Performances at the PACE Center
Featuring Guest Artists
Emily Speed grew up in Argyle, TX and began her training at Denton Ballet Academy under the direction of Hugh Nini. She went on to graduate from Marina Almayeva School of Classical Ballet. While in high school, Emily received First Place as a soloist at Youth America Grand Prix and was Finalist at World Ballet Competition. She qualified and competed in Varna International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria and in USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS.
Emily danced professionally for Ballet Tucson, Alabama Ballet and Colorado Ballet as a Demi-Soloist prior moving to New York City to dance as a Freelance Artist. Some of her most notable leading roles include Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort, Antony Tudor’s The Leaves are Fading, Lilac Garden and Pillar of Fire, Clara, Dew Drop and Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker, Pink Couple in Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Flames of Paris Pas de Deux, Red Couple in Twyla Tharp’s A Brief Fling and Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty among numerous others. In 2023 she moved to Boise to dance for Ballet Idaho and has performed leading roles in Danielle Rowe’s Dreamland, Garret Anderson’s Congruence and Peter Anastos’ The Nutcracker. Ms. Speed has begun work with The Antony Tudor Ballet Trust learning to stage his ‘Fandango’ and loves sharing her passion for dance from the studio to the stage. |
Alexey Minkin was born and raised in the city of Kazan, Russia. He finished his studies at the internationally renowned ballet school Perm State Choreographic College in Perm, Russia. Soon after he graduated he was hired to dance as a soloist at the Kremlin Ballet in Moscow where he performed all the classical and contemporary repertoire of the company and was able to perform in important stages both nationally, such as the Kremlin Palace and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and also internationally, such as Covent Garden in London, Champs-Elysees in Paris and many more.He later moved to Latin America where he worked performing both soloist and principal roles for the best companies in the area like Ballet Teresa Carreño in Caracas, Venezuela and Ballet de Santiago in Chile. As a professional dancer he has participated in many international galas and festivals in many theaters around the world. He was also a finalist at the First International Ballet Competition in Riga, Latvia and is also the recipient of the “Crowd’s Favorite” Prize at the Perm Ballet School Competition. Today Alexey is a Ballet dancer with Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami and a resident guest dancer with Ballet Arts in Lake Worth, Florida, Western Ballet in Mountain View, California and Brevard Ballet in Melbourne, Florida. His repertoire includes the Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, Swan Lake, Esmeralda Pas de Deux, and many more.
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Bryce Lee has been with with Colorado Ballet for 11 seasons and was recently promoted to Soloist. He began studying ballet at Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy California. Within a year of beginning his training he had already begun to receive accolades as a student by winning scholarships and placement from some of the most prestigious programs in the nation including ABT, Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and a coveted invitation to winter term at School of American Ballet. While at Colorado Ballet, Bryce has performed soloist and lead roles for the world’s leading contemporary choreographers like Jirí Kylián and Twyla Tharp and in beloved classical ballets such as The Nutcracker and Giselle. Bryce teaches dance locally and serves as the Artistic Director for Male Dancer Academy, a dance training program that harnesses the power of technology to unite young male dancers from across the globe through the power of dance. Bryce's selected roles and ballets include Step Sisters and Jester in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Jirí Kylián's Sinfionetta and Petite Mort, George Balanchine’s Serenade, Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird, Swan Lake, Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Chinese and Russian in The Nutcracker, Tweedle Dee in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), and Paul Mejia’s Seasons and Donizetti Variations.
About the Performance
Like Giselle and Le Corsaire, Paquita was born in France, staged by Joseph Mazilier for the Paris Opera Ballet. It premiered in Paris in 1846 with the cast led by Carlotta Grisi in the title role of a spirited gypsy girl and Lucien Petipa (Marius’s brother) in the role of a dashing French officer who wins her heart. It was this 1846 production that traveled to St. Petersburg one year later and was revised by Petipa for the St. Petersburg’s Imperial Ballet. The choreographer was not only responsible for the staging (it was his first full-length production in Russia); he also made his dancing debut as the leading man.
Yet unlike Giselle and Le Corsaire, the full-length Paquita was never a mainstay of the 19th-century ballet repertory. Throughout the 20th-century, only the excerpt from Paquita – its celebratory Grand Pas Classique, which Petipa added to the ballet in 1881 – was popular and performed across the world by numerous ballet companies in various editions.
In the 21st-century, however, the full-length Paquita has experienced an awakening of sorts, with two notable revivals: by Pierre Lacotte for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2001 and by Alexei Ratmansky and Doug Fullington for the Bavarian State Ballet in 2014. Lacotte’s version attempted to re-create the look and atmosphere of the Mazilier’srendition, whereas the Ratmansky-Fullington team aimed to bring their version as close as possible to Petipa’s.
Set in Spain during the occupation of Napoleon’s army, Paquita tells the story of the young gypsy girl, Paquita, who is unaware that she is really of noble birth and was abducted by gypsies when she was an infant after the assassination of her parents.
Act I
In the surroundings of Zaragoza, a band of gypsies have just arrived to set up camp. Iñigo, chief of the gypsies, is in love with Paquita but she doesn’t reciprocate the feeling. Paquita has a medallion with the image of her father, which is the only thing that could prove she is royalty.
The Governor wishes to wed his daughter to Lucien d’Hervilly, the nephew of the General d’Hervilly. However, Paquitaand the young French officer Lucien meet after one of her performances and fall in love. The Governor sees this and taking advantage of Iñigo’s feelings gets him to agree to kill Lucien.
Act II
After fleeing from Iñigo, Paquita and Lucien enter the palace of the General to reveal the plot and accuse the Governor who is arrested. At the palace Paquita sees a picture of her father and finally discovers her true birth identity. With the discovery that she is of royal birth they can now marry, and a grand wedding ceremony is held.
Yet unlike Giselle and Le Corsaire, the full-length Paquita was never a mainstay of the 19th-century ballet repertory. Throughout the 20th-century, only the excerpt from Paquita – its celebratory Grand Pas Classique, which Petipa added to the ballet in 1881 – was popular and performed across the world by numerous ballet companies in various editions.
In the 21st-century, however, the full-length Paquita has experienced an awakening of sorts, with two notable revivals: by Pierre Lacotte for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2001 and by Alexei Ratmansky and Doug Fullington for the Bavarian State Ballet in 2014. Lacotte’s version attempted to re-create the look and atmosphere of the Mazilier’srendition, whereas the Ratmansky-Fullington team aimed to bring their version as close as possible to Petipa’s.
Set in Spain during the occupation of Napoleon’s army, Paquita tells the story of the young gypsy girl, Paquita, who is unaware that she is really of noble birth and was abducted by gypsies when she was an infant after the assassination of her parents.
Act I
In the surroundings of Zaragoza, a band of gypsies have just arrived to set up camp. Iñigo, chief of the gypsies, is in love with Paquita but she doesn’t reciprocate the feeling. Paquita has a medallion with the image of her father, which is the only thing that could prove she is royalty.
The Governor wishes to wed his daughter to Lucien d’Hervilly, the nephew of the General d’Hervilly. However, Paquitaand the young French officer Lucien meet after one of her performances and fall in love. The Governor sees this and taking advantage of Iñigo’s feelings gets him to agree to kill Lucien.
Act II
After fleeing from Iñigo, Paquita and Lucien enter the palace of the General to reveal the plot and accuse the Governor who is arrested. At the palace Paquita sees a picture of her father and finally discovers her true birth identity. With the discovery that she is of royal birth they can now marry, and a grand wedding ceremony is held.