American Ballet Theater

Antony Tudor, a causal and dominating presence in the world of dance whose psychologically oriented ballets explored the darker side of the human experience, died Sunday night. He was 79 and suffered a heart attack at his residence at the First Zen Institute of America in New York City.

The new 2013-14 season of Dance at the Music Center will feature works by choreographers Matthew Bourne, Ethan Stiefel and Alexei Ratmansky. The season, which the Music Center announced this week, will also include return appearances by Ballet Preljocaj and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The dance series -- whose full title is Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center -- will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, unless otherwise noted. As previously announced, Nederlands Dans Theater will present "Chamber" (Oct.

Nina Stroganova, 78, a Danish-born ballerina who was a founding member of American Ballet Theater and later a demanding but much-respected dance teacher. Miss Stroganova, whose name was originally Rigmor Strom, received her early training in her native Copenhagen. In 1937, she joined the Mordkin Ballet, a New York company that served as the nucleus of Ballet Theater, as American Ballet Theater was originally known.

Standing at the barre in a dance studio with her back perfectly straight, head gently tilted and slender fingers caressing air, 17-year-old Ashley Anderson already looks much like the seasoned ballerina she hopes to become. The Northridge teen will move one step closer to her dream of a career as a professional dancer when she boards a jet tonight bound for New York City.

Peter Fonseca, a leading soloist with the American Ballet Theater much heralded for his interpretations of the 19th-Century Danish choreographer August Bournonville, is dead at the age of 28. A family spokesman said he died Saturday in Wheaton, Md., after what was described only as a lengthy illness. Fonseca joined ABT in 1976 and, with Susan Jaffe, Cheryl Yeager and Robert La Fosse, was quickly pushed into leading roles by artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Standing at the barre in a dance studio with her back perfectly straight, head gently tilted and slender fingers caressing air, 17-year-old Ashley Anderson already looks much like the seasoned ballerina she hopes to become. The Northridge teen will move one step closer to her dream of a career as a professional dancer when she boards a jet tonight bound for New York City.

Faruk Ruzimatov, 26, once a dashing star of the Kirov Ballet, has joined the American Ballet Theater. He will dance with the company in its eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera beginning May 7, the company said Thursday. Ruzimatov was praised when he danced here with the Kirov in 1987. He joined the Kirov in 1981, after his graduation from Leningrad's Vaganova Ballet Academy.

The new 2013-14 season of Dance at the Music Center will feature works by choreographers Matthew Bourne, Ethan Stiefel and Alexei Ratmansky. The season, which the Music Center announced this week, will also include return appearances by Ballet Preljocaj and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The dance series -- whose full title is Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center -- will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, unless otherwise noted. As previously announced, Nederlands Dans Theater will present "Chamber" (Oct.

Agnes de Mille's first ballet for the American Ballet Theater in 13 years opened Tuesday in New York, prompting an outpouring of praise for the 82-year-old choreographer. The company's artistic director, Mikhail Baryshnikov, read a congratulatory telegram from the Reagans and one from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) at a reception for de Mille at the Metropolitan Opera before the performance began.

Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov, who defected from the Soviet Union in 1974, will become a U.S. citizen along with 500 other people during Liberty Weekend festivities on Ellis Island. Baryshnikov will take the oath of allegiance before dancing to composer George Gershwin's music July 3 in the weekend's opening show, which President Reagan is expected to attend.

Joseph Rickard, a white dance teacher who created and ran the nation's First Negro Classic Ballet in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1959, has died. He was 75. Rickard died Wednesday at Glendale Adventist Hospital of heart failure after several bouts of pneumonia, said his friend and former student, Sunny Asch. The innovative Rickard was moved to organize an African American dance group when he watched a receptionist turn away a little black girl who had sought ballet lessons.

Nina Stroganova, 78, a Danish-born ballerina who was a founding member of American Ballet Theater and later a demanding but much-respected dance teacher. Miss Stroganova, whose name was originally Rigmor Strom, received her early training in her native Copenhagen. In 1937, she joined the Mordkin Ballet, a New York company that served as the nucleus of Ballet Theater, as American Ballet Theater was originally known.

American Ballet Theatre will present the Los Angeles company premiere of Twyla Tharp's "Nine Sinatra Songs" on Aug. 6, opening night of its two-week season at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. These will be the first performances the company has given at the Music Center since 1981. Created in 1982 for Tharp's own company, "Nine Sinatra Songs" will be joined by "Push Comes to Shove" and "In the Upper Room" on an all-Tharp program to be danced at the Aug. 6 opening and then repeated on Aug. 14.

Faruk Ruzimatov, 26, once a dashing star of the Kirov Ballet, has joined the American Ballet Theater. He will dance with the company in its eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera beginning May 7, the company said Thursday. Ruzimatov was praised when he danced here with the Kirov in 1987. He joined the Kirov in 1981, after his graduation from Leningrad's Vaganova Ballet Academy.

Tonight's the night. At 7:30, if all goes as planned, the glamorous curtain at the Metropolitan Opera House will rise on one of those galas that make Fun City so much fun--for people who can pay $1,250 for a good seat. This won't be any ordinary, garden-variety fund-raising celebration. This will be the golden anniversary orgy of a sometimes-great cultural institution. This will be the Big Five-O birthday party for, by and of American Ballet Theatre. Everybody will be there.

Agnes de Mille's first ballet for the American Ballet Theater in 13 years opened Tuesday in New York, prompting an outpouring of praise for the 82-year-old choreographer. The company's artistic director, Mikhail Baryshnikov, read a congratulatory telegram from the Reagans and one from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) at a reception for de Mille at the Metropolitan Opera before the performance began.

Mikhail Baryshnikov, as per Martin Bernheimer ("Baryshnikov Weighs His Options," Dec. 1), says he wants to make stars within the ranks of American Ballet Theater. Unfortunately, the two greatest stars made within the ranks of the company--Fernando Bujones and Gelsey Kirkland--find themselves, at their primes, not within ABT but without, because Baryshnikov as company director has been unable to deal with the eccentricities of their artistic genius. Baryshnikov's own artistic genius seems to lie in fields other than management.

Tonight's the night. At 7:30, if all goes as planned, the glamorous curtain at the Metropolitan Opera House will rise on one of those galas that make Fun City so much fun--for people who can pay $1,250 for a good seat. This won't be any ordinary, garden-variety fund-raising celebration. This will be the golden anniversary orgy of a sometimes-great cultural institution. This will be the Big Five-O birthday party for, by and of American Ballet Theatre. Everybody will be there.

If seven years constitute a tradition, the Palos Verdes Ballet has established one with its annual holiday "A Tale of the Nutcracker" performance to the music of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. Over the years, total attendance has been about 12,000, and the numbers will grow this weekend when the ballet--in which a child's Christmas toys come to life and dance--unfolds for five performances at the Norris Community Theatre.

Antony Tudor, a causal and dominating presence in the world of dance whose psychologically oriented ballets explored the darker side of the human experience, died Sunday night. He was 79 and suffered a heart attack at his residence at the First Zen Institute of America in New York City.