Karole Armitage (born March 3, 1954 Madison Wisconsin) is an American dancer and choreographer currently based in New York City. She is Artistic Director of Armitage Gone! Dance, a contemporary ballet company that performs several times annually in New York City as well as touring internationally. Dubbed the “punk ballerina” in the 1980s and recently Tony-nominated for her choreography of the Broadway musical Hair, Armitage distinguishes her company from its contemporaries through her extreme versatility and originality.

Early life and early career[link]

Born in Madison Wisconsin, Armitage grew up dividing her time in two places: Lawrence, Kansas and Gothic, Colorado. This was the site of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory where her father, a biologist, did research. Armitage began studying ballet in Lawrence, Kansas at the age of four with former New York City Ballet Dancer, Tomi Wortham, followed by classes in Crested Butte, Colorado with Shirley Strabhaur. She then continued her studies with Ballet West in Aspen and Salt Lake City, at the School of American Ballet the Harkness House in New York City, at North Carolina School of the Arts, and with Massine in London. Armitage began her professional career in 1973 as a member of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland. This was a company directed by George Balanchine and Patricia Neary which was rooted in the Balanchine aesthetic and devoted exclusively to his repertory. There she performed many Balanchine masterworks including Agon, The Four Temperaments and Serenade. From 1976–1981 she was a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company where she danced in leading roles across the globe.

Choreography[link]

In 1978, she created her first piece as a choreographer piece titled Ne, then followed by Drastic-Classicism in 1981. Throughout the 1980s, Armitage led her own company, which was based in New York City. Her company toured internationally and was known for its collaborations with artists David Salle and Jeff Koons. In 1984, she was invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to create a work for the American Ballet Theatre. Three years later, Rudolph Nureyev commissioned one of her works for the Paris Opéra Ballet.^[1] She created five ballets for the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris during the 1980s.

From 1995 to 1998, she served as the director and choreographer of the company MaggioDanza in Florence, Italy, moving on to become resident choreographer of the Ballet de Lorraine in Nancy, France, in 1999, where she was to remain until 2002. In 2004, she was the director of the International Festival of Contemporary Dance at the Venice Biennale. Returning to New York City after 15 years abroad, she founded her current company, Armitage Gone! Dance, in 2005.^[2]

Armitage's recent collaborators include British composer Thomas Adès, artists; Jeff Koons Jean-Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Brice Marden, David Salle, Peter Speliopoulos, and Broadway designers; Clifton Taylor, and Philip Taaffe. She has commissioned music from many composers and her company regularly performs to live music. The themes of her pieces are as diverse as Audubon's Birds of America. In a recent work "Three Theories" was inspired by Brian Greene's popular science book The Elegant Universe. This premiered at the 2010 World Science Festival (the physics of black holes and string theory).^[3]

Armitage stated that "Physics makes me dream. I try to think outside the box and open up my mind. I like science. Science always questions authority. This conflict between theories seemed to me so dramatic and so incredibly fundamental."^[4]

Armitage has created dances for numerous companies including the Paris Opera Ballet, White Oak Dance Project, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Lyon Opera Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the Washington Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Kansas City Ballet, the Bern Ballet, The Washington Ballet and Rambert Dance Company. She has directed operas from the baroque and contemporary repertoire for many of the prestigious houses of Europe. These operas include; Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Lyric Opera in Athens and Het Muzik Theater in Amsterdam.

In addition to working for the stage, Armitage has worked with pop music, including choreography for Michael Jackson’s "In The Closet" and Madonna’s "Vogue".^[1] Armitage has also worked with classical music, such as that of composers Bela Bartok ("Time is the echo of an axe within a wood", György Ligeti ("Ligeti Essays") and, more recently of György's son, Lukas Ligeti. In a conversation with Lukas Ligeti for BOMB Magazine, Armitage described the challenge of choreographing Itutu. "Itutu" is a dance piece set to both Ligeti’s own compositions and those of Burkina Electric. Burkina Elecrtic is a musical group in which Ligeti works with electronica and Burkinabe popular music. This was an opportunity to "make these disparate, contradictory musical worlds mean something theatrical."^[2]

She has also choreographed several movies in collaboration with director, James Ivory, including The Golden Bowl and The White Countess. Her work has been the subject of two documentaries made for television: The South Bank Show (1985), directed by David Hinton and Wild Ballerina (1998), directed by Mark Kidel. Her ballet Rave was filmed for television for the European channel Arte.

Choreographic style[link]

Armitage is known for her eclectic style, which caused Vanity Fair to dub her the "punk ballerina".^[3] Her first piece, Ne, was set to punk music and freely utilized neon lighting. She continued this style of combining classical ballet with punk in Drastic Classicism, adding out-of-the-ordinary costumes to the mix.^[4]

Armitage's eclecticism extends to all aspects of her work. Her dance style itself is modern punk with obvious classical roots and a strong classical Japanese influence, but also uses social dance and incorporates numerous aspects of classical ballet including pointe work. She lists classical ballet, Merce Cunningham, and punk as her three presiding influences. She requires the members of her company to be experienced in both modern dance and ballet. Armitage described her ideal company dancers as "virtuosos in the sense that they have a wide range of ability to control their bodies but who don’t look academic."^[2]

Awards and honors[link]

In the spring of 2009, Armitage was awarded France’s most prestigious award, Commandeur dans L’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. ^[5]

Interesting Facts[link]

1. In the summer of 2010 Armitage started to work with the MIT- based composer Tod Machover on his opera titled "Death and the Powers". In this opera Armitage incorporated chorepgraphy for robots.^[6]

2. Armitage is now choreographing for the Cirque du Soleil 2012 tent show in Montreal, Canada.

Footnotes[link]

1. ^ “Dictionary of Dance: Karole Armitage,” Karole Armitage, http://www.answers.com/topic/karole-armitage-1?cat=entertainment (accessed April 22, 2008)
2. ^ ^{a b} Ligeti, Lukas. "Karole Armitage". BOMB Magazine. Spring 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
3. ^ Kim, Dave, "Karole Armitage's Last Title", Smyles & Fish, http://www.smylesandfish.com/lounge/karole-armitage.php, retrieved 2008-08-05 
4. ^ Robert Greskovic, “Karole Armitage” in Fifty Contemporary Choreographers, electronic book edition, ed. Martha Bremser (Hoboken, NJ: Taylor and Francis, 1999), 22.
5. ^ Burns, Melissa. "Melissa's Picks: Karole Armitage". 14 January 2011. retrieved 16 October 2011. <http://dismagazine.com/blog/12471/melissas-picks-karole-armitage/>
6. ^ Gladstone, Valerie. "Karole Armitage takes on the universe". The Boston Globe. 11 July 2010. retrieved 16 October 2011. <http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/07/11/choreographer_karole_armitage_takes_on_the_universe/?page=2>

External links[link]

• Archival footage of Karole Armitage's dance company Armitage Gone! Dance performing in Three Theories in 2010 at Jacob's Pillow.
• Armitage GONE! Dance
• profile of Karole Armitage at Smyles & Fish
• Karole Armitage on Answers.com
• Karole Armitage at the Internet Broadway Database
• Karole Armitage at the Internet Movie Database
• 2009 BOMB Magazine interview of Karole Armitage by Lukas Ligeti

v t e Ballet General information ballets companies glossary history music timeline Ballet terminology Ballet d'action Barre Ballet blanc Comic ballet Contemporary ballet Ballets de cour Demi-soloist Divertissement Narrative ballet Neoclassical ballet Opéra-ballet Pas de deux Pas de quatre Pas de trois Pièce d'occasion Pointe shoes Romantic ballet Turnout Tutu Variation Ballet by genre character classical contemporary neoclassical Ballet by region British French Italian Russian Dancers American British French Russian Technique Balanchine Bournonville Cecchetti Royal Academy Vaganova Ballet apparel dance belt leotard pointe shoes slippers tights tutu unitard Schools The National Ballet School of Canada Stuttgart Ballet Cuban National Ballet School Elmhurst School for Dance English National Ballet School Moscow State Academy of Choreography Royal Ballet School School of American Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet School Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet Companies American Ballet Theatre Anaheim Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Barcelona Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Boston Ballet Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet Carolina Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dayton Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Guangzhou Ballet Hamburg Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Houston Ballet Iaşi Romanian National Opera Iranian National Ballet Company Joffrey Ballet K-ballet Kiev Ballet Korea National Ballet Company La Scala Theatre Ballet Les Ballets de Monte Carlo Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Los Angeles Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Moldova National Opera Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet of China National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico National Opera and Ballet National Theatre Munich New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Paris Opera Ballet Philippine Ballet Theatre Polish National Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet San Francisco Ballet Scottish Ballet Shanghai Ballet Company Spanish National Dance Company Stuttgart Ballet The Australian Ballet The Royal Ballet Tokyo Ballet Tulsa Ballet Universal Ballet West Australian Ballet Ballet portal Did you know? today's news today's article today's biography today's picture recent news 2009 2008

Coordinates: 52°44′30″N 1°52′37″W / 52.74156°N 1.87702°W / 52.74156; -1.87702

Armitage
Armitage  Armitage shown within Staffordshire
OS grid reference	SK084160
Civil parish	Armitage with Handsacre
District	Lichfield
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	RUGELEY
Postcode district	WS15
Dialling code	01543
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Lichfield[1]
List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire

Armitage is a village in Staffordshire, England on the south side of the Trent and Mersey Canal between Lichfield and Rugeley. Together with the adjacent village of Handsacre, it forms the parish of Armitage with Handsacre.

Village amenities[link]

Armitage has a variety of village amemites including a Londis, a privately owned fishing shop, a corner newspaper shop and the Croft Primary School. Armitage is also the home of Armitage Shanks.

Other[link]

The name comes from the Middle English Ermitage, meaning 'Hermitage',^[2] from a tradition that a hermit lived between the church and the River Trent^{[citation needed]}. It does not appear in the Domesday Book although Handsacre does.

The professional golfer Robert Rock was born in Armitage.

Armitage is close to the villages of Handsacre and Hill Ridware. It is also close to the towns of Rugeley and Stafford.

References[link]

External links[link]

Media related to Armitage at Wikimedia Commons

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Wendy Whelan ( /ˈhwiːlən/; born May 7, 1967) is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.

Early life[link]

A native of Louisville, Kentucky (USA), she began her dance training with local teacher Virginia Wooton at the age of three. After performing as a mouse in The Nutcracker with the Louisville Ballet she joined Louisville Ballet Academy where she started formal training. In 1981, she received a scholarship to the summer course at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, joining as a full-time student a year later. ^[1]

Career[link]

Wendy officially joined NYCB in 1984 as an apprentice and she joined the company's corps de ballet January 1986. She was further promoted to soloist in 1989, and to principal dancer in 1991.

She has a repertoire of more than 50 ballets, including pieces by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon, and others.

Whelan is particularly known for her angular body and muscularity particularly suited to the Balanchine style. However, with Balanchine's death in 1983, a year after Whelan arrived at SAB, she only met him once.

The ballerina has openly spoken about conquering scoliosis after being diagnosed at age 12. ^{[2] [3]}

She married photographer David Michalek in September 2005.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official NYCB Bio
• Archive film of Wendy Whelan and Peter Boal dancing Herman Schmerman in 2004 at Jacob's Pillow

v t e Ballet General information ballets companies glossary history music timeline Ballet terminology Ballet d'action Barre Ballet blanc Comic ballet Contemporary ballet Ballets de cour Demi-soloist Divertissement Narrative ballet Neoclassical ballet Opéra-ballet Pas de deux Pas de quatre Pas de trois Pièce d'occasion Pointe shoes Romantic ballet Turnout Tutu Variation Ballet by genre character classical contemporary neoclassical Ballet by region British French Italian Russian Dancers American British French Russian Technique Balanchine Bournonville Cecchetti Royal Academy Vaganova Ballet apparel dance belt leotard pointe shoes slippers tights tutu unitard Schools The National Ballet School of Canada Stuttgart Ballet Cuban National Ballet School Elmhurst School for Dance English National Ballet School Moscow State Academy of Choreography Royal Ballet School School of American Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet School Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet Companies American Ballet Theatre Anaheim Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Barcelona Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Boston Ballet Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet Carolina Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dayton Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Guangzhou Ballet Hamburg Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Houston Ballet Iaşi Romanian National Opera Iranian National Ballet Company Joffrey Ballet K-ballet Kiev Ballet Korea National Ballet Company La Scala Theatre Ballet Les Ballets de Monte Carlo Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Los Angeles Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Moldova National Opera Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet of China National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico National Opera and Ballet National Theatre Munich New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Paris Opera Ballet Philippine Ballet Theatre Polish National Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet San Francisco Ballet Scottish Ballet Shanghai Ballet Company Spanish National Dance Company Stuttgart Ballet The Australian Ballet The Royal Ballet Tokyo Ballet Tulsa Ballet Universal Ballet West Australian Ballet Ballet portal Did you know? today's news today's article today's biography today's picture recent news 2009 2008

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The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (January 2008)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008)

David Salle (born 1952) is an American painter who helped define postmodern sensibility by combining figuration with a varied pictorial language of multi-imagery. Major exhibitions of his work have taken place at the Whitney Museum of American Art^[1] in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Castello di Rivoli (Torino, Italy), and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. In March 2009 a group of fifteen paintings were shown at the Kestnergesellschaft Museum in Hannover, Germany. That same year Salle's work was also featured in an exhibition titled The Pictures Generation curated by Douglas Eklund at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York [1], in which his work was shown amongst a number of his contemporaries including Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, Cindy Sherman, Nancy Dwyer, Robert Longo, Thomas Lawson, Charles Clough and Michael Zwack.

Salle was born in Norman, Oklahoma. He earned a BFA and MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied with John Baldessari.^[2] Salle’s work first came to public attention in New York in the early 1980s.

His paintings comprise what appear to be randomly juxtaposed images, or images painted on top of each other with deliberately ham-fisted paint handling. At a 2005 lecture, Salle stated:

When I came to New York in the 70s, it was common not to expect to be able to live from your art. I had very little idea about galleries or the business side of the art world. It all seemed pretty distant. When people started paying attention to my work, it seemed so unlikely that somehow it wasn't so remarkable. I made my work for a small audience of friends, other artists mostly, and that has not really changed. At the same time, having shows is a way of seeing if the work resonates with anyone else. Having that response, something coming back to you from the way the work is received in the world, can be important for your development as an artist. But you have to take it with healthy skepticism... I still spend most days in my studio, alone, and whatever happens flows from that.^[3]

Salle also turned his hand to set and costume design, and to directing mainstream cinema. In 1986 Salle received a Guggenheim Fellowship for theater design, and in 1995 he directed the feature film, Search and Destroy, starring Griffin Dunne and Christopher Walken [2]. He is a long time collaborator with the choreographer Karole Armitage as he designs sets and costumes for many of her ballets [3].

Salle currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

References[link]

1. ^ Smith, Roberta, "How David Salle Mixes High Art and Trash", review of David Salle mid-career retrospective, The New York Times, January 23, 1987. Retrieved 2011-1-16.
2. ^ Smith, Roberta, "Tweaking Tradition, Even in Its Temple", review of John Baldessari show, The New York Times, October 21, 2010 (October 22, 2010 p. C21 NY ed.). Retrieved 2010-10-22.
3. ^ Voices of Experience: David Salle, ART + AUCTION, September 2005, http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/1407/voices-of-experience-david-salle/, retrieved 2008-04-17 

External links[link]

• David Salle Studio Website
• David Salle in the "Pictures Generation," the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• David Salle at Mary Boone Gallery
• David Salle at Lehmann Maupin Gallery
• David Salle at The Saatchi Gallery
• David Salle at Baldwin Gallery
• [4]
• [5]
• [6]

Additional information on David Salle including artworks, text panels, articles and full biography