Not to be confused with the CBS-affiliated television station in Cheyenne, Wyoming, KGWN-TV.

KWGN-TV, virtual channel 2 (digital channel 34), is a television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by the Tribune Company and affiliated with the CW Television Network. Its studios are located in Downtown Denver along with KDVR, and its transmitter is atop Lookout Mountain near Golden.

Digital Television[link]

KWGN broadcast on analog channel 2 until June 12, 2009, when it transitioned to digital-only broadcasting on Channel 34, but shows its virtual channel as 2 through the use of PSIP. ^[1]

History[link]

Early years[link]

The station first went on the air on July 18, 1952 as KFEL-TV, the first television station in Colorado. KFEL was also the first VHF TV station to go on the air after the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) freeze on new television station licenses was lifted in 1952. The first owner was Gene O'Fallon, who located the station in a remodeled brick warehouse at 550 Lincoln Street, where the station was housed until moving to suburban Greenwood Village in 1983. Originally, KFEL was a primary affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, but carried shows from other networks as well.

Gotham Broadcasting, owned by J. Elroy McCaw (who also owned WINS in New York City), purchased the station from O'Fallon in 1955. A 50-percent interest was subsequently acquired by John M. Shaheen, the founder of Tele-Trip Inc., an aviation services company which later became a subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha.^[2][3] Channel 2's call letters were changed that same year to KTVR, and the station became an independent after the DuMont network's collapse in 1956. In the late 1950s, the station was briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.^[4] In 1959 the station's call letters were changed to KCTO and McCaw became the sole owner of channel 2, buying out Shaheen's share.^[5]

Under Tribune ownership[link]

Tribune Broadcasting, then known as WGN Continental Broadcasting, acquired the station in 1966.^[6][7] The new owners changed the call letters to the current KWGN-TV after its new sister station, WGN-TV in Chicago. At the time of its purchase, KWGN was Tribune's fourth television station property after WGN-TV, WPIX in New York City and KDAL-TV (now KDLH) in Duluth, Minnesota, which Tribune owned from 1960 until 1978.

When WGN Continental bought the station, it converted KWGN to color. KWGN promoted itself as Colorado's only all-color station because all of its local programs were produced in color. Denver's three network affiliates were airing national programs in color but had yet to upgrade their studios with color cameras.

As an independent, KWGN aired off-network sitcoms and dramas, movies, syndicated game shows and local shows such as Blinky's Fun Club, a local edition of the Romper Room franchise, Fred & Fay, Denver Now, Afternoon at the Movies with Tom Shannon, and Your Right to Say It, a public affairs program.

Starting in the 1960s, KWGN began building a massive network of translators across the state. Also around this time, cable TV systems on Colorado's Western Slope, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming provided KWGN to subscribers as an additional channel to make cable more enticing to subscribers. So many cable systems picked up KWGN that it became a superstation before that term was coined by WTBS in Atlanta. KWGN was attractive to cable systems because its programming did not duplicate programs shown on the local network affiliates. Additionally, it was the only independent station available in much of this area until the 1980s. KWGN is still available on nearly every cable system in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as several cable systems in Nebraska and Kansas. It is also carried on Dish Network's superstation package. It was the only independent station in the Denver market until 1983, when KDVR signed on. KWGN turned down the Fox affiliation in 1986, which instead went to KDVR.

WB affiliation, then to the CW[link]

KWGN affiliated with the new The WB Television Network in early 1995, as did most of Tribune's independent stations. Since The WB only provided a few hours of network programming a day, KWGN's existing lineup was largely unaffected. The next year, the station rebranded to "Denver's WB2", a modification from their previous "Denver's 2". The "WB2" name was kept in some form for the remainder of the network's run. During The WB's run, it served as the default affiliate for the Colorado Springs/Pueblo and Grand Junction markets as well—a status reflected in the fact it used the moniker "WB2 Colorado" for the latter part of The WB's run.

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN networks announced they would merge into a new network, called The CW Television Network, owned jointly by CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. The new network signed a 10-year affiliation deal with most of Tribune's The WB stations, including KWGN. The CW debuted on September 18, 2006. Former UPN station KTVD, owned by the Gannett Company, joined My Network TV, when that network began two weeks earlier. Its news programming, which was previously branded as "WB 2 News", was renamed "News 2" on August 14, 2006 as a result of the merger.

LMA with KDVR[link]

On September 17, 2008 both Local and Tribune announced that they would merge the operations of both KDVR and KWGN. The combined operation will be housed at KDVR's studios under the management of KDVR GM Dennis Leonard. The move allowed both stations to combine news operations and share certain programming. The LMA (local marketing agreement) went into effect on October 1, 2008.^[8] The two stations gradually have been sharing more resources and reporters. Ironically, KDVR's studios are near the same location where KWGN was headquartered for its first 30 years on the air.

On March 30, 2009 the station also underwent a rebranding, and became known as "the Deuce" in an effort to appeal to a younger audience and be more involved in local issues. The station also shifted the 9 p.m. newscast to 7 p.m.; as a result, The CW programming moved to 8-10 p.m.^[9] This same experiment is also taking place on St. Louis sister station KPLR-TV with LMA partner KTVI. On May 29, 2009, the 11AM newscast aired for the last time, being replaced the following Monday with "Martino TV", a lifestyle program featuring paid segments from local businesses.

On March 1, 2010 "Everyday with Libby and Natalie" was renamed simply "Everyday" and moved from the 4 p.m. time slot on KDVR to 10 a.m. on KWGN. Libby Weaver cohosted with Natalie Tysdal until June 1, 2009. Chris Parente soon took over. Other noticeable changes have taken hold since the new General Manager, Peter Maroney took over. Starting in April 2010 Martino TV was replaced at 11 a.m. by repeats of Maury.

In May 2010, KWGN rebranded itself from "The Deuce" to simply KWGN. Sources at the Denver Post cite the change as only temporary until KWGN can find a new identity for itself. Starting in June 2010, 2thedeuce.com began to redirect to KWGN.com and on-air staff also directed viewers to the new website; later that year, the station rebranded itself as "Channel 2 The CW". In the same year, KWGN dropped Live with Kelly, moving to sister station KDVR. This left WGN-TV and KPLR as the only Tribune-owned stations and two of the few CW affiliates that carry the show.

On July 22, 2011 KWGN debuted a new look as well as rededicating themselves to more of a traditional newscast at a non-traditional time. Their proposed identity of "Colorado's Own Channel 2" resembles the old "Denver's 2" identity back in the 1980s. They are sharing their proposed new look with viewers via Facebook as a way to get early feedback on the new look.^[10]

News operation[link]

Currently, KWGN broadcasts a total of 25 hours of local news each week (with five hours every weekday). Unlike most Tribune-owned stations with local newscasts, KWGN does not air local newscasts on weekends.

Channel 2 was the first station in Denver with a locally-produced nightly newscast. The 9 p.m. report, debuting shortly after the station signed on, remained a constant through several ownership changes. In 1966, the news was expanded to one hour—at that time the longest newscast in the Denver market. Titled "The Big News," the program was heavy on local news because filmed national stories were not available in those days to an independent station which lacked a network to feed it such stories. If a major national story occurred, anchor Ron Voigt would read the wire copy while the camera would show a black-and-white AP wire photo.

In the late 1960s up until 1975, "The Big News" had two regular commentators to provide news analysis, George Salem and Gene Amole. The last segment of the hour-long news was often devoted to calls from viewers. It was titled "Speak Out." "The Big News" was also known for its meteorologist, Weatherman (Ed) Bowman, who came to KWGN from KOA-TV (now KCNC) and KOA Radio. Bowman frequently talked about the jet stream while drawing large arcs over a map of the continental United States. The sports director during the 1960s and early 1970s was Fred Leo who also did play-by-play of many of the teams in the area.

KWGN launched a weekday morning newscast in the late 1990s, titled "WB2day" (later renamed "WB 2 Morning News" and then "News 2 This Morning", now known as "Daybreak"), which originally aired from 6 to 9 a.m. A few years later, it began airing at 5 a.m. It was accompanied with an 11 a.m. newscast, which began airing in the late 1990s and was canceled in 2000. KWGN returned to airing a newscast at that time on September 11, 2006 until May 29, 2009.

On July 7, 2008, KWGN launched a new 5:30 p.m. newscast anchored by Kellie MacMullan and Ernie Bjorkman. It was the first 5:30 p.m. newscast in the station's history. The station also re-branded itself on that date, removing the references to "The CW" in both station promos and its logo. The station then referred to itself simply as "2", featuring The CW era's 2 character within a solid circle logo and no CW branding. This was part of Tribune's effort to reposition its The CW affiliates as more "local" stations. On August 4, 2008, the station expanded its 11 a.m. newscast to one hour.

KWGN discontinued its 5:30 p.m. news broadcast on January 12, 2009, while KDVR added an hour-long, 5 p.m. news broadcast. On March 2, 2009 KWGN newscasts moved to a temporary set in preparation for its move from Greenwood Village to KDVR's studios on March 30. At that time, KWGN launched its local newscasts in high definition. KWGN moved its 9 p.m. newscast to 7 p.m. on March 30, 2009 expanding it to a full hour; as a result, since The CW programmed a Sunday night lineup at the time, KWGN's primetime newscast was cut to five nights a week. Despite the fact that The CW turned over its Sunday primetime hours to their affiliates in the fall of 2009, the 7 p.m. newscast on KWGN continues to air exclusively on weeknights.

News team[link]

[edit] Current on-air staff^[11]

+ denotes personnel also seen on KDVR
Current anchors

• Tom Green - weekday mornings Daybreak (5-9 a.m.)
• + Jeremy Hubbard - weeknights at 7 p.m.
• Chris Parente - Everyday co-host; also weekday morning entertainment reporter and Daybreak and 7 p.m. fill-in anchor
• Deborah Takahara - weeknights at 7 p.m.; also reporter
• Natalie Tysdal - weekday mornings Daybreak (5-9 a.m.), Everyday co-host; also reporter

Pinpoint Weather Team (shared with KDVR)

• + Dave Fraser (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 7 p.m.
• + Jennifer Broome (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (5-9 a.m.)
• + Chris Tomer (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Daybreak (5-9 a.m.)
• + Nick Carter - meteorologist; fill-in
• + Daryl Orr - weather producer, storm tracker and photojournalist

Sports team (shared with KDVR)

• + Nick Griffith - sports director; weeknights at 7 p.m.

Reporters

• + Jon Bowman - general assignment reporter
• + Dan Duru - weekday morning feature reporter
• + Julie Hayden - investigative reporter
• + Heidi Hemmat - investigative reporter
• + Greg Nieto - general assignment reporter
• + Kim Posey - general assignment reporter
• + Nina Sparano - internet cafe & technology reporter; also 7 p.m. fill-in anchor
• + Eli Stokols - general assignment and political reporter; also KDVR fill-in anchor
• + Shaul Turner - weekday morning reporter
• + Tammy Vigil - general assignment reporter
• + Dave Young - general assignment reporter and "Unit2" consumer reporter

Former on-air staff[link]

• Ernie Bjorkman - weekday evening anchor (1998–2008; now Vet Tech)
• Asha Blake - weeknight anchor (2004–2007; now at KTLA in Los Angeles)
• Russell Scott - host of "Blinky's Fun Club" and "Captain Dooley" (1966–1998)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KWGN
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KWGN-TV
• Old site from 1997

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Danica McKellar
at a book signing, October 2007
Born	Danica Mae McKellar (1975-01-03) January 3, 1975 (age 37) La Jolla, California, U.S.
Education	Bachelor's degree (summa cum laude)
Alma mater	UCLA
Occupation	Actress, author, education advocate and director
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Mike Verta (2009–present)
Website
www.danicamckellar.com

Danica Mae McKellar (born January 3, 1975) is an American actress, academic, and education advocate. She is best known for her role as Winnie Cooper in the television show The Wonder Years,^[1] and later as author of three popular^[2][3] non-fiction books: Math Doesn't Suck, Kiss My Math, and Hot X: Algebra Exposed, which encourage middle-school girls to have confidence and succeed in mathematics.^[4]

Early life[link]

Born in La Jolla, California, McKellar moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was eight. Her mother Mahalia is a homemaker; her father Christopher is a real estate developer.^[5] Her family is "a big mix of Western Europe":^[6] Her mother's ancestry is Portuguese (via the Azores and Madeira islands); her father's ancestry is Scottish, Irish, French, German and Dutch.^[6] McKellar and her sister Crystal McKellar (who is loosely named after their dad) both maintained professional acting careers as children, but with a strong emphasis on education as a priority. As a result, Crystal became a corporate lawyer (her family nicknamed her "Legally Blonde" because of her hair color), while Danica majored in mathematics. Danica and Crystal also have two half-brothers, Chris Junior and Connor McKellar.

Acting career[link]

[edit] The Wonder Years and early acting career

McKellar had a leading role in The Wonder Years, an American television comedy-drama that ran for six seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1993.^[1]

McKellar played Gwendolyn "Winnie" Cooper,^[1] the main love interest of Kevin Arnold (played by Fred Savage) on the show.

McKellar's first kiss was with Fred Savage in an episode of The Wonder Years.^[7] She later said, "My first kiss was a pretty nerve-wracking experience! But we never kissed off screen, and pretty quickly our feelings turned into brother/sister, and stayed that way."^[8] McKellar also had a role in the film Sidekicks, directed by Aaron Norris.

Later career[link]

McKellar has admitted the transition from "child actor to adult actor was a little bumpy."^[8] Since leaving The Wonder Years, McKellar has had several guest roles in television series (including one with former co-star Fred Savage on Working), and has written and directed two short films. She played Kristin Guthrie in a 1994 Lifetime TV movie, Moment of Truth: Cradle of Conspiracy. In 1996, she played the character Annie Mills Carman in the Lifetime Moment of Truth movie Justice For Annie.^[9] She briefly returned to regular television with a recurring role in the 2002–03 season of The West Wing, portraying Elsie Snuffin, the stepsister and assistant of Deputy White House Communications Director Will Bailey.^[10]

McKellar appeared in lingerie in the July 2005 edition of Stuff magazine^[11] after readers voted her the '90s star they would most like to see in lingerie. McKellar explained that she agreed to the shoot in part to obtain "grittier roles".^[8]

In June 2006, Lifetime Television announced that McKellar would star in a Lifetime movie and web-based series titled Inspector Mom about a mother who solves mysteries.^[12] In an interview in the November 17, 2006 issue of TV Guide, McKellar said that two TV movies and ten webisodes of Inspector Mom were being produced.^[13]

McKellar has provided the voices for two characters in three video games: Jubilee in X-Men Legends (2004), and Invisible Woman in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006) and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009).

On the August 1, 2007, edition of the Don and Mike Show, a WJFK-FM radio program out of Washington, D.C., McKellar announced plans that the producers of How I Met Your Mother were planning to bring her back for a recurring role (she guest-starred on the show in late 2005 in "The Pineapple Incident" and again in early 2007 in "Third Wheel"). She also made an appearance on the show The Big Bang Theory.

In 2008, she starred in Heatstroke, a Sci-Fi Channel original movie about searching for alien life on Earth.^[14]

McKellar, as of June 23, 2008 (2008 -06-23)^[update], is one of the stars commenting on the occurrences of the new millennium in VH1's I Love the New Millennium, and as of 2009 is the math correspondent for Brink, a program by the Science Channel about upcoming technology.^[10]

McKellar has also become a very experienced voice actress.^{[citation needed]}

Mathematics[link]

McKellar studied mathematics at UCLA, graduating with highest honors (summa cum laude) in 1998. As an undergraduate, she coauthored a scientific paper^[15] with Professor Lincoln Chayes and fellow student Brandy Winn. Their results are termed the 'Chayes–McKellar–Winn theorem'.^[16][17] Referring to the mathematical abilities of his student coauthors, Chayes was quoted in The New York Times^[18] as saying, "I thought that the two were really, really first-rate." McKellar's Erdős number is four.^[19] She is even one of the few people with an Erdős-Bacon number, which combines an Erdős number with a Bacon Number (as in the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon) since she also has a Bacon number of 2,^[20] making her Erdos-Bacon number a 6.

Books[link]

McKellar is the author of The New York Times^[2] bestselling book Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail,^[21] that encourages girls in middle school to enjoy and succeed at mathematics.^[22] The book has been favorably reviewed by Tara C. Smith, the founder of Iowa Citizens for Science and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa.^[23] In an interview with Smith, McKellar said that she wrote the book "to show girls that math is accessible and relevant, and even a little glamorous" and to counteract "damaging social messages telling young girls that math and science aren't for them".^[24]

McKellar was named Person of the Week^[25] on World News with Charles Gibson for the week ending August 10, 2007. The news segment highlighted her book Math Doesn't Suck and her efforts to help girls develop an interest in mathematics, especially during the middle school years.

McKellar's second book, Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss,^[26] was released on August 5, 2008. The book's target audience is girls in the 7th through 9th grades. Her third book, Hot X: Algebra Exposed!^[27][28][29] was published on August 3, 2010, and is aimed at girls in the 8th-10th grade, or even adults who want to learn algebra.

All three of McKellar's books made it to The New York Times children's bestseller list.^[3][30]

Personal life[link]

She married composer Mike Verta on March 22, 2009, in La Jolla, California; the couple had dated since 2001. They had their first child on September 7, 2010, a boy they named Draco.^[31][32]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Chayes, L; McKellar, D; Winn, B (1998). "Percolation and Gibbs states multiplicity for ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller models on Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathbb{Z}^2

". Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General 31 (45): 9055–9063. Bibcode 1998JPhA...31.9055C. DOI:10.1088/0305-4470/31/45/005. http://www.danicamckellar.com/math/percolation.pdf. 

• Danica McKellar (2007). Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail. Hudson Street Press. ISBN 978-1-59463-039-2. 
• Danica McKellar (2008). Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss. Hudson Street Press. ISBN 978-1-59463-049-1. 
• Danica McKellar (2010). Hot X: Algebra Exposed. Hudson Street Press. ISBN 978-1-59463-070-5. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Danica McKellar

• Danica McKellar at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with McKellar about her theorem at NPR
• February 2006 Proof and Prejudice: Women in Mathematics Conference, at which McKellar was a speaker
• Official website of her book, Math Doesn't Suck
• Official website of her book, Kiss My Math
• Science Friday for September 21, 2007 with McKellar among the guests
• Public School Insights Interview with McKellar about girls and math
• Danica McKeller's blog
• Official Website

Suzanne Farrell and George Balanchine in Don Quixote

Suzanne Farrell (born August 16, 1945) is an eminent 20th century ballerina (often referred to as the greatest American lyric ballerina) and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

She was born as Roberta Sue Ficker in Cincinnati, and received her early training at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. In 1960 she was selected to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet with a Ford Foundation scholarship; she started there in 1960, and joined the New York City Ballet (NYCB) in 1961.

Career[link]

Early career at NYCB[link]

Initially part of the corps de ballet at NYCB, Farrell soon moved on to dancing featured roles. The first ballet choreographed for her was Passage, now Arcade, by John Taras in 1963. Balanchine first paired her with Jacques d' Amboise to choreograph his Meditation, which debuted in Winter 1963. One of her most notable roles was Dulcinea in Balanchine's Don Quixote, which premiered in May 1965. Balanchine performed in the of Don Quixote on opening night.^[1] She re-scaled many ballets and expanded them to a new level of technique. ^[2]In 1965 she was promoted to principal dancer. Her first role in her new title was Agon with Arthur Mitchell at the Paris Opera. George Balanchine quickly fell in love with his "alabaster princess", and created many roles for her. Farrell described learning choreography from Balanchine as a collaborative process, saying, "When Mr. B was working on a ballet, something would just spill out of his body; he could rarely duplicate it, so I tried to see precisely what he wanted the first time."^[3] In 1965 he created Don Quixote, thought to be a valentine to his newest "muse." In 1968 he cast her as the lead in the "Diamonds" section of his three-act plotless ballet "Jewels".

Balanchine was married to the polio-stricken former ballerina Tanaquil LeClerq, however, and Farrell was a Catholic. Though Balanchine divorced LeClerq to pursue Farrell, she instead married fellow dancer Paul Mejia.^[4]

When she married Mejia, another dancer in the company, in 1969, her bond with Balanchine suffered; and they left the New York City Ballet.^{[citation needed]} Invited to Europe (Belgium), Farrell danced for nearly six years with Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the 20th Century. Her debut with the company was in a pas de deux choreographed by Bejart called Bach Sonate.^[5] She eventually returned to Balanchine and the New York City Ballet in 1975. Balanchine continued to create new ballets for her like Chaconne, Mozartiana, Tzigane, and Davidsbundlertanze. Farrell also found herself often paired with the Dane, Peter Martins. Her partnership with Balanchine lasted until his death in April 1983; his last works were solos for Farrell. Farrell retired from the New York City Ballet at age 44 on November 26th, 1989. She performed Sophisticated Lady and Vienna Waltzes. Farrell gave her final bow at State Theater with Lincoln Kirsten by her side.^[6]

Career as a dance teacher[link]

She had an unusually long performing career for a ballerina. Twenty-eight years of an occupation which takes a tremendous physical toll on the body began to come to an end in 1983. She started to develop arthritis in her right hip and despite two years of varied treatments, by 1985 (at the age of 40), her career on stage was almost over. She struggled for several years, but retired from performing in 1989.

She then moved on to passing on the ballets of Balanchine to the next generation of ballet dancers, working with famed companies around the world, such as those in Berlin and Vienna, as well as the Paris Opera Ballet, Kirov Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. In 1993, the New York City Ballet dismissed her from her teaching position with the company.^[7] In 2000 Farrell became a professor in the Dance Department at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Career at the Kennedy Center[link]

In 2000 Suzanne Farrell started her own company, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, now a full-fledged company produced by the Kennedy Center.

Farrell's engagement with the Kennedy Center began in 1993 and 1994, when the Center offered two series of ballet master classes for students with Farrell. This series provided intermediate-to-advanced level ballet students, ages 13 to 17, an opportunity to study with one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Due to the uniqueness of Farrell's place in the ballet world and the quality of her teaching, the Kennedy Center expanded the program to a national level in 1995 in order to fulfill the Center's mission to enhance the arts education of America's young people. Farrell’s students learned to "turn up the technicolor in [their] movement," in order to achieve greater amplification in their dancing.^[3] This three weeks' long yearly initiative of intense study grew into a full-fledged program, Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell.

In the fall of 1999, Farrell received critical acclaim for the successful Kennedy Center engagement and East Coast tour of Suzanne Farrell Stages the Masters of 20th century Ballet. Following the Kennedy Center's debut, the newly named Suzanne Farrell Ballet, a group of professional dancers hand selected by Farrell, has since performed at the Kennedy Center during engagements in 2001 and 2002, been on an extensive East Coast tour, and returned to the Kennedy Center as part of the 2003–2004 Ballet Season following a 7-week national tour. Suzanne Farrell was selected as one of the five recipients of the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors, one of the highest honors for lifetime artistic achievement.

In 2007 the Suzanne Farrell Ballet formalized the creation of the Balanchine Preservation Initiative. This initiative introduces lost or rarely seen Balanchine works to audiences. As a result ballets like Ragtime(Balanchine/Stravinsky), Pithoprakta (Balanchine/Xenakis) and Divertimento Brillante (Balanchine/Glinka). ^[8]

Media[link]

Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell is an initiative of the Kennedy Center Education Department and is made possible in part by the U.S. Department of Education and the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund. Additional support is provided by the Margaret Abell Powell Fund. Suzanne Farrell was prominently featured in Balanchine (2004) a documentary about the life of George Balanchine.

Awards[link]

President George W. Bush and Laura Bush pose with the Kennedy Center honorees, from left to right, actress Julie Harris, actor Robert Redford, singer Tina Turner, ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell and singer Tony Bennett on December 4, 2005, during the reception in the Blue Room at the White House.

Farrell has received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University, among others. She has also been a tenured professor of dance at Florida State University since 2000, and in 2003 she received the National Medal of Arts.

She was celebrated in 2005 at the Kennedy Center Honors as one of the most influential ballerinas of the 20th century. She also was the 2005 recipient of the Capezio Dance Award. Farrell was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2009.

Further reading and viewing[link]

• Suzanne Farrell, Toni Bentley, Holding on to the Air (Summit Books, New York, 1990)
• Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse, a 1996 documentary film
• Suzanne Farrell – Elusive Muse, (Directed by Anne Belle and Deborah Dickson 1990)

Quotes[link]

• "Life is hard; it’s meant to be a test, but while you’re studying for that test, isn’t it nice to be dancing."^[3]
• "I'm thought of as a cool unemotional dancer but inside I'm most certainly not. As soon as I hear music something in me starts to vibrate."
• "When you get on a stage you can do anything."
• "When I first met Peter [Martins], I said to Mr. B, 'Well, at least he's tall.' I did not even think about how handsome he was. And he was very handsome."
• "In my youth I have always been drawn to dance. It made me feel sexy and have confidence."

References[link]

Movie reviews[link]

• New York Times, October 7, 1996

External links[link]

• The Suzanne Farrell Ballet
• Archival footage of Suzanne Farrell speaking about Balanchine and technique in 2006 at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
• Archival footage of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet performing Clarinade in 2006 at Jacob's Pillow.
• Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell
• Photos of Suzanne Farrell courtesy of Getty Images
• The Ballerina Gallery – Suzanne Farrell
• Horstman, Barry M (April 19, 1999). "Suzanne Farrell: She shaped new generation of dancers". The Cincinnati Post (E. W. Scripps Company). Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070517104605/http://www.cincypost.com/living/1999/farrel041999.html. 
• Capezio Dance Award – Suzanne Farrell 2005
• 2003 BOMB Magazine interview of Suzanne Farrell by Emily Fragos

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