Ancient Airs and Dances

Holly Hynes has designed more than 200 ballets, including more than 60 at New York City Ballet, where she served as director of costumes for 21 years. PNB audiences have seen her designs in Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance), After the Rain pas de deux, and Polyphonia, Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH, Richard Tanner’s Ancient Airs and Dances, George Balanchine’s Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, and Lynn Taylor Corbett’s Mercury. She also designed the co-production of La Baiser de la Fée for PNB and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the John F. Kennedy Center where she serves as Resident Costume Designer. She is the leading authority for recreating costume designs for the George Balanchine Trust and the Jerome Robbins Estate in the US and internationally.

Mark Stanley is resident lighting designer for New York City Ballet, where he has designed more than 200 premieres, including works by Peter Martins, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck, Benjamin Millepied, William Forsythe, and Ulysses Dove, among many others in numerous ballet companies across Europe and the US. Mr. Stanley previously served as resident designer for New York City opera. He has designed plays for the Kennedy Center, Huntington Theatre Company, Long Wharf, The Ordway, The Goodspeed, and Off-Broadway companies. Currently, Mr. Stanley is MFA Programs Head, Design & Production and Associate Professor of Theatre (Lighting Design) at Boston University and also is on the board of directors of the Gilbert Hemsley Lighting Programs. He is the author of The Color of Light Workbook.

Richard Tanner is a choreographer and former dancer whose work spans decades of American ballet. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, he began his dance training with Robert Lindgren and Sonja Tyven before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah. He continued his studies at the School of American Ballet, one of the country’s most prestigious training institutions.

Tanner launched his performing career as a Soloist with Ballet West in Oklahoma from 1967 through 1970, then joined New York City Ballet, where he danced for ten years. During that time, he developed the choreographic voice that would define his later career, creating his first two works for New York City Ballet in 1971.

His administrative and artistic leadership roles are equally distinguished. From 1981 to 1983, Tanner served as Regisseur Generale at American Ballet Theatre, followed by five years as Associate Artistic Director of the Pennsylvania Ballet from 1985 to 1990. These positions reflect both his deep knowledge of the repertory and his capacity to shape company-wide artistic vision.