Former Ballet Dancer Michael Patterson talks about his career and transition out of a life in a ballet company
Manage episode 378285347 series 3362772
Michael Patterson is the Artistic Director of the Patterson School of Ballet located in Erie, PA and is a former professional danseur with the Pennsylvania Ballet, now known as the Philadelphia Ballet. While at the Pennsylvania Ballet, Mr. Patterson danced many roles in works by George Balanchine, including The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Slaughter on 10th Avenue, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Western Symphony, Prodigal Son, and Agon to name a few. Other classics include Dracula, Cinderella, Taming of the Shrew, Giselle, and Le Fille Mal Gardee and Lew Christensen’s Con Amore. He has also danced many roles by contemporary choreographers such as Trey McIntyre, Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, Val Caniparoli, Matthew Neenan, and Christopher Wheeldon. Highlights from his professional career include the creation of the work Cellophane for Mr. Patterson by Brian Sanders, which was featured in the benefit performance, Shut Up & Dance. While a member of Pennsylvania Ballet Mr. Patterson had the opportunity to work with and perform Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival in collaboration with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio where the Lord Provost honored them. Mr. Patterson’s students have been accepted to many prestigious ballet schools nationally and internationally, including the School of American Ballet (SAB), and have danced with or are currently dancing with Joffrey Ballet, Washington Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Minnesota Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Netherlands Dans Theater. In 2010, Mr. Patterson was also the choreographer for the short film, “The Dance Lesson” by Chinonye Chukwu which was awarded a Princess Grace Award.
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