Damian Woetzel Oral History, 2017

Damian Woetzel joined NYC Ballet in 1985 and was a Principal dancer from 1989 until retirement in 2008. New works were created for him by Jerome Robbins, Eliot Feld, Twyla Tharp, Susan Stroman, and Christopher Wheldon among others. He performed more than 50 feature roles in the company repertory. Damian choreographed ballets for NYC Ballet—Ebony Concerto to Stravinsky, and Glazounov Pas de Deux to Le Ruses d’Amour, and Polovtian Dances for NYC Opera production of Prince Igor. Recently he choreographed The Orchard for Pacific Ballet’s Carla Korbes, premiered at the Vail Dance Festival. He has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and in 2010 he was a visiting lecturer at Harvard Law School co-teaching a course on Performing Arts and the Law with Jeannie Suk. Damian is the founding director the Jerome Robbins Foundation’s New Essential Works and Director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program bringing together artists, educators, advocates, managers, foundations and government officials to exchange ideas and develop policies that strengthen the relationship between arts and society. Under his Artistic Directorship since 2006 the Vail Dance Festival has been recognized for its innovation and growth as a showcase for dance, for engaging live musicians, for first-time partnerships across companies and countries, and for debuting young, emerging dancers. Awards: Choo San Goh for new choreography and the first Gene Kelly Legacy Award for contributions to the arts as ballet star and director of dance and music performances. Damian is on the Artist Committee of Kennedy Center Honors. In 2018 he appointed the incoming president of Juilliard School.