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FORMER ABT PRINCIPAL AND BOSTON BALLET DIRECTOR BRUCE MARKS
JOINS FACULTY OF 2011 DANCELIFE TEACHER CONFERENCE

NORTON, MA, March 29, 2011

Bruce Marks brings a hard-to-match combination of balletic star power and arts-administration expertise to the faculty of this year’s DanceLife Teacher Conference, which will bring dance teachers and school owners from across the United States to the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona from July 30 through August 2.

Bruce Marks

At the DanceLife Teacher Conference, Marks will lead these sessions: “Advanced Ballet Technique,” July 31; “Intermediate/Advanced Ballet Technique” and “Intimate Conversation,” August 1; and “Discussion of Épaulement and the Use of the Torso,” August 2.

Marks joined the corps de ballet at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1956, becoming premier danseur in 1958. He joined American Ballet Theatre in 1961 and was soon promoted to principal dancer. During his 10 years with ABT, Marks appeared as guest artist with the Royal Swedish Ballet and London Festival Ballet. In 1971, he became the first American principal dancer of the Royal Danish Ballet, where he remained for five years.

Marks has partnered some of the world’s great ballerinas, including Natalia Makarova, Cynthia Gregory, Eva Evdokimova, Maria Tallchief, Lupe Serrano, Violette Verdy, Melissa Hayden, and Toni Lander, whom he married in 1966.

In 1976, Marks became co-artistic director of Ballet West at the invitation of founder Willam Christensen. Following Christensen’s retirement, in 1978, he was named artistic director, adding to the repertory new works by August Bournonville and George Balanchine. In 1985 Marks became artistic director of Boston Ballet, where the company’s annual budget and attendance tripled during his 12-year tenure.

Marks was a founding member of Dance/USA, which he chaired from 1990 to 1992. In 1989, he became chairman of the international jury of the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, a position he still holds.

For more information about the DanceLife Teacher Conference, visit www.dancestudiolife.com/dltc/.