Creative Team For Kansas City Ballet's THE WIZARD OF OZ Nominated For Major Award

Kansas City Ballet Artistic Director Devon Carney today announced that the creative team for The Wizard of Oz including Septime Webre (choreography), Matthew Pierce (composer), Michael Raiford (set design) and Liz Vandal (costume design) have been nominated for the Prix Benois de la danse, considered to be the most prestigious ballet award in the world. Awards will be given in Moscow, Russia on May 21st during which Kansas City Ballet Company dancers Lilliana Hagerman (Dorothy), Lamin Pereira dos Santos (Tin Man), and Jeremy Hanson (Toto puppeteer) will perform a short excerpt from the production at the historic Bolshoi Theatre.

Carney stated, "I am so honored by this recognition by such an esteemed organization and cannot wait to share this incredible production with others in the dance world this May. I have long loved Septime's work. His extraordinary fresh take on this classic tale alongside the work of the rest of the creative team including the glorious music of Matthew Pierce, the stunning sets by Michael Raiford and the deliciously fun costumes of Liz Vandal was an instant hit when it debuted on the Kauffman Center stage last October. His unique artistic vision, along with this deeply talented creative team, offered our audiences a refreshingly original spectacle. The sheer artistry and the level of detail on every design element absolutely astonished audiences. To have this level of artistry recognized by the Benois de la danse is remarkable."

This co-production with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Colorado Ballet debuted in Kansas City on Oct. 12th at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. This first ever collaboration between these companies was enhanced by a team of outstanding creative artists in choreography, music, design, video and puppetry creating a magical tour de force production of an international classic story.

"This creative team that was assembled for OZ was an amazing collection of talent, ingenuity, and collegiality. Each of these artists was dedicated to the success of this project in very personal ways. The generosity of spirit that was exhibited at every turn during the creation process was inspiring. We are so thrilled to be able to congratulate Septime, Matthew, Michael and Liz for receiving this nomination. Our collaboration with Colorado Ballet and Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet was a splendid experience from beginning to end and to be able to layer on top of that this extraordinary Prix Benois de La Danse recognition is so very satisfying," stated Jeffrey J. Bentley, Executive Director of Kansas City Ballet where The Wizard of Oz enjoyed its world premiere.

Story lines and visual elements from the classic motion picture provided by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.

The complete design team includes: Septime Webre (choreography) Matthew Pierce (composer), Michael Raiford (set design), Liz Vandal (costume design), Trad A Burns (lighting design), Nicholas Mahon (puppet design), and Aaron Rhyne (projection design).

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Meet the Nominated Designers

Septime Webre

Septime Webre is the Artistic Director of Hong Kong Ballet and the Washington DC-based S&R Foundation which launched Halcyon Stage in 2017, a new interdisciplinary performance and dialogue series. From 1999 until 2016, Mr. Webre served as the Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet and from 1993 to 1999 was the Artistic Director of the American Repertory Ballet based in Princeton, NJ. During his tenure at The Washington Ballet, the institution enjoyed unprecedented growth in the scope and quality of its work on stage, its school grew from 325 students to 1,500 students, and the organization developed impactful community engagement initiatives including the award-winning Dance DC and TWB@THE ARC, both of which he founded.

As a choreographer, Mr. Webre's works appear in the repertoires of ballet companies throughout North America, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiéns, Colorado Ballet, Ballet West, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Ballet Memphis, Milwaukee Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, and many others. He has served on the boards of Dance/USA and Dance Metro DC and his work has received numerous honors, grants and awards. He holds a degree in History/Pre-Law from the University of Texas at Austin.

Matthew Pierce

Composer-Violinist Matthew Pierce is celebrated for his new classical scores commissioned by major American ballet companies. He has written ballet scores for Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Atlanta Ballet, Ohio Ballet, Ballet Met, Cincinnati Ballet, Miami Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Ballet Hawaii, Post Ballet, Ballet Coeur d'Alene, Colorado Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, Ballet Austin and the San Francisco Ballet. Night, a full orchestra score set to a Chagall inspired dreamscape ballet has been seen at the Opera Garnier in Paris, Covent Garden in London and City Center in New York. Sarah Kaufman of the Washington Post called his 2012 score for Washington Ballet's Alice (in wonderland), "The cherry on top: Pierce's visionary result, a shimmering landscape that weaves together bits of our own world-Asian, Middle Eastern, pop riffs, jazz-with a contemporary edge and a spirit of discovery. And, yes, wonder."

Michael B. Raiford

Michael B. Raiford is a scenic and costume designer based in Austin, Texas. In Austin his work has appeared at Ballet Austin including world premieres of Exit Wounds (costume and set), Belle Redux (costume set and video direction), Mozart Project (Scenic design), Magic Flute (scenic and puppet design). Also, in Austin: Austin Lyric Opera, ZACH Theatre and the Rude Mechanicals. Mr. Raiford's work also has been seen at: Opera Boston, Central City Opera (Colorado), The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, South Coast Repertory, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, Playmakers Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Ford's Theatre (Washington, D.C.), New Victory Theatre (New York), Merrimack Repertory Theatre, The Lyric Theatre (Oklahoma City), and Actors Theatre of Louisville where he designed 20 productions including twelve world premieres for Humana Festival of New American Plays. Mr. Raiford's most recent adventure: Director of "Blast: The Music of Disney," Tokyo and National Tour of Japan. He is a creative consultant/director in architecture, advertising, and marching band/DCI and WGI. Education: M.F.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught for 10 years.

Liz Vandal

Liz Vandal started her career as a fashion designer. Self-taught, she entered the universe of clothing more than 25 years ago. >From dazzling beginnings, she brought her originality to the rigorous domains of dance, circus, cinema and special projects, building a company of excellence.

Great partnerships link Ms. Vandal with numerous choreographers and dance companies around the world: Edouard Lock; Compagnie Marie Chouinard; Margie Gillis; José Navas; Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal; Le Ballet National du Canada; The Washington Ballet; Mannheim Theater; Stuttgart Ballet (Germany), l'Opéra de Paris; Göteborg Theater (Sweden), Hong Kong Ballet.

Collaborating with multi-national IGT (International Gaming Technology) in Las Vegas, Ms. Vandal created AVATAR costumes approved by Jon Landau and 20th Century Fox. As a design, innovation, production and team synergy consultant, Ms. Vandal offers her services to Sportswear multinational Oxylane, owner of Decathlon stores to develop avant-garde products. As the company continued to expand, an incomparable opportunity led Ms. Vandal's creativity to Azerbaijan for the first European games in 2015 where she designed an incredible 3,000 costumes for the closing ceremony. Since 2017, Cirque du Soleil floats onto the sea, on Cruise ship Meraviglia with Ms. Vandal's costumes dressing up two shows: 'Viaggio' and 'Sonor'.

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