Local Dancers Welcome Fall at Kissam House Apple Festival

STUDENTS FROM THE OHMAN SCHOOL OF BALLET IN COMMACK PERFORM AT HUNTINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY APPLE FESTIVAL

Sunday, October 20 at Kissam House on Park Avenue

Performances at 1:30 and 3 pm

Students from the Ohman School of Ballet in Commack will return to the Huntington Historical Society’s annual Apple Festival on Sunday, October 20 at 434 Park Avenue, performing original choreography set to the “Hoe-Down” section of composer Aaron Copland’s Rodeo ballet. Performances will be at 1:30 and 3 pm. For more information about the Apple Festival visit https://www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org/apple-festival.html.

The Ohman School of Ballet has long been a part of the Huntington Historical Society’s series of free family events, including the annual Sheep to Shawl Festival each May at which dancers from the school perform the traditional Maypole Dance.

The Ohman School of Ballet is the training ground for the New York Dance Theatre, founded by former New York City Ballet soloist Frank Ohman,* a longtime Centerport resident who passed in July 2019. The New York Dance Theatre’s annual production of The Nutcracker is the largest on Long Island and closest to the Balanchine tradition. This year’s production at Hofstra University’s John Cranford Adams Playhouse will feature New York City Ballet’s Brittany Pollack and Daniel Ulbricht returning as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Tickets for performances December 14 and 15 are now on sale at www.ohmanballet.org with special pricing for children, seniors and groups available.

For information about classes in all levels of classical ballet in the Balanchine tradition, plus creative movement, and a summer intensive program, visit www.ohmanballet.org or call 631.462.0964.

*About Frank Ohman

Frank Ohman (1939-2019) was an internationally known dance professional. His critically acclaimed ballet career began with the San Francisco Ballet in 1959 and in 1962 he joined the New York City Ballet where he was a soloist for twenty-two years. During his distinguished performing career, Mr. Ohman appeared in leading and soloist roles in ballets of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Frederic Ashton, Antony Tudor, David Lichine, John Taras, and Jacques d’Amboise. He partnered many of the world’s leading ballerinas including Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Melissa Hayden, Suzanne Farrell, Allegra Kent, Patricia McBride, Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Gregory, Carol Sumner, Kay Mazzo, and Suki Schorer and danced with the New York City Ballet at the New York State Theater, Kennedy Center, Marinsky Theater, Bolshoi Theater, the White House, and Jacob’s Pillow.

Mr. Ohman was also a prolific choreographer, creating over two hundred original ballets, many of which have been performed by his New York Dance Theatre. He has choreographed for the Boston Ballet, Edmonton Ballet, Syracuse Ballet (where he was director), the Cassandra Ballet of Toledo, the Long Island Philharmonic, the Long Island Lyric Opera, the School of American Ballet workshop performance, American Movie Classics, the PAF Playhouse, the Adirondack’s Long Lake Performing Arts Camp, and Indiana University. He assisted in the re-staging of Balanchine’s “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” for the 1981 revival of “On Your Toes” and the 1986 New York City Ballet revival. He was a guest teacher throughout his career at many schools including the Boston Ballet, the School of American Ballet, the St. Louis Ballet, the National Dance Institute, and Ballet Philippines.

About the Frank Ohman School of Ballet

The Frank Ohman School of Ballet was founded in 1979 by Frank Ohman, former soloist at New York City Ballet (NYCB) and one of the few remaining direct links to the teaching of George Balanchine. Located in Commack, the school serves as a training ground for promising young dancers and offers aspiring students the opportunity to learn classical ballet in the tradition of George Balanchine. The school is a non-competition, non-recital school, focusing on proper classical ballet technique. A division of the New York Dance Theatre, Inc., the Ohman School has become an integral part of the company, and is one of the very few not-for-profit ballet schools in the region. It offers three studios with state-of-the art flooring to Balanchine specifications and a highly qualified teaching staff trained by the late artistic director Frank Ohman.