Sarasota International Dance Festival

The 2013 summer intensive doubled attendance from 50 students in year one to just under 100 in 2012. The talent attending was outstanding and resulted in a mid-festival recital for the junior dancers and two performances at the closing, mostly sold out. The festival also welcomed a most distinguished faculty: youri fateev - director of the mariinsky ballet from russia, loipa araujo returned to assist and director of english national ballet, and master teachers from brazil, new york and cuba, all of enormous standing. The performance included a suite from the sleeping beauty with american guest artists currently performing as principal dancers with the royal swedish ballet, the zurich ballet and boston ballet. They were supported by the young pre-professionals in a very high level of artistic and technical merit.