Peggy Willis-Aarnio

Peggy Willis-Aarnio (January 12, 1948 – January 9, 2016) was an American choreographer, historian, author and teacher of classical ballet. She was a professional dancer in the early 1970s with the Ft. Worth Ballet in Fort Worth, Texas. She was the first American ballet teacher to be sanctioned as a "Certified Practitioner and Teacher of the Teaching Method of Classical Ballet" by the Vaganova Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia.Zuchowski, Dave. (March 23, 2003)
The arts: Russian ballet at its most classic comes to washington
Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved 19 April 2014Chandler, Chip. (February 18, 2001)
Russian ballet dances for amarillo texas tech professor choreographs piece
Amarillo Globe News; retrieved April 19, 2014.P.C. native to choreograph classical ballet in russia
(August 13, 1995). ''Panama City News Herald''; retrieved April 19, 2014.

Career

Willis-Aarnio was a Professor Emerita and former head of the Dance Program in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She retired from active teaching after thirty-one years, but remained on the Graduate Faculty. She received her B.F.A. and her M.F.A. Degrees from Texas Christian University in 1970 and 1972.

She studied with John Barker of New York, and Valentina Roumiantseva of the Vaganova Ballet Academy of St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1992, she received an invitation to complete her advanced level pedagogical studies in Teaching Method at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

Willis-Aarnio choreographed more than 80 original ballets, including ''Dracula: The Ballet'' which aired on PBS in 1982. She created over 70 original ballets and modern ballet works for Texas Tech University students.

She created two Classical Ballets for the Saint-Petersburg State and Academic Ballet (under the direction of Askold Makarov) and their guest soloist, Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Galina Mezentseva. She created the ''Diamond Ballet'' in 1999 for the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre of Konstantin Tatchkine.Simmons, Tony (November 17, 2002)
"The Lady takes a Bow"
''The News Herald'' via pcnhhalifax.com; retrieved May 28, 2014.
Other works by Peggy Willis-Aarnio are, ''Beethoven: A Classical Inspiration'' (2000) ''The Bluegrass Fantasy'' (2005) and ''The Seven Last Words of Christ'' (2007) (based on the production by Iris Hensley) choreographed for the Saint-Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre of Marina Medvetskaya.

Willis-Aarnio's publications include, ''Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951) : her place in the history of ballet and her impact on the future of classical dance'', published in 2002 and the ''How to Teach Classical Ballet Series''.
Willis-Aarnio, P., Mezentzeva, G., Shokhina, E., Conservatory of Classical Ballet (Lubbock, Tex.), & Willis Ballet. (1993). Classical ballet lesson. Lubbock, Tex: Willis Ballet; accessed February 22, 2016. She wrote, directed and supervised the series, ''Music for the Classical Ballet Lesson'' with Ludmilla Petrovna Vlasenko as pianist and wrote, directed and narrated the video series, ''Classical Ballet Lesson'' which featured Galina Mezentseva.
Willis-Aarnio, P., & Vlasenko, L. P. (1997). Music for the classical ballet lesson: Beginning level I. Lubbock, Tex: Willis Ballet Music Library. She also produced numerous educational materials throughout her 32 years as a professor at Texas Tech University.

Early life

Peggy Willis-Aarnio was born in Tampa, Florida.Ballet Company Slates Auditions. (October 6, 1972). ''Pampa Daily News'', pg. 4. Her mother was Margaret Spangler Maria Dozier, a musician and professional model.Margaret Dozier obituary
''Panama City News Herald'', legacy.com; accessed January 20, 2016. Her step-father, Walter H. Dozier, was a Naval Officer. He was the Chief Pay Clerk for NATO. The family moved to Naples, Italy, where her mother enrolled her at the age of 8 and her sister Sheila, at age 6, in ballet lessons with Peggy Burns, who had been trained at the Sadler Wells in London.
She returned to Florida when her father was stationed at the Navy Mine Defense Laboratory.

Willis-Aarnio graduated from Bay High School in 1966. During her years at Bay High School, she held the office of president of the drama club, and secretary of her
junior class. She won second place in the Panama City Beauty Pageant. She attended Texas Christian University, where she was invited to perform in the American Festival in the UK. During the summers of 1969, 1970 and 1971, she and her sister Sheila Willis were hired as performers at Mr. Koplin's Tombstone Territory on Panama City Beach.Miss Peggy Willis makes the Dean's List (July 25, 1969), ''Panama City News Herald'' pg. 5a. During her last summer there, at age 21, she was hired as director and choreographer.

In 1972, Willis-Aarnio received an invitation to join the faculty at Texas Tech University as an assistant professor.BRANNON, L. (1972, July 30). Peggy Willis Earns Professorship. Panama City News-Herald, p. 22. Retrieved February 22, 2016, from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61294447/peggy-willis-earns-professorship/. Willis-Aarnio's sister Sheila went on to a career in dance, after receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Texas Christian University, performing professionally with Iris Hensley in Marietta, Georgia (now the Georgia Ballet), and also with the Pittsburgh Dance Alloy. Sheila studied and prepared for a second career in design while she was living in Pittsburgh, and earned an Associates Degree in Interior Design from the Art Institute in Pittsburgh.

Personal life

Willis-Aarnio was married to Paul Aarnio, son of the internationally renowned architect, Reino Aarnio and Sylvia (née Bachman) Aarnio, lyric soprano and graduate of the Juilliard School of Music.

Paul Aarnio holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree (with honors), from Cornell University and is a retired Air force pilot.

Peggy Willis-Aarnio and her sister Sheila Willis-Kleiman had a lifelong collaboration of teaching, performing, choreographing their entire lives together. They began their beginning ballet classes at the same time, attended Texas Christian University together, shared an apartment and taught ballet together to earn their way through college.

Death

Peggy Willis-Aarnio died on January 9, 2016, three days before her 68th birthday from undisclosed causes.

Sheila Willis Kleiman formed the Performing Arts Cultural Exchange a 501(c)3 Foundation in 2018 to continue Peggy Willis-Aarnio's teaching legacy which provides scholarships in her name called The Peggy Willis Classical Ballet Scholarship Award Program.

Awards and honors

Willis-Aarnio received Texas Christian University's ''Alfie Special Achievement Award'' for her choreography in Gilbert and Sullivan's ballad operetta, ''Patience''. In 1998, she received the "Woman of Excellence Award in the Arts" from the YWCA, City of Lubbock, Texas.Overton, Melony. (February 28, 1998
"YWCA recognizes Women of Excellence"
Lubbockonline.com; retrieved May 28, 2014.

Willis-Aarnio held the honor of being the first American to choreograph a new classical ballet work for several top Russian Companies in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. She was an honorary member and North American representative of the Society of Russian Style Ballet. Her ballet company, The Willis Ballet, toured England in 1987 and performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

In 1977 and again in 1981, Willis-Aarnio visited Moscow Russia with the John Barker Ballet Competition Tour, on a two week visit to watch the III and IV Moscow International Ballet Competition.

Willis-Aarnio was the only American to be certified to teach the Vaganova classical ballet training program outside of Russia, a rare achievement for anyone to achieve in their lifetime. Peggy and her sister Sheila Willis Kleiman produced The Willis Ballet Educational DVD Library which also includes Classical Ballet music for the ballet lesson, to be used as companion to How to Teach Classical Ballet Books for Teachers who want to learn Teaching Method. They are educational DVD/videos showcasing Galina Mezentseva's training which lead her to becoming Kirov's Prima Ballerina. ″One of the most significant educational ballet videos of our time. And, Mezentseva turns a mere ballet lesson into a Work of Art!″ Olga Rozanova − Dance Critic, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Ballet, Choreography and Methodology, St Petersburg, Russia.

References

External links

Dracula:the ballet, a 1982 PBS national broadcast produced by Peggy Willis-Aarnio Agrippina Vaganova (1879-1951) : her place in the history of ballet and her impact on the future of classical dance Classic Ballet Lesson Galina Mezentseva- prima ballerina assoluta Music for the classical ballet lesson She even danced in a volcano

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis-Aarnio, Peggy
1948 births
2016 deaths
Ballet choreographers
American choreographers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American writers
American ballerinas
Texas Tech University faculty
Dance historians
20th-century American women
American women academics
21st-century American women
20th-century American ballet dancers