Damian Woetzel

Damian Woetzel, former Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet, is the artistic director of the Vail International Dance Festival; the founding Director of the Jerome Robbins Foundation's New Essential Works (NEW) Program, and he also works with Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Connect Program in the New York City Public Schools. He is active as a director and producer of dance and music performances, and recently directed a performance at the White House celebrating Judith Jamison and dance in America. During his career as a dancer, Woetzel frequently performed internationally as a guest star and was a visiting artist with numerous companies including the Kirov Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Woetzel has choreographed a number of ballets for NYCB among other companies. Woetzel serves on the Artists Committee of the Kennedy Center Honors and as a judge for the Astaire Awards. Woetzel was the 2008 Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence of the Aspen Institute, and he is a frequent speaker on the arts and arts policy. Woetzel holds a Master in Public Administration Degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and in the fall of 2010 he co-taught a course on Performing Arts and the Law at Harvard Law School. In November of 2009, President Obama appointed Woetzel to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.