{"id":5635,"date":"2020-10-05T18:42:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T18:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=5635"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:29","slug":"1980-debra-austin-joins-the-zurich-ballet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2020\/10\/05\/1980-debra-austin-joins-the-zurich-ballet\/","title":{"rendered":"1980 – Debra Austin joins the Zurich Ballet"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

1980<\/h1>\n

Debra Austin joins the Zurich Ballet<\/h3>\n

In 1980, Debra Austin leaves New York City Ballet to join Ballett Z\u00fcrich as a soloist.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Debra Austin began her journey in ballet when she was eight years old. At the age of 12, she was awarded a scholarship to dance at the School of American Ballet in New York City. At 16, she was handpicked by George Balanchine to join the school\u2019s affiliate company, New York City Ballet. While there, Austin danced many principal roles by both George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, one of which was filmed for a PBS television special, Live From Lincoln Center<\/em>. In 1980, she left NYCB to dance with Ballett Z\u00fcrich, where she danced principal roles (many with Rudolf Nureyev) in works by all of the major choreographers, including Myrtha in Heinz Spoerli\u2019s Giselle<\/em>. While there, she toured throughout Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pioneering dancer proves her point(e), The News & Observer<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

See also:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debra Austin<\/a>
\n1974: Debra Austin joins the New York City Ballet<\/a>
\n1982: Debra Austin is hired as a principal with Pennsylvania Ballet<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n

Other Happenings in 1980<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Ballet\/Dance History<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 28: Boston Ballet becomes the first American company to perform in China with a three-week tour to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou (Canton).
\nApr 29: New York City Ballet donates the proceeds from their benefit performance to assist in the purchase of protective vests for New York City police officers.
\nSept: Baryshnikov returns to the American Ballet Theatre as an artistic director.<\/p>\n

American History<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jan 20: President Jimmy Carter calls for a US boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
\nFeb 2: FBI releases information about a sting operation which targeted 31 elected and public officials for bribes in exchange for political favors.
\nMar 24: ABC\u2019s coverage of the Iran Hostage crisis is renamed to Nightline<\/em>.
\nMay 18: Mount St. Helens volcano erupts for the first time in 123 years.
\nMay 21: Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back<\/em> opens in theaters in North America and the UK.
\nJune 1: CNN, the Cable News Network, starts transmitting.
\nJune 27: President Carter reinstates draft registration for men 18-25, starting with men born after Jan 1, 1960.
\nNov 4: Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent US President Jimmy Carter in re-election.<\/p>\n

World History<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mar 1: The Commonwealth Trade Union Council of London is established.
\nApr 18: Zimbabwe declares independence from the UK.
\nJun 13: UN Security Council calls for the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. He would remain in prison for another 10 years.
\nJul 1: \u201cO Canada\u201d becomes the official national anthem of Canada.
\nNov 9: Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, declares holy war on Iran.
\nDec 18: Vietnam adopts a constitution.<\/p>\n

Arts & Science<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apr 6: Post-It Notes are introduced.
\nMay 8: World Health Organization announces that smallpox has been eradicated.
\nJul 9: Disney releases Fox & the Hound<\/em>.
\nSept 18: Les Miserables<\/em> opens in Paris.
\nNov 19: CBS bans a Calvin Klein ad featuring Brooke Shields.
\nDec 8: John Lennon is shot and killed in Manhattan, NY.
\nDec 11: Tom Selleck stars in new TV show Magnum P.I<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Human & Civil Rights<\/strong><\/p>\n

May: The first African American female graduates from the Naval Academy.
\nMay 17: Races riots kill 16 and injure 300 in Miami, FL.
\nMay 21: Jean Marie Butler graduates from the Air Force Academy as the first woman to graduate from a US service academy.
\nJune 23: The first female state police officer graduates in New Jersey.
\nSept 13: The first United Negro College Fund telethon airs.
\nOct 14: Presidential nominee, Ronald Reagan, promises to put a woman in the US Supreme Court.
\nDec 2: Willie Lewis Brown Jr. becomes the first African American elected as the Speaker of the California State Assembly.<\/p>\n

Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jan 8: NCAA decides to sponsor championships in five women\u2019s sports.
\nFeb 3: President Carter sends Muhammad Ali on a tour in Africa as his envoy.
\nFeb 14: The 13th Winter Olympics begin in Lake Placid, NY.
\nFeb 29: Gordie Howe sets record for goals in NHL at 800.
\nJun 26: Mary Decker is the first woman to break the 4.5 minute mile.
\nOct 21: The first and only time the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in their 98 year history.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 1980s, Boston Ballet<\/a>
\nNew York City Ballet Chronology, New York City Ballet<\/a>
\nMikhail Baryshnikov, Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1980 Debra Austin joins the Zurich Ballet In 1980, Debra Austin leaves New York City Ballet to join Ballett Z\u00fcrich as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"timeline-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-timeline"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5635"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12209,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635\/revisions\/12209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}