BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.,
Nov. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- STARZ
announced today the involvement of internationally-renowned dancers
in the original drama series "Flesh and Bone" (previously announced
as an "Untitled Ballet Project") currently in development at the
network, from award-winning "Breaking Bad" Writer and Co-Executive
Producer, Moira
Walley-Beckett. "Flesh and Bone" follows a young
ballet dancer, Claire Robbins, who
has a distinctly troubled past, as she joins a prestigious ballet
company in New York. The
dark and gritty series will unflinchingly explore the dysfunction
and glamour of the ballet world.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080522/LATH063LOGO-b)
The project will be written and executive produced by Ms.
Walley-Beckett and Starz, with Executive Producers Lawrence Bender
(Oscar® nominated for Inglourious Basterds, Pulp
Fiction and Good Will
Hunting), Kevin Brown
("Roswell") and John Melfi ("Sex and
the City," "House of Cards," "Nurse Jackie," "Rome"). Bender, Brown and Walley-Beckett
all have connections to the world of ballet, which brought them
together with Starz on this project. Bender and
Walley-Beckett are former ballet dancers, and Brown's family is
made up entirely of former ballet dancers and their story was the
basis for the Oscar-nominated film, The Turning Point.
Ethan Stiefel has joined the project as consultant and
choreographer on the series. Mr. Stiefel is the artistic
director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the star of the movies
Center Stage and Center Stage: Turn It Up and was a
principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre from 1997 till July
2012.
Joining the cast in key supporting roles are former American
Ballet Theatre principal dancer, Irina Dvorovenko, current American
Ballet Theatre soloist Sascha
Radetsky, Ballet Arizona company dancer Raychel Diane Weiner and Emily Tyra ("Boardwalk Empire"). National
auditions are underway for the lead role of "Claire Robbins."
"The casting process of finding exceptional dancers to inhabit
these roles has been incredibly creative and exciting," said
creator and executive producer Ms. Walley-Beckett. "The
verisimilitude of the project is of paramount importance to
me. I want to be able to capture dance on film with complete
integrity, authenticity and freedom. Not only are the dancers
we've cast thus far brilliant company level artists, but they're
also thrilling, intuitive actors. I'm inspired and optimistic
about discovering the perfect 'Claire.'"
As a Co-Executive Producer on "Breaking Bad," Moira Walley-Beckett recently won a 2013
Primetime Emmy® for Outstanding Drama Series. She
was nominated for a 2013 Golden Globe Award®, two PGA
Awards, a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in 2012, and
for the WGA Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2010, 2011, 2012
and 2013, resulting in wins in 2012 and 2013 for her work on
"Breaking Bad." Ms. Walley-Beckett was also nominated for a
PEN LITERARY award in 2010 for her episode of "Breaking Bad"
entitled "Over."
Starz will retain all domestic and international multiplatform
rights including television, home entertainment, and digital.
Bios
Irina Dvorovenko
Former principal dancer with
American Ballet Theatre (ABT), Irina Dvorovenko was born in
Kiev, Ukraine, and began her
ballet training at the Kiev Ballet School at the age of ten.
She joined the National Opera Ballet of Kiev in 1990 as a soloist, rising to the rank
of principal dancer in 1992. Her repertoire with the National
Opera Ballet included leading roles in many of the great classics:
Gamzatti in "La Bayadère;" Kitri, the Queen of the Driads and
Mercedes in "Don Quixote;" Giselle
and Myrta in "Giselle;" Princess
Aurora and Princess Florine
in "The Sleeping Beauty;" Odette-Odile in "Swan Lake;" the Sugar Plum Fairy in "The
Nutcracker;" and the title roles in "Cinderella" and
"Paquita." She also performed pas de deux from "Le Corsaire,"
"Diana and Acteon" and "La Sylphide," as well as the "Tchaikovsky
Pas de Deux."
Ms. Dvorovenko also excels in contemporary choreography and has
danced leading roles in many well-known contemporary productions.
She has danced with the Finnish Ballet, the Australian
Ballet, the New York City Opera
Ballet, the Rome Opera Ballet,
Teatro San Carlo in Napoli, Verona
Ballet, the Universal Ballet, and with the Stars of the Bolshoi
Ballet, and has performed in France, Germany, Spain, Japan,
Moscow, Hungary, Finland, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan. She has also
appeared in various videos and television specials, including the
PBS broadcast of the opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts
Center, in which she danced the Act II Pas de Deux from
"Swan Lake."
Sascha Radetsky
Born
in Santa Cruz, California,
Radetsky began his ballet studies in the San Francisco Bay Area with Ayako Takahashi and Damara Bennett. At the
age of 15, he was invited to study in Moscow at the Bolshoi Academy under the
renowned men's teacher Pyotor Pestov. After a year in
Russia, he studied at the Kirov
Academy in Washington, D.C. under
Roudolf Kharatian and Andrei
Garbouz. He also studied at the summer programs of the School
of American Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet School, the Bolshoi
Academy at Vail, Colorado, and
with Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theatre's School of
Classical Ballet.
Radetsky joined the corps de ballet of American Ballet Theatre
in 1996 and was promoted to soloist in 2003. In 2008, he
joined the Dutch National Ballet as a principal dancer, performing
roles such as Albrecht in "Giselle," Basilio in "Don Quixote," and the Son in "Prodigal
Son." He returned to ABT in 2010. Over the course of
his career, Radetsky has danced the works of choreographers as such
as George Balanchine, Fredrick
Ashton, Michel Fokine,
Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Stanton Welch, William
Forsythe, Benjamin Millipied, Kenneth MacMillan, Twyla
Tharp, Jose Limon,
Antony Tudor, John Cranko,
Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, Ann
Reinking, Jorma Elo,
Hans Van Manen, Jiri Kylian, and
John Neumeier. He has created
roles in ballets by Tharp, Morris, Welch, Elo, Millepied, Wheeldon,
and Ratmansky.
Radetsky is a frequent teacher and performer in ballet galas and
festivals throughout the world, and has appeared as a guest
principal with companies such as The Pacific Northwest Ballet,
Ballet San Jose, Ballet do Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro, and the Mongolian State
Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. In 2012, he
choreographed "Viragos" for Bucknell
University's Department of Theatre and Dance.
Radetsky appeared as Charlie in Columbia Picture's feature film
Center Stage, and starred in Mandy
Moore's music video "I Wanna Be With You." He has
written articles for Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit,
Shinshokan Dance Magazine, and Newsweek.
Raychel Diane Weiner
Raychel Diane Weiner is currently a
dancer with Ballet Arizona. She began her training in
Southern California under the
direction of Diane Lauridsen and
Charles Maple. She spent
summers training under full scholarship with Houston Ballet, Kansas
City Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and
was one of 12 dancers selected to train with Ethan Stiefel for Stiefel Stars in Martha's Vineyard. Since becoming a
professional, Raychel has had the honor of performing soloist and
principal roles with many of the world's leading dancers and
choreographers. Some of her most prized roles include:
principal dancer in Alejandro
Cerrudo's original work "Second to Last;" principal couple
in Val Caniporoli's "Lamberana;" principal dancer in Robert
Dekkers' "No One Does It Like You;" and principal couple in
Trey McIntyre's "Speak," to name a
few. Prior to joining Ballet Arizona under the direction of
Ib Andersen, Raychel has also been a company member with St. Louis
Ballet under the direction of Gen Horiuchi as well as Oregon Ballet
Theater under the direction of Christopher
Stowell. Raychel is currently a Principal dancer with Post:
Ballet in San Francisco under the
direction of Robert Dekkers during her off season.
Emily Tyra
Emily Tyra started her career at 17
with the Boston Ballet and James Sewell Ballet, before moving to
New York to pursue a career on
Broadway. She made her Broadway debut with Hugh Jackman in "Hugh
Jackman, Back on Broadway." She has also appeared in
"The City Club," "Chaplin," and "Nice
Work if You Can Get It," starring Matthew Broderick. She has appeared in
HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and in various awards shows, pilots,
independent films and commercials.
About Starz
Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading
integrated global media and entertainment company with operating
units that provide premium subscription video programming on
domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global
content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television
and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.
Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription
video programming through the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® pay TV
networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to
U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators,
satellite television providers, and telecommunications
companies. As of September 30,
2013, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 57.0 million
subscribers, including 22.0 million at STARZ, and 35.0 million at
ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels
in the U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks'
third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across
17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated
online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX
PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires
entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on
DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz
Distribution's home video, digital media and worldwide distribution
business units distribute original programming content produced by
Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third
parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie
content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences
worldwide.
Contact:
Theano
Apostolou
Starz
(424)
204-4052
theano@starz.com
SOURCE Starz