Ann Marie DeAngelo is an American choreographer, director, teacher, and former dancer. She was leading ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet, where she later served as associate director[1] at the time of the company’s move to Chicago, Illinois in 1995. DeAngelo was the founding artistic director of Mexico’s Ballet de Monterrey, and served as artistic director of Ballet Omaha during the 1990s. She founded of her own experimental troupe in the late 1980s called Ballet D’Angelo, creating several full-evening productions, which toured extensively in Europe.
She is currently the Director of DeAngelo Productions, an umbrella company for creating and producing dance related projects. She also works as nationally and internationally as a director, choreographer, and teacher.
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DeAngelo was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in Glendale, California. Her mother took her to ballet class at age 3-1/2 to overcome her fear of people before she started kindergarten. After years of training in Burbank, California with Frederika Mohr and later at San Francisco Ballet School she landed her first job with the San Francisco Opera Ballet. She was an apprentice before joining the Joffrey Ballet in 1973. She worked with the Joffrey for 10 years, performing in works such as Viva Vivaldi, The Relativity of Icares in a role created on her, and several other works by Gerald Arpino; Taming of the Shrew by John Cranko[2]; the cowgirl in Agnes DeMille’s Pas des Deesses; a reconstruction of La Vivandiere by Arthur Saint-Léon[3]; As Time Goes By, Deuce Coupe II and Cacklin’ Hen by Twyla Tharp; and works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Agnes DeMille, William Forsythe, Kurt Josse, Antony Tudor, and others.
Throughout her performing career she worked internationally as a guest artist with various dance companies, festivals and independent tours. She competed in the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria (1976) where she received a special award for technical excellence, and was the featured dancer in a TV special on CBS about the competition. She met the legendary ballerina Alicia Alonso at the competition, and was invited to perform at her International Ballet Festival in Havanna, Cuba. She later created works on the company. In 1980 she was featured in a dance film about Anna Pavlova called Pavlova: A Tribute to the Legendary Ballerina (1982)[4]. In 1989 she performed on Sesame Street with Sketer Rabbit in a duet created by Toni Basil called Stop - Start.
DeAngelo has choreographed nearly 50 works of dance. She created her first work in 1980, called La Grande Faux Pas. She next choreographed Le Papillon pas de deux and Autumn Baachanal for the film A Tribute to Pavlova.
In 1984 she received a Jerome Robbins Foundation grant to create a piece for the Joffrey II called In Kazmidity with music by Leo Delibes (later staged for Ballet Trocadero in 1990). She soon began to explore her choreographic aesthetic of mixing dance styles and blending forms.
In 1990 Ms. DeAngelo created Out of Silence with music by Yanni for the National Ballet of Cuba; and also a pas de trois called Lilith with Lorena Feijoo. Both these works later were integrated into a piece for Ballet de Monterrey called Paradiso (1991). Hip Hop pioneer Mr. Wiggles was featured in that work in a leading role, the first time a street dancer had been integrated into ballet.
Ms. DeAngelo created several works for Ballet de Monterrey, including Mademoiselle de M, a 35-minute work based on Theophile’s Mademoiselle de Maupin with music by Franz Liszt and Enigma; Le Papillon, to music of Jacques Offenbach; and a re-staging of The Nutcracker.
In 2003, Ms. DeAngelo collaborated with composer Conni Ellisor to bring the Bell Witch legend to life in The Bell Witch for Nashville Ballet, with an original score by Ellisor and 3-D scenic design by Gerald Marks.[5]
In 2007 Ms. DeAngelo began a work-in-development called “IN THE MIX!” The piece included ballet dancers, hip hop and tap dance artists, Cirque du Soleil veterans, gymnastics, and cheerleading in a cross-genre exploration of movement in many forms.
DeAngelo has created and staged many special shows and events, including Shall We Dance, a dance tribute to composer Richard Rodgers as part of the Rodgers Centenary celebration in 2002.[6]
Since 2004 DeAngelo has staged the annual gala for Career Transition for Dancers. She has taught for numerous dance companies and universities, as well as workshops to non-dancers at resorts and spas.
In 2009 she was director of the show "Thank You, Gregory - A Tribute to Legends of Tap" that opened in Philadelphia, featuring Maurice Hines and Jason Samuels Smith.
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