New Brunswick, New Jersey – American Repertory Ballet (ARB) will open its spring season with a festive evening of whimsy, world premieres, and gorgeous dancing at its Mask-erade Gala on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC). This major fundraising event supports the organization’s artistic, educational, and community engagement programs.
The performance program will feature an exclusive sneak peek of Ethan Stiefel’s new A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an exhilarating excerpt from the classical ballet Don Quixote; a bewitching duet created by American Ballet Theatre’s Claire Davison; and a showstopping pièce d’occasion by Michael Mindlin, a Princeton Ballet School alum and dance supervisor of Hamilton, among others. Students from Princeton Ballet School, the official school of American Repertory Ballet, will also take the stage.
The evening’s honorees include the Rutgers Global Health Institute; Jeffrey Grosser, Princeton’s Deputy Administrator of Health and Community Services; and the Princeton Spine & Joint Center, for enabling ARB and Princeton Ballet School dancers to safely return to the studio and the stage.
“These health partners have been instrumental in helping us safely navigate the ongoing pandemic,” says Julie Diana Hench, Executive Director. “Not only do they provide access to consistent testing, but they offer expert guidance that continues to shape our safety policies. We are incredibly grateful for the many ways they work in the community and behind the scenes to keep our dancers dancing.”
The Gala will also pay homage to dance legend Maurice Hines, Honorary Chair Emeritus of DANCE POWER (American Repertory Ballet’s flagship residency program serving nearly 800 New Brunswick students each year). Maurice Hines served as honorary chair of American Repertory Ballet’s acclaimed DANCE POWER program after Gregory Hines’ passing in 2003, helping to ensure its continued success. American Repertory Ballet’s DANCE POWER, founded in 1986 by Dr. Penelope Lattimer in partnership with the New Brunswick Board of Education, was the recent recipient of the 2021 Distinction in Dance Award from the Dance Studies Association.
Sponsors of the Mask-erade Gala will enjoy a VIP pre-show reception with Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel and honorees. Festivities continue in the lobby after the performance, with whimsical surprises inspired by the masquerade theme. The event will feature a silent auction and live lots presented by professional fundraiser Lucas Hunt, president of HUNT Philanthropy and a celebrated American poet. He graduated from World Wide College of Auctioneering and is a Benefit Auction Specialist (BAS) who has helped hundreds of organizations raise hundreds of millions of dollars. His latest volume of poetry NEW YORK is being published this spring.
To purchase tickets for ARB’s Mask-erade Gala, visit arballet.org/gala.
Proof of vaccination, and a booster if eligible, will be required to attend the Gala. Safety masks fully covering the nose and mouth must be worn unless actively eating or drinking.
American Repertory Ballet’s Gala is generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The event is chaired by Ngoc Nguyen, member of the Board of Trustees. Committee members include Naomi Byank, Nancy MacMillan (Trustee), Pam Mingle (Trustee), Beth Padron, Jolly Vazapphilly, Lisa Patterson, Rosella Porter, Jeri Schaefer (Trustee), and Tricia Vera. ARB also appreciates support from Apotheosis Events by Ryan Hill.
ABOUT THE HONOREES
Rutgers Global Health Institute is a university-wide convener and catalyst. We advance and implement global health efforts across disciplines, schools, and campuses. Global health is less about geography than it is about equity. All over the world and right here at home, there are tremendous disparities in access to care and in the conditions that make good health possible. Rutgers Global Health Institute fosters collaboration across the university and with partners beyond Rutgers to improve the health of vulnerable populations. Locally and around the world, we promote health equity by working with communities to create and implement comprehensive, long-term solutions to pressing global health challenges. Rutgers Global Health Institute provides COVID-19 weekly testing in New Brunswick in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Health, New Brunswick City Center and the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.
Jeffrey Grosser serves as the Deputy Administrator of Health and Community Services for the Municipality of Princeton. Also serving as the licensed health officer, Mr. Grosser is responsible for the administration of public health practice standards in Princeton. Under his leadership, the health department became only the third local health department in New Jersey (and one of the smallest in the country) to achieve national public health accreditation in November 2018 through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Prior to his time in Princeton, Mr. Grosser worked for the Burlington County Health Department. He began his public health career as an Environmental Health Specialist and finished his time there as Program Manager of Disease Prevention and Control. Beyond governmental public health, Mr. Grosser has served as an adjunct faculty member at Stockton University’s School of Health Sciences since 2013.
The Princeton Spine and Joint Center, LLC, co-founded by Grant Cooper, MD, and Ana Bracilovic, MD, strives to offer excellent musculoskeletal medical care that is second to none. Without needing to travel to New York City, Philadelphia or Baltimore, we offer premier, individualized, evidence-based treatment of spine, joint, muscle, and nerve pain. Our doctors not only stay-up-to-date with the latest musculoskeletal medicine research, they create, publish, edit and review it. Our doctors not only read textbooks, they write them. Our business model is simple: treat each patient as an individual and achieve good outcomes one patient at a time.
Maurice Hines is an iconic and accomplished Broadway entertainer with over 70 years in the entertainment industry. He conceived, directed and choreographed two Broadway musicals, Hot Feet and Uptown…It’s Hot!; the latter earned him a TONY award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. His other credits include the Broadway productions Eubie!, Bring Back Birdie, Sophisticated Ladies, the national tours of Guys and Dolls and Jelly’s Last Jam, and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club. In recent years, he has traveled across the U.S. singing and dancing in his one-man show Maurice Hines Tappin’ Thru Life, which is both a tribute to his brother, Gregory Hines, and to the performers who inspired him. Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back, the award-winning documentary film by John Carluccio, has just been released on STARZ.
ABOUT AMERICAN REPERTORY BALLET
American Repertory Ballet’s mission is to bring the joy, beauty, artistry and athleticism of classical and contemporary dance to New Jersey and nationwide audiences and to students through artistic and educational programs. Founded as the Princeton Ballet Society in 1954, the organization now comprises: the preeminent professional ballet company in the state; Princeton Ballet School, one of the most established non-profit dance schools in the nation; and ARB’s Access & Enrichment initiatives, including the long-running and acclaimed DANCE POWER program. In July 2021, ARB welcomed its new Artistic Director, Ethan Stiefel. To learn more, visit arballet.org.
ARB’s spring season continues in April with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a new ballet conceived and choreographed by Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel, and rounding out the season in June will be Movin’ + Groovin,’ a program of new works featuring world premieres by immensely inventive choreographers: Ja’Malik, Caili Quan, and Claire Davison. All performances will be at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.
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