ARTISTIC DIRECTION
Daniel Duell
Founder and Artistic Director
Répétiteur, The George Balanchine Trust
Ballet Chicago Artistic Director Daniel Duell is a leading figure in the development of American Classicism and is passionate about advancing ballet technique in its purest and most energetic form. As a dancer with the New York City Ballet from 1972 to 1987, he was taught and coached daily by George Balanchine. Rising quickly through the ranks, Mr. Duell was promoted to Soloist in 1977 and then to Principal Dancer in 1979. He performed a wide-ranging repertoire, including leading roles in ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, and Jacques d’Amboise, among others, and danced in several works created specifically for him.
A Ford Foundation Scholarship recipient from the age of 13, Mr. Duell trained with the Dayton Civic Ballet and The School of American Ballet. At 19, he was invited to join NYCB. In addition to his fifteen years at NYCB, he was a featured guest artist for numerous companies nationwide and appeared in several PBS Dance in America public television programs.
Mr. Duell has been choreographing since 1980 and has created works for Ballet Chicago, Ballet Hispanico of New York, Dayton Ballet, Harkness Dance Theatre, The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and The School of American Ballet. He also collaborated with WTTW Channel 11 in Chicago to design two programs: an Emmy Award-winning special (Outstanding Cultural Programming) on Ballet Chicago, and Love in Four Acts, showcasing four Chicago choreographers selected by Mr. Duell. He received the prestigious Ruth Page Award from the Chicago Dance Community for his artistic direction of The Ballet Chicago Studio Company.
A frequent lecturer on ballet, music, and the arts, Mr. Duell also serves on several not-for-profit and advisory boards and has been an adjudicator for the National Endowment for the Arts and The Illinois Arts Council. He is a renowned répétiteur for The George Balanchine Trust and stages ballets across the United States.
In addition, Mr. Duell conducts master classes in both the United States and Europe, including repeated engagements at The School of American Ballet, Indiana University at Bloomington, The University of Iowa, and the Bulgarian National Dance Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria. He has taught and coached the Royal Danish Ballet Company in preparation for their New York seasons and Copenhagen performances of Balanchine/Stravinsky masterworks. He returned to The School of American Ballet to teach in March 2019 and also taught company class to the New York City Ballet during their March 2024 residency in Chicago.
Patricia Blair
Associate Artistic Director and School Director
Répétiteur, The George Balanchine Trust
Patricia Blair was born in New York City and began studying ballet at the age of 7. She launched her professional performing career at 17. She trained at various schools, including the North Carolina School of the Arts and Harkness House for Ballet Arts, but credits her summer at The School of American Ballet with igniting her passion for and commitment to the Balanchine Technique®. While at North Carolina School of the Arts, she was honored to dance the role of Myrtha in Giselle alongside principal dancers Svea Ekloff (Grande Théâtre de Genève) and Burton Taylor of American Ballet Theatre.
After leaving NCSA, she returned to NYC, studied with Wilhelm Burman, David Howard, and Nanette Charisse, and joined the Eglevsky Ballet under the direction of NYCB former principal Edward Villella. Six years later, while still dancing full-time with the company, she became one of the organization’s Ballet Masters.
Ms. Blair performed as a guest artist, developing new works with numerous NY choreographers, danced in musical theater productions across the US and on Broadway, and briefly entered the LA motion picture world with Pavanne for a Dying Princess, a solo dance film created especially for her.
Highly committed to the artistic education and personal well-being of young dancers, Ms. Blair began working with children at the age of 15. Her dedication to classical ballet and passing it on to young artists remains one of her greatest passions. In the late 70s and early 80s, she volunteered to teach at-risk youth in East Harlem, in both churches and community centers. She also taught at Steps NY and Harkness House for Ballet Arts.
Ms. Blair moved to Chicago in September 1987 at the invitation of Daniel Duell to stage ballets for Chicago City Ballet’s fall season. After just three weeks of working together, Mr. Duell invited her to relocate to Chicago and join his artistic team.
Later that year, they founded Ballet Chicago. Ms. Blair has served in many capacities—teacher, répétiteur, ballet master, and administrator—and now shares all aspects of artistic and administrative management with Mr. Duell.
In addition to her work with Ballet Chicago, she has been a guest teacher for Carolina Ballet, St. Louis Ballet, Ballet Idaho, Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, National Dance Institute, New Mexico School of the Arts in Santa Fe, and Indiana University in Bloomington. She has also had the honor of teaching at The School of American Ballet in New York City.
Ms. Blair has a lifelong love for the ballets of George Balanchine. She values both the privilege of having performed many of them and the joy of passing them on to today’s dancers. As a répétiteur for The George Balanchine Trust, she is responsible for staging and maintaining a large body of work for Ballet Chicago and has also staged Balanchine’s ballets for St. Louis Ballet, Indiana University Bloomington, and Huntsville Ballet.