International Ballet Competition/USA

June 14-29, 2014 Jackson, MS

Master and Mistress of Ceremonies

Wes Chapman

A native of Union Springs, Alabama, Chapman graduated from Alabama School of Fine Arts in 1983 with the Duane Dushion Award and the Prix d’excellence de Danse Award. After dancing for Alabama Ballet for one season, Chapman joined American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 1984 as a member of thecorps de ballet. He was promoted to soloist in 1987 and to principal dancer in 1989. He also created leading roles in Clark Tippet’sBruch Violin Concerto No. 1 and Twyla Tharp’s The Elements. In 1993, he joined the Bavarian National Ballet as a principal dancer before returning to ABT in 1995. Chapman appeared with Hamburg Ballet, English National Ballet, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and Finnish National Ballet as a guest star. In 1996, he was named artistic director of Alabama Ballet. During his leadership, the company grew from 16 to 44 professional and apprentice dancers. He received the Distinguished Career Award from the University of Alabama in 1998, Birmingham Business Journal Top 40 Under 40 in 2004, and was named Alabama Arts Ambassador by Governor Bill Riley in 2007. Chapman re-staged many of the full-length classical ballets for Alabama Ballet, including Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Coppelia as well as various one-act works such as Paquita, Raymonda Act III and Carnival in Venice. He acquired Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and starred in Alabama Public Television’s Jekyll and Hyde and The Making of Romeo and Juliet. Chapman returned to ABT as ballet master in 2006 before being named artistic director of ABT II, 2007-2011. Currently, he is freelance teaching and coaching.

Susan Jaffe

Declared “America’s Quintessential American Ballerina” by The New York Times, Susan Jaffe danced as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, 1980-2002. One year after she retired from the stage, she co-founded the Princeton Dance & Theatre Studio and DanceVision Youth Ensemble, which she co-directed until 2010. Jaffe then left New Jersey to return to ABT as ballet master and worked with the principal dancers and soloists for two years. In 2012, she was appointed dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she currently directs the school, teaches and choreographs. A freelance choreographer, Jaffe recently completed a new work for Company C Contemporary Ballet.