Alexandra Wells to be Honored With MAD Spirit Award, 9/30

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Harold Clurman Center for New York in Movement and Dance Theater will honor Alexandra Wells on Thursday, September 30th. The evening will feature performances by Sidra Bell Dance New York, Andrea Miller's Gallim Dance, Austin McCormick's Company XIV and more. Margie Gillis will present the MAD Spirit Award to Alexandra Wells. The event is a part of the Studio's Fifth Annual Harold Clurman Festival, which brings artists and activists together to discuss the relationship between art and social activism and which raises funds for the nonprofit.

As Principal dancer of the Ballet National de Nancy, Ms. Wells danced leading roles in the classics as well as the ballets of Balanchine, Fokine, Nijinsky, Lifar, Culberg, Bejart, DeMille, among others. In 1995, she was invited to join the Faculty of l'École Supérieure de Danse du Québec (formerly associated with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens).

In Québec she had the opportunity to work with young talent in a professional school setting and foster relationships with many contemporary companies and choreographers in Montreal. In 2002, she launched the Springboard Danse Montréal with Susan Alexander. The project was designed to give gifted dancers the unique opportunity to work with professional companies and choreographers over a 3-week intensive period. Since Springboard's inception, choreographers have created dozens of new works and participants have been offered contracts with internationally renowned dance companies.

"We are pleased to honor Alexandra Wells with the MAD Spirit Award," stated Tom Oppenheim, Director of Stella Adler Studio of Acting. "Ms. Wells has mentored a generation of dancers and choreographers, and in doing so, filled a void in the dance world. Her role is unique in the industry because she has provided a bridge between dance training and a professional dance career through her program. "

Ms. Wells has been a full-time faculty member at The Juilliard School in New York City since 1998, teaching various levels of ballet and pointe as well as acting as a rehearsal director. She also functions as a colloquium facilitator, advisor and mentor for students in all artistic disciplines at Juilliard.

The Stella Adler Studio founded MAD to create new movement and dance performance work, which responds to our contemporary world. Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mimi Garrard, Margie Gillis, Bill T. Jones, Yoshi Oida and Alexandra Wells serve on MAD's advisory board. MAD's artist-in-residence program (MAD AIR), provides support and rehearsal and performance space for emerging choreographers and directors.

The event will be held at the Manhattan Movement Arts Center (248 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023) on Thursday, September 30th at 7:30pm. Admission is $18.00. For more information and for tickets go to SmartTix.com.

Danced with Boston Ballet, 1974-77. Principal with Dennis Wayne's Dancers, N.Y.C., 1977-81. Étoile with the Ballet National de Nancy, France, 1981-92. Partner to Rudolf Nureyev and Patrick Dupond for world tours, 1981-92. With Ballet National de Nancy, danced principal roles in works of Balanchine, DeMille, Fokine, Kylian, Limón, Lubovitch, Nijinsky, and others. Recipient of 1988 Prix Serge Lifar for interpretation. Rehearsal director for Ballet Hispanico, N.Y., 1993-95. Faculty, L'École Supérieure de Danse du Québec (school of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens), 1995-98. Interim artistic director, L'ESDQ, 1998. Guest teacher: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet, Ballet National of Mannheim, Boston Ballet Co., Cedar Lake, BJM Danse, Ballet British Columbia, the Arts Umbrella. Founder and artistic director, Springboard Danse Montreal (2002-present). Concept and artistic direction, Movement Invention Project (N.Y.C.), 2009-present, a project exploring improvisational skills. Curator for emerging artists, Tangent (Montreal) and MAD AIR (Stella Adler, N.Y.C.).

Established in 1949 by Stella Adler, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting was founded upon Adler's belief in the supreme seriousness of her art, and has, for the last five decades, enriched every part of the American theater and film arts. Adler's philosophies kept many well-known members of the theater coming back for her intelligent and passionate advice and the school has since trained many of the brilliant actors of our time, including Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Elaine Stritch, Benicio del Toroand Salma Hayek. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is a nonprofit organization, which currently trains over 500 actors each year and also presents world-class lectures, poetry readings, jazz, classical music, theater and dance theater events. www.stellaadler.com