ABT's Simon Wexler Set for Shreveport Dance Academy's Summer Program, 7/20-24

Simon Wexler of American Ballet Theatre will be on the faculty for the Shreveport Dance Academy's Summer Program from July 20-24, 2015. The Shreveport Dance Academy is located in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Simon Wexler immigrated to the United States in 1993 when he was only nine months old. At age eight Mr. Wexler started his dance training at the Academy of Ballet in Tucson, Arizona under the guidance of Linda Walker and Gary McKenzie. Mr. Wexler began his intensive ballet training, at 13 years-old, at the prestigious Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. where he trained under the guidance of Anatoli Kucheruck and Vladimir Djouloukadze.

Upon graduation from the Kirov Academy of Ballet, Mr. Wexler joined Orlando Ballet II where he trained with Peter Stark, Olivier Munoz, and Artistic Director, Robert Hill. While with Orlando Ballet, Mr. Wexler danced featured roles in Cinderella, The Nutcracker, and Le Corsaire as well as performing the Basilio male variation in Don Quixote for a charity gala. In 2010, Mr. Wexler left the Orlando Ballet and joined Texas Ballet Theater under the directorship of Ben Stevenson O.B.E. Mr. Wexler has since danced various soloist and principal roles. Mr. Wexler was promoted to the rank of First Soloist in 2013 and in 2014 was again promoted to the rank of Principal.

Mr. Wexler's repertoire includes the roles of the Cavalier and Snow Prince in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker, Blue Bird in Stevenson's Sleeping Beauty, Pas de Trois in Stevenson's Swan Lake, Renfield in Stevenson's Dracula, Benvolio and Paris in Stevenson's Romeo and Juliet, Cupid in Stevenson's production of Don Quixote, Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, Camile in Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow, and the Male Principal Lead in George Balanchine's Rubies, as well as George Balanchine's Theme and Variations.

Mr. Wexler has also distinguished himself in contemporary ballets including roles in Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort, Glen Tetley's Voluntaries, Kenneth MacMillan's Gloria, Val Caniparoli's Lambarena, Stevenson's Four Last Songs, Stevenson's Mozart Requiem, Stevenson's Sylvia Pas de Deux, and Stevenson's Five Poems.

In 2015 Mr. Wexler joined American Ballet Theatre.

In 2010, Mr. Wexler won the Silver Medal at the Youth American Grand Prix Competition in Orlando, Florida and later that year was named a Semi-Finalist at the Jackson International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2012, Mr. Wexler traveled to Helsinki, Finland to compete in the Helsinki International Ballet competition where he made it to the Semi-Finals.

In 2011 Mr. Wexler performed alongside American Ballet Theater and San Francisco Ballet principal dancers in the "Stars of Russian Ballet Gala" in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In 2012, Mr. Wexler was a guest artist with the Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet where he performed as the Jester in their production of Cinderella, and in 2015 Mr. Wexler was on the faculty for the Shreveport Dance Academy's Summer Program.

In 2013, Mr. Wexler guested with Studio A Dance, where he performed the Grand Pas de Deux from Don Quixote alongside fellow principal dancer Betsy McBride for a gala performance in Dallas, Texas.

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