David Hallberg and Damian Woetzel Host A Conversation at City Center 2/27

David Hallberg, Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre and the first American star to join the fabled Bolshoi Ballet, will join Damian Woetzel in an informal discussion on Monday, February 27 at 6:30 pm, as part of New York City Center's Studio 5 Series. The conversation will include an intimate look at Hallberg's life and career as one of the world's foremost example of the "noble" genre of male dancing, both here and in Moscow. Studio 5 events take place in the Barbara and David Zalaznick Studio at City Center, 130 West 56th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues).

About David Hallberg: "David Hallberg joined the Bolshoi Ballet as a Premier Danseur in September 2011, the first American to join the company. He joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001, was promoted to Soloist in January 2004 and Principal in May 2005. Hallberg was a member of Kings of The Dance (2008, 2009), which toured Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia. (He will perform in Kings of the Dance: Opus 3 at City Center February 24–26.) He has been a guest artist with the world's most prestigious companies, including the Royal Swedish Ballet, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and the Kiev Ballet, and has danced at galas throughout the world, from Japan to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Hallberg was a recipient of the Princess Grace Fellowship and the Chris Hellman Dance Award for 2002-2003. He received a nomination for the Benois de la Danse Award in 2006 and won the Benois de la Danse Award in 2010."

About Damian Wotzel: "Since retiring in 2008 from a 20-year career as Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet, Damian Woetzel has taken on multiple roles in arts leadership. He is the Director of Arts Programs for the Aspen Institute, the Artistic Director of the Vail International Dance Festival, the founding Director of the Jerome Robbins Foundation's New Essential Works (NEW) Program, and he also works with Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Connect Program in the New York City Public Schools. He is active as a director and producer, including the 2010 special performance at the White House celebrating dance in America. Woetzel holds a Master in Public Administration Degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and in 2010–11 he was a Visiting Lecturer at Harvard Law School. In November of 2009, President Obama appointed Woetzel to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities."

Studio 5 at City Center is made possible in part by Margee and John Falk and Barbara and David Zalaznick

About New York City Center: "New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city for nearly 70 years. It was Manhattan's first performing arts center, dedicated by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in 1943 with a mission to make the best in music, theater and dance accessible to all audiences. Today, City Center is home to many distinguished companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club; a roster of renowned national and international visiting artists; and its owncritically acclaimed and popular programs. The Tony-honored Encores!musical theater series has been hailed as "one of the very best reasons to be alive in New York." Dance has been integral to the theater's mission from the start, and dance programs, including the annual Fall for Dance Festival and a partnership with London's Sadler's Wells Theatre, remain central to City Center's identity. City Center is dedicated to providing educational opportunities to New York City students and teachers with programs such as Encores! In Schools and the Young People's Dance Series. Special workshops cater to families, seniors and other groups, while events such as the Fall for Dance DanceTalk series offer learning opportunities to the general public. Last year, City Center completed an extensive renovation project to revitalize and modernize its historic theater."

The February 27 Studio 5 event will take place in the Barbara and David Zalaznick Studio at City Center, 5th floor, 130 West 56th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues). Tickets are $20 and must be purchased in advance via CityTix® at 212-581-1212, online at www.NYCityCenter.org or at the City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).