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Master Class with Guest Choreographer R. Colby Damon
August 31, 2012 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
$15 – $17 
R. Colby Damon
R. Colby Damon was born and raised in Richmond, VA, and received his early dance training with the Richmond Ballet. At age 15 he left home to attend the Virginia School of the Arts and spent summers training at the Boston Ballet. Upon graduation, he joined the Sacramento Ballet, where for five years he performed soloist and principal roles in numerous classical and contemporary works, including pieces by George Balanchine, Glen Tetley, Septime Webre, Trey McIntyre, Helen Pickett, John Selya, and Ron Cunningham. He also began his choreographic explorations in Sacramento, creating a total of six original works on fellow company members and students. In 2007, Colby relocated to Brooklyn, NY to pursue a career as a freelance artist. He has since worked with the Mark Morris Dance Group, The Northwest Dance Project, Thang Dao Dance Company, and Avi Scher and Dancers, in addition to projects with John Selya (Joyce Soho), Adam Hendrickson (Carnegie Hall), and Luca Veggetti (Colombia University). He has also appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet as a Principal Dancer in Alexei Ratmanski’s Aida, as well as in Mark Morris’ Orfeo e Euridice, at which time he was featured in a MET Live in HD broadcast in movie theaters world wide.
Colby currently is a member of BalletX in Philadelphia, PA, where he has been dancing since 2008. He has appeared in over 15 world premiers with such choreographers as Matthew Neenan, Alex Ketley, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Jodi Gates, Tobin DelCuore, and Loni Landon, performing in such venues as the Joyce Theater NYC, The Laguna Dance Festival,and The Vail International Dance Festival. He has also represented BalletX in Pennsylvania Ballet’s annual benefit Shut Up and Dance, as well as in the Dancers Responding to AIDS annual performance in New York City.
In addition to dancing and choreographing, Colby is also currently pursuing his BA in Dance through St. Mary’s College of California’s LEAP Program. He is also the resident philosopher of the DASH Ensemble, featuring the work of Greg Dolbashian, in New York City, and is a student of Chinese martial arts, energy work, and language. He is furthermore actively involved in the fight against Hydraulic Fracturing, or Fracking, for Natural Gas in the Marcellus Shale Formation and throughout the United States.
Colby looks forward to working with Charlottesville Ballet to premiere his new work in the Mainstage One Performance on October 20th at PVCC.]]>