Ballet Memphis Dancer Receives Emerging Artist Grant

The Greater Memphis Arts Council recently presented its Emerging Artist Award to Ballet Memphis trainee John Speed Orr. The Emerging Artist Award is a special Arts Council grant, the funds of which are designated to further an artist's career through training, study or other professional development that also will enhance the organization long term.

Before joining Ballet Memphis, Orr was with Dance Theatre Seven in Marin County, Calif., where he trained under the artistic direction of David Roxander from 1995 to 2006. Orr joined the Professional Program at Dance Theatre Seven in 2000, when he was 13. His professional performance experience includes Surealia, 1996-2006; Marin Ballet's Nutcracker, title role in 2004 and Cavalier in 2005 and 2006; and Winter and Summer Demonstrations for Dance Theatre Seven, 1996-2006. He is from Santa Monica, Calif.

"We are grateful to the Jeniam Foundation for providing funds for the Greater Memphis Arts Council's member groups to help develop young artists of promise," Dorothy Gunther Pugh, founder and artistic director of Ballet Memphis, said. "John Orr is a very dedicated and talented young man who chose to leave San Francisco to come train with us as he looks toward a professional career in the dance world. His exceptional work ethic, attitude and potential are certainly deserving of the encouragement this award promotes."

Raising funds to ensure excellence in the arts and build a vibrant cultural community for everyone, the Greater Memphis Arts Council is the sixth largest United Arts Fund in the nation. The Arts Council distributes approximately $3 million in funding annually to the local arts community. Council funding includes annual operating and project support to local arts organizations, Arts Build Communities grants and Student Ticket Subsidy through annual funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and arts education funding for the Arts for Children & Teachers (ACT) program, which bring the arts to thousands of area schoolchildren every year. -- www.balletmemphis.org