PEOPLE AND COMPANIES IN THE NEWS.

The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund awarded grants totaling $16 million in September. Dance beneficiaries included American Ballet Theatre and presenting agencies such as Michigan's University Musical Society and San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts ... Dance Connecticut used its $6,000 grant from the New Britain Foundation for Public Giving to collaborate on a premiere with the Pascal Rioult Dance Theater, the New Britain Symphony and the New Britain Senior High School in October ... Dance Magazine Executive Editor Richard Philp and Senior Consulting Editor Clive Barnes were guests of honor at a Colorado Ballet gala held October 14 in Denver, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the company's founding by Lillian Corvillo and Freidann Parker. The gala dinner hosted by Tiffany & Co. was followed by a revival of Artistic Director Martin Fredmann's Cinderella, with the leading roles danced by Maria Mosina and Meelis Pakri ... The Fulbright Association presented its inaugural award under the Selma Jeanne Cohen Fund for International Scholarship on Dance to Fulbright Alumna and dancer-choreographer Leslie Friedman. At the association's annual conference, held November 30-December 3 in Washington, Friedman presented her lecture "Expressions in Dance" ... The National Endowment for the Arts presented Ballet Tennessee with a grant through Creative Links: Positive Alternatives for Youth. Funds went to the company's Talent Identification Program, which offers dance training to inner-city youth ... Michael Terlizzi, vice chairman of the board for Capezio/Balletmakers, will serve as the national chairman for National Dance Week 2001 ... Dance Perspectives Foundation's twenty-seventh Annual de La Torre Bueno Prize for "the most distinguished original book of dance scholarship published in 1999" was awarded at an October 2000 ceremony to Suki Schorer for Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique, with a special citation to John Forrest for The History of Morris Dancing 1458-1750 ... San Francisco Ballet student Staisha Grosch won the Lego Imagination Award at the National Children's Film Festival for her ballet film Beneath the Satin, which she created while she was recovering from an injury. HBO picked up the film as a short and Grosch traveled to Los Angeles in November to accept an award for her film from Steven Spielberg. For a look at Grosch's film, go online to http://www.fluxone.com/backyardfilm/ screen_room/screen.html ... Houston's Society for Performing Arts replaced American Ballet Theatre, which cancelled its 2001 visit, with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago ... Former Boston Ballet ballet master Arthur Leeth has been named managing director of Vermont's Burklyn Ballet Theatre ... The American Dance Institute in Rockville, Maryland, celebrated its grand opening October 3 ... Daniel Dnell and Ballet Chicago Studio Company won a Dance Achievement Award at the Ruth Page Awards, held October 15 in Chicago ... Dance/USA and the James Irvine Foundation have awarded $30,000 scholarships to California-based dancers Lily Cai, Lynn Dally, Chitresh Das, Anna Halprin, Patrick Makuakane, Naoyuki Oguri, Amelia Randolph and Amen Santo ... Former English National Opera Executive Director Russell Willis Taylor assumes her new position this month as president and CEO of the Maryland-based agency National Arts Stabilization ... South Bend, Indiana's Southhold Dance Theater has appointed former New York City Ballet dancer Patrick G. Hinson as director of ballet ... Ballroom Dancesport Theatre has announced a name change, to American Dancesport Company ... Amsterdam's Her Nationale Ballet has appointed principal dancer Wire Broeckx artistic director ... Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet announced in October that on the eve of its sixtieth season, the company had ended a twelve-year deficit. The company also announced several promotions: Tara Birtwhistle and Arionel P. Vargas were named principal dancers; Kerrie Souster was named soloist and Sarah Murphy-Dyson was named second soloist. Apprentices Michael Binzer, Carrie Broda, Keir Knight, Taina Morales and Jennifer Weisman were promoted to the corps de ballet ... The Juilliard School has added choreographer Steven Gross, ballet master Alphonse Poulin and lighting designer Stan Pressner to its faculty ... Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo welcomed new dancers to the company for its 2000-2001 season. They include Samantha Allen, Gioia Masala, Jana Soon, Genevieve Van Quaquebeke, Gregory Deltenre, Jean-Claude Nelson, Evgueni Slepov and Roland Vekes.... The School of American Ballet announced the appointment of Suzanne Schwartz Davidson as its new president in October. Davidson, the former producing director for New York City's Second Stage Theatre, replaces Larry Alan Smith, who returned to the University of Hartford ... Former Ballets Russes/American Ballet Theatre dancer Rosella Hightower will offer commentary on George Balanchine's Pas de Trois for a George Balanchine Foundation archival video. Taping began in November 2000 at Hightower's ballet school in Cannes, France, with Marina Eglevsky coaching Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo dancer Peter Lewton and students Yuka Omori and Eugenie Andrin ... Norwegian National Ballet Artistic Director Dinna Bjorn is leaving the company after twelve years, and at press time was negotiating with the Finnish National Ballet to join the company as ballet director ... Michael K; Furey was elected president of the New Jersey Ballet Company in October.