LAWRENCE RHODES (staging John Butler's Othello) studied at the Ballet Russe School, and he began his career performing 19th- and 20th-century repertoire in New York with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carol from 1958-1960. In 1960, he became a principal dancer at the Joffrey Ballet, where he was praised for his dramatic and disciplined performances in new works such as Gerald Arpino's Partita for Four and Ropes; and Brian MacDonald's Time Out of Mind, which demonstrated Mr. Rhodes' dramatic range. In 1964, Mr. Rhodes became a principal dancer with the newly formed Harkness Ballet and was voted artistic director-while continuing to perform-four years later by his fellow company members. After his first non-performance role as teacher and chairman of the dance department at New York University, Mr. Rhodes spent an outstanding decade as artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. He re-established the international footprint of the company with an annual international tour in addition to its annual Canadian tour. In July 2002, Mr. Rhodes was appointed the director of the Juilliard School Dance Division. Now in his sixth season at the School, Mr. Rhodes has implemented several changes in the Dance Division curriculum and focused each of the Division's performance series on a particular theme: new works by well-known and up-and-coming choreographers, classic repertoire, and the year's best work by Juilliard's own young choreographers.
Hot Nights, Cool Dance Photo: Will Shively
