Contact:                 Alexandra Hontiveros                                                                                                                          

                PHONE:               +63 (917) 8407988

                EMAIL:                 sandy.hontiveros@gmail.com                                                                                                                                                                        

                For Release February 14, 2008

Distinguished Ballet Master and Choreographer Joins With Alvin Ailey Veteran

To Take Charge April 1, 2008

January 14, 2008 (MANILA) –The Ballet Philippines (BP) of Manila, Philippines is pleased to announce the appointment of Alan Hineline and Max Luna III as Artistic Directors. The appointment is the culmination of an intensive search resulting in a unanimous vote of support for Hineline and Luna from the board of trustees. The appointment, which begins April 1, 2008, coincides with the start of Ballet Philippines thirty-ninth season.

Hineline comes to Manila from the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) where he has served on the faculty, as resident choreographer and as guiding force to the organization for the past eleven years. Luna, a product of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and a former member of Ballet Philippines, returns to the Manila after a celebrated career abroad with Ballet International de Caracas, Joyce Trisler Danscompany and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

Board President Ma-an Hontiveros says “the ideas that Hineline and Luna bring to Ballet Philippines reflect the boards longstanding desires to create a shining cultural ambassador for the Philippines to the rest of the world. Their broad range of artistic and business experience make them an ideal fit for our organization.”

“I am thrilled and honored that the board has chosen the two of us to guide the company and its artists into its next phase,” said Hineline. “This is a company brimming with talent and history in a city and country that is bursting with passion and energy – what an extraordinary combinations! I look forward to making Manila my home and, with Max, developing further an already great company.”

Luna says “Returning home to Manila and Ballet Philippines brings my life and career full circle. I want to share the knowledge and experience I have gained throughout my career with these dancers and give back to the company that opened my eyes to the world of dance. This is a dream come true!

ALAN HINELINE

Dynamic, spontaneous, witty and exciting are only a few of the adjectives that have been used to describe the work of Ballet Philippine’s Artistic Director, Alan Hineline. A sought-after choreographer and teacher, Hineline’s work has appeared in the repertories of many companies in North America and has been received enthusiastically in performances around the globe.

In 1997, at the invitation of artistic director Marcia Dale Weary, Hineline was named resident choreographer for the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. During those eleven years he has created numerous ballets for this internationally acclaimed school and company. His body of work can be seen in the repertories of American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, The Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Sacramento Ballet, Alabama Ballet, Ballet Concierto de Cuba, and Utah Regional Ballet, among many others. His work has been performed at the New York International Ballet Competition, the Aoyama International Ballet Festival in Tokyo, Japan and the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi.

As a teacher Mr. Hineline has instructed every level of dancer, from beginner through professional. He is part of the faculty of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and has been a guest faculty member for among others, Ballet Academy East, The Juilliard School, Atlanta Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Alabama Ballet, and the Utah Regional Ballet. Along with these fine schools he has taught at the Jackson International Ballet Competition, the Aoyama Ballet Festival, and numerous Regional Dance America (RDA) festivals and at colleges and universities across the United States. In 2008 he will be a faculty member of the Jacob’s Pillow Summer Dance Festival.

As a dancer his career spanned a broad spectrum of traditions and styles. Hineline trained primarily in Dayton, Ohio with Dance Theatre Dayton and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and afterwards with Milton Myers and David Howard. His company affiliations ranged from the classical with Eglevsky Ballet and Nashville Ballet to modern with Joyce Trisler Danscompany and Michael Mao Dance to post-modern with Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians.

Mr. Hineline sits on the national advisory board of Regional Dance America and, for that organization, has served as an adjudicator for several regions and as artistic director for the Craft of Choreography Conference. Hineline is the founder and director of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s choreographic initiative, Choreoplan. Among his many awards are the Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography from the Choo-San Goh and H. Robert Magee Foundation and multiple National Choreography Awards from Regional Dance America.

MAX  LUNA III

Max Luna III’s return to Ballet Philippines as Artistic Director brings to full circle a career spanning nearly 35 years and six continents as an internationally acclaimed performer, teacher and choreographer.

As a student, Mr. Luna began his training at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and continued in the United States at such prestigious institutions as the American Ballet Theater School, the School of American Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet School. From there he went on to dance with Ballet International de Caracas, Ballet Hispanico, Joyce Trisler Dance Company, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal and finally, six highly acclaimed years with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Along with his stage career, he has also appeared on television in the "Bill Cosby Show", the PBS series "Dance in America", the “Kennedy Center Honors” and on the Italian network, RAI, in a documentary on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

As a teacher, Mr. Luna has been praised for a keen movement sense complimented by an in-depth knowledge of dance techniques. His extensive teaching credits include 20 years on faculty at the Ailey School along with, among others, Teatro Nuovo di Torino (Torino, Italy), Bartholin International Ballet Seminar (Copenhagen, Denmark), Baardar Dance Academy (Oslo, Norway), the Actor’s Studio (New York, NY), Vignale Danza (Vignale, Italy), Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY), Peridance (New York, NY), City College of NY and Ballet Hispanico (New York, NY).

Critically celebrated as a choreographer, Mr. Luna has been commissioned by the Ailey School, Teatro Nuovo di Torino (Torino, IT), Compañía Nacional de Canto y Danza (Maputo, Mozambique), Howard University (Washington, DC), University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), Roxbury Arts Festival (Roxbury, NY), Ballet East Dance Company (Austin, TX), Movements Dance Company, (Kingston, Jamaica) among many others.

In 2000 Mr. Luna formed his own company, LUNA. The company has toured Nancy, Lunaeville and Thionville in France and Torino, Italy. In 2007 LUNA opened at the Schimmel Center in New York City to brilliant reviews from the New York Times.