed costumes.

Audience members planning to attend the A Night on the Town program on October 15^th may purchase tickets at the Peery’s Egyptian Theater box office, 2415 Washington Blvd in Ogden, online at http://www.peerysegyptiantheater.org/ticket.asp or http://www.smithstix.com, or by phone at (801) 689-8700. Box office hours are Monday-Friday, 2:00 to 6:00 pm.