Curriculum

Former ballet star Damian Woetzel tapped to lead Juilliard

Associated Press
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This Oct. 24, 2011 image released by The Juilliard School shows former ballet star Damian Woetzel, who will become the school's next president taking over from longtime president Joseph Polisi. Woetzel will take the reins in July 2018. (Erin Baiano/The Juilliard School via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this undated photo, Damian Woetzel, as the Harlequin, leaps into the air during Act 1 of Erik Satie's "Parade" by the New York Metropolitan Opera in New York Woetzel has been named the new president of the famed Juilliard School Thursday, May 11, 2017, taking over from longtime president Joseph Polisi. After an interim year during which he will learn the ropes alongside Polisi, Woetzel takes the reins in July 2018. (AP Photo/Beth A. Keiser, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2010 file photo, Damian Woetzel, former principal dancer at the New York City Ballet, right, talks with Judith Jamison, choreographer and artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre at the White House in Washington. Woetzel has been named the new president of the famed Juilliard School Thursday, May 11, 2017, taking over from longtime president Joseph Polisi. After an interim year during which he will learn the ropes alongside Polisi, Woetzel takes the reins in July 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) (The Associated Press)

Damian Woetzel, newly named president of the famed Juilliard arts school in New York, says he's looking forward to "a golden age of creativity" when he takes the reins in 2018.

Woetzel (WEHT'-zehl) is an unconventional choice for the job. He's a former ballet star who's never served in academic administration, and who skipped college to pursue dancing. While he was still a principal dancer at New York City Ballet, he earned a master's degree at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He is currently the head of the Aspen Institute Arts Program and the Vail Dance Festival.

Woetzel will work alongside current president Joseph Polisi, who served for more than three decades, for an interim year, then start officially in July 2018.