Evergreen City Ballet appoints new Artistic Director.

Mr. Duran is the new Artistic Director of Evergreen City Ballet [ECB]. Originally from Venezuela, Gillmer is joining us after serving as a classical ballet and contemporary faculty member at CityDance School & Conservatory in Maryland. Before teaching in Maryland, Mr. Duran was the Artistic Director at Alaska Dance Theater (from 2010 – 2013). His experience and fresh point of view will allow ECB to continue on its current path of educating the public and our close community in the art of dance.

“Gillmer’s creative, artistic mind, his endless positivity, and down to earth personality make him a strong, motivating leader, allowing him to accomplish all tasks and big dreams along the way.” – Lindsi Dec, Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer

All of us at ECB are so excited for students and families to meet Mr. Duran and his wife Dubraskha Arrivillaga! Ms. Arrivillaga will be joining the ECB faculty as a ballet teacher for the Performance Division and substitute teacher for all other levels. Expect to see Dubraskha next week and Gillmer the week of September 19th!

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More about Gillmer: Originally from Barquisimeto Venezuela, Mr. Duran studied at the Fundacion Arte Nuevo and danced professionally with: the National Ballet of Caracas, Danzahoy, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, and for eight consecutive seasons with Eugene Ballet Company. He has worked with choreographers such as Vicente Nebrada, Luz Urdaneta, Jacques Brocket, Maria Rovira, Mauricio Wainrot, Robert Battle, Edwaard Liang and Jessica Lang, among others. His versatility and intuition gave him the opportunity to perform a variety of classical and contemporary roles. As a choreographer, he participated in the National Choreographers Initiative 2007 (Irvine, California), was included in the 2008 4X4 Ballet Project with Oregon Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet and San Francisco Ballet (presented by White Bird in Portland Oregon) and has created pieces for the Drop Dance Collective and The Woman Space Foundation (engaging in several creative collaborations with Toni Pimble). Duran was selected by The National Dance Project and the New England Foundation for the Arts for the Regional Dance Development Initiative (RDDI) in Portland-Oregon, among nine other dance artists from the Pacific Northwest region. In June of 2010 his work Inference for Coriolis Dance Collective was part of Seattle’s Chop-Shop Festival. Appointed as Alaska Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director and resident choreographer in 2010, Duran repositioned the company brand through a broad-based repertoire, and taking ADT on tour to the Boston Contemporary Dance festival 2013—funded entirely through a Kickstarter campaign! Mr. Duran has taught at Grand Rapids Ballet’s Summer Intensive, under the direction of Patricia Barker, iconic ballerina and former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer and is relocating to the Seattle area from Northern Virginia, where he was a faculty member at CityDance School & Conservatory. He is very excited to join the ECB family.

Dubraskha Arrivillaga, photo courtesy of Classical Ballet Theater

More about Dubraskha: Dubraskha Arrivillaga grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, where she received her early ballet training with Nina Novak, former member of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Ms. Arrivillaga danced with the National Ballet of Caracas, New World Ballet and Contemporary Ballet of Caracas before moving to the US to join the Eugene Ballet Company. She retired from the stage in May of 2010. Formally trained as a pedagogue by American Ballet Theatre, she holds an ABT® Teacher Pre-primary through Level 7 and Partnering certifications. She has been on the children’s division faculties of Ballet Idaho/Eugene Ballet, Classical Ballet Theatre and CityDance School & Conservatory, and Alaska Dance Theatre’s professional division faculty and company. A well-known coach, she has prepared students for international and regional ballet competitions throughout the USA, and has staged classical repertoire and contemporary pieces from well-known choreographers such as Toni Pimble, Jessica Lang and Amy Seiwert. Ms. Arrivillaga is known as a loving and inspirational teacher and is happy to join the faculty of ECB to continue to share her passion with her students. In addition to her professional dance career, Ms. Arrivillaga has a degree in Business Administration from the Central University of Venezuela.

“Dubraskha’s love and passion for this art form and teaching fosters warm, supportive, and nurturing relationships with her students.” – Lindsi Dec, Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer