The Jurors

Virginia Johnson

Virginia Johnson is currently Editor-in-Chief of Pointe® magazine; the new publication dedicated to the art of ballet. She was formerly a principal dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem. Born in Washington, DC, Johnson graduated from the Academy of the Washington School of Ballet. She briefly attended the School of the Arts at New York University where she was a University Scholar before joining DTH in 1969. During her long association with that company, she performed most of the repertoire, with principal roles in Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, Agon, A Streetcar Named Desire, Fall River Legend, Swan Lake, Giselle, Voluntaries, Les Biches and other ballets. Many of her performances in principal roles were recorded for broadcast and include A Streetcar Named Desire for Dance in America on PBS, Creole Giselle, which was the first full-length ballet broadcast on NBC, and Fall River Legend, which won a cable ACE award from the Bravo Network. In addition, she was included in two acclaimed television dance series, Margot Fonteyn’s "The Magic of Dance" and Natalia Makarova’s "Ballerina." Her choreographic credits include the television film, "Ancient Voices of Children" which she choreographed and danced and an early solo concert which she choreographed and produced. Later choreographic works include ballets created for Goucher College, Dancers Respond to AIDS, the Second Annual Harlem Festival of the Arts, Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center and Marymount Manhattan College, where she was also an adjunct professor. The latter two projects were an outgrowth of Dancers Making Dances, a collaborative project with former DTH colleagues, Judy Tyrus and Melanie Person that was founded to further their interests in choreography. Her honors include a Young Achiever Award from the National Council of Women, Outstanding Young Woman of America and the Dance Magazine Award. Highlights of her guest appearances include a tour of Australia with "Stars of World Ballet," the International Festival of Dance in Havana Cuba, and with the Royal Ballet at The Royal Opera House in London. While still performing, her interest in journalism led her to Fordham University where she continues to pursue a degree in communications. Her commitment to community service is maintained through volunteer assignments with New York Cares.

Christopher Stowell

Christopher Stowell is Oregon Ballet Theatre’s second artistic director. Since his 2003-04 debut season, he has made significant additions to the OBT repertoire, bringing to Portland works from some of the world’s most celebrated choreographers including Ashton, Balanchine, Robbins, Taylor, Tomasson, Wheeldon and Lubovitch. Mr. Stowell has created six world premieres for OBT, including the company’s first full-length Swan Lake in 2006 and The Sleeping Beauty, Act III in 2007. Mr. Stowell has also commissioned works by internationally prominent artists James Kudelka, Kent Stowell, Trey McIntyre, Yuri Possokhov and Julia Adam.

Mr. Stowell was born in New York City and received his training at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. In 1985 he joined San Francisco Ballet where he danced for sixteen years, appearing in theaters throughout the world including the Paris Opera, New York’s Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. As a principal dancer, Mr. Stowell performed leading roles in the full-length classics Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and Othello, and had roles created for him by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson and by contemporary choreographers including Mark Morris, William Forsythe and James Kudelka. An established interpreter of the George Balanchine repertoire, Mr. Stowell appeared in almost every Balanchine ballet performed by SFB. Upon his retirement, he was accorded a gala farewell in the War Memorial Opera House.

In recent years, Mr. Stowell has taught and coached in San Francisco, New York, Japan and Europe. He has created new works for San Francisco Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Diablo Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, as well as the New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute. He has also staged the works of George Balanchine and Mark Morris.

Dermot Burke

As Director of Dayton Ballet Association, Dermot Burke serves in a dual capacity as the Company’s Chief Administrative Officer, as well as its Artistic Director.  He has directed Dayton Ballet into a secure and stable financial position.  His leadership in and out of the dance studio has helped Dayton Ballet develop new and expanded performance opportunities.  On a national level, his contributions to dance include his service on the Board of Trustees of Dance USA.  In 2001, Mr. Burke and the Dayton Ballet Board of Trustees made the public announcement of the venture philanthropy project, Vision 20/20, which in its first 15 months met its goal of $3 million. Vision 20/20 raises funds to produce new full-length story ballets to increase the library of available works for all ballet companies. Over the past five years, Mr. Burke has been nationally recognized for encouraging U.S. ballet companies to form new co-operative collaborations.  To date, these partnerships have resulted in the presentation of Alvin Ailey’s Feast of Ashes, Lila York’s Gloria and Christopher Fleming’s Play Ball!  by a number of mid-size ballet companies which previously would not have been able to afford works of such stature.  Additionally, Mr. Burke formed a first-of-its-kind collaboration with his colleague, Jeffrey Graham Hughes, Artistic Director of Ohio Ballet.  Their companies performed two full-length productions in each of their home cities, Dayton and Akron, as well as a third city, Cleveland, bringing to the stage productions that neither company could afford on their own.

Prior to joining Dayton Ballet in August 1992, Mr. Burke enjoyed a 13-year association with the American Repertory Ballet Company (formerly the Princeton Ballet).  His tenure with ARBC included positions in which he served as Ballet Master/Resident Choreographer and later as Artistic Director.  As a professional dancer, Mr. Burke began his career in the Joffrey Ballet in 1965 when it was still based in New York. Mr Burke had the good fortune to work with the  founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino at the height of their creative and physical powers .It was a time when the Joffrey’ impact on the art form was enormous and is still felt today.  While a member of the Joffrey, he was featured as a principal dancer in major works by renowned choreographers, such as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, among others. 

During a leave of absence from the Joffrey to pursue other professional opportunities, Mr. Burke appeared in an Emmy award-winning dance special entitled, A Patchwork of Love.  Before he returned to the Joffrey in 1975, he was also featured as a dancer in the Houston Opera’s premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale, performed as principal dancer with The National Ballet in Washington, D.C., and co-directed the NYC-based Eglevsky Ballet.  While in Washington, he testified before Congress for a renewal of the original legislation for the National Endowment for the Arts.  At the Joffrey, Mr. Burke resumed his role as principal dancer and was named Associate Ballet Master.  After two years, he went on to join Milwaukee Ballet as that Company’s Resident Choreographer. In 1980, the Princeton Ballet named him to its artistic staff.  Other companies he has choreographed for include: the Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Repertory Ballet and Dayton Ballet.

Mr. Burke is married to former dancer Karen Russo and is the father of Daniel, Kevin and Margaret Kathleen.