 Ballet
Professional Level
Monday through Friday, 10:00am - 11:30am
Born in Israel, Igal Perry began his dancing career with Karmon, a
folk dance company, and later joined the Bat-Dor Dance
Company where he worked with leading teachers and
choreographers including Inesse Alexandrov, Benjamin Harkarvy,
John Butler, Rudi Van Dantzig, Alvin Ailey, Paul Sanasardo, and
Lar Lubovitch. Upon arriving in the United States, Mr. Perry
joined Dennis Wayne’s Dancers as a ballet master and
choreographer. During that period, he staged John Butler’s work
for the New York City Opera, the Opera of Munich, Caracas
Ballet, and Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, where he also directed the
world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s opera Paradise
Lost.
Mr. Perry’s first full evening of ballets, Chromatic
Motions, was presented in 1979, in collaboration with the
Manhattan School of Music, presenting works to original music
by Rand Steiger, Randy Packer, Edward Billous, and more. In
1981 and 1982, he headed the ballet department at Jacob’s
Pillow, and went on to co-direct the Clive Thompson Dance
Company. In 1983, Mr. Perry celebrated the opening of his dance
school Peridance Center, which has since been providing a
nurturing and professional environment for all dancers. A year
after the opening of his school, he founded his dance company,
the Peridance Ensemble, for which he has
choreographed over 50 works,. BAM, The Joyce Theater and City
Center are amongst the many theaters the Ensemble has
performed in through the years, Mr. Perry has collaborated with
numerous composers including John Mackey, Quentine
Chappetta, Phillip Hamilton, and Avner Dorman, with whom he
has created the full length work Dreams and Demons
(2003).
Mr. Perry’s international engagements as a teacher and
choreographer include The Scapino Ballet and Het
National Ballet (Holland), Laterna Magica and the
National Ballet (Prague), Architanz (Tokyo),
The Royal Ballet of Sweden, The National Ballet of
China, and the Kwang-Ju City Ballet Company
(Korea), where he also serves as Artistic Director for the Kwang-
Ju International Ballet Competition. Mr. Perry’s works are in the
repertories of companies throughout the world, including the
Batsheva and Bat-Dor Dance Companies
(Israel), Companhia de Danca de Lisboa (Portugal), the
Alberta Ballet (Canada), Complexions (USA)
and Alvin Ailey II (USA). Since 1995, Mr. Perry has been
serving as guest master teacher at Juilliard, where he
also staged his Intimate Voices, and premiered Mourning Song,
created for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble. Mr. Perry’s
work has been repeatedly presented at the prestigious Florence
Dance Festival, Italy, by Peridance Ensemble as well as by
Florence Dance Company.
In May 2007, Mr. Perry was inducted into the Dance Library of
Israel Hall of Fame.
Read reviews about Mr. Perry's recent choreography performed
by Complexions.
Class Description:
Mr. Perry’s class introduces a fresh and open approach to
the study of traditional ballet vocabulary. The class eloquently
fuses the different elements of ballet, from correct placement
and alignment to the utmost in technical execution,
coordination, musicality and phrasing. Students will not only be
able to advance technically, but will learn to move more freely
and to dance with grace and confidence.
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