Dennis Nahat

Nahat, Dennis (b Detroit, 20 Feb. 1946). US dancer, choreographer, and director. He studied at the Juilliard School, at the American Ballet Center, and at the School of American Ballet. He made his debut with the Joffrey Ballet in 1965, and from 1968 to 1971 was with American Ballet Theatre. In 1969 he began to choreograph. His ballets include Brahms Quintet (1969), Mendelssohn Symphony (Italian Symphony, 1971), and Some Times (mus. Claus Ogerman, 1972). In 1976 he and Ian Horvath founded the Cleveland Ballet (later the Cleveland-San Jose Ballet). He has had a long association with the company, first as resident choreographer and then, from 1984, as artistic director. He has staged versions of The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Coppélia, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and among his original creations for Cleveland is Celebrations and Ode, set to Beethoven's 7th Symphony and the final movement of his 9th. In 1993 he and Robert Barnett, artistic director of the Atlanta Ballet, presented both companies in a successful version of Swan Lake that used Nahat's choreography.