FACES ‘94: Some Names to Be Reckoned With in the New Year : DANCE : Damian Woetzel

Los Angeles first encountered his expressive face, his lithe body, his mercurial wit and his dramatic magnetism a decade ago. At the time, the former Bostonian was one of the few bright lights in John Clifford’s rapidly dimming L.A. Ballet. He was 15, and still a senior at Hollywood High. Now a grand old man of 26 and a leading force at the New York City Ballet, he performs a huge repertory, ranging from quirky caractere assignments to the princely duties of the “Nutcracker” cavalier (an achievement documented in the current film). While assimilating the Balanchine style, he has created roles for Jerome Robbins, Eliot Feld and Peter Martins. The last-named, Woetzel’s boss and champion, has invited him to choreograph a work for the NYCB in the spring of 1994, and, amazingly, to succeed Heather Watts as director of the ballet program at the company’s summer school in Saratoga Springs.

* MORE FACES FOR ‘94: Rap: Domino; country: Bobbie Cryner; classical, Michael Kieran Harvey; theater: Cheryl L. West; movie making: Ron Mita, Jim McClain; family: Parachute Express. F4