Ballet Florida Celine Dion, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova Ballet Florida is the resident professional dance company of one of the most opulent and cultured cities in the world, Palm Beach. Established in 1986 by artistic visionary Marie Hale, Ballet Florida consistently earns international recognition for its achievements in both classical and contemporary dance. Committed to bringing new works to the stage, during the current season Ballet Florida is presenting world premieres by five of the most celebrated choreographers of the day. Ballet Florida's repertory is both classical and contemporary, creating an atmosphere of rich diversity and a haven for outstanding choreographers from around the world who are attracted to the exceptional talents of the 20 member company. New works by great artists such as Peter Martins, Daniel Ezralow, Val Caniparoli, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Sean Lavery, Trey McIntyre and Mauricio Wainrot are regularly added to the repertory. Ballet Florida enjoys associations with major international dance companies such as the New York City Ballet, Ballet West, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and International Ballet de Caracas. In recent years, the company has received invitations to perform with the Greensboro Symphony, on coast to coast tours, and at the prestigious Aspen and Biarritz Dance Festivals. Such performances not only offer company dancers and visiting choreographers the opportunity to work together and grow artistically, but also allow Ballet Florida to share its wide-ranging style with audiences nationwide, as well as in South Florida. Ballet Florida makes its home in downtown West Palm Beach, the area's cultural and economic center. The Ballet Florida Ellis-Veselsky-White building contains spacious state-of-the-art studios, rehearsal spaces and classrooms, as well as staff offices, conference facilities and ticket offices. The Academy of Ballet Florida offers unparalleled dance training at the Ballet Florida studios to hundreds of adults and children. Ballet Florida continues to expand its outreach to special populations through "Visions in Movement " , a one-of-a-kind dance program for visually impaired children and through "City Dance Outreach", providing dance training and full scholarships to children from inner city schools. Over the past 10 years, Ballet Florida's budget has quadrupled. As the Company's 13th season dawns, the company looks forward to a bright future of continued artistic growth and ongoing commitment to providing exceptional cultural enrichment for audiences locally, regionally and nationally. For further information about Ballet Florida, contact: 500 Fern Street West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 (561) 659-1212 Celine Dion is a global superstar. The premiere vocalist of her generation and one of the best-loved voices in pop music, Celine Dion has sold over 60 million albums worldwide during the 30 , , mouths since April 1996. In her native Quebec, Celine Dion was a , child prodigy who gave her first public performance of traditional French-Canadian songs at age five. A demo tape she recorded at age twelve reached a Quebec music entrepreneur, Rene Angelil, who later mortgaged his house to finance the recording of her debut album. In 1982, Dion won the gold medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo. In 1983, she became the first Canadian to receive a gold record in France where her single, "D'amour ou d'amitie " , sold over 700,000 copies. In 1988, she won the prestigious Euro-vision Song Contest in Dublin. In September 1990, Dion released "Unison "- her first English language album and her first for Epic Records-and ., scored a breakthrough US hit with the Top 5 single "Where. Does My Heart Beat Now?" A second Epic album, simply titled "Cene Dion, appeared in April 1992. It hung on the Billboard Pop Albums chart for the next year, producing four Top 40 hits: "If You Asked Me To", "Nothing Broken But My Heart, ", "Love Can Move Mountains ", and "Beauty And The Beast." The last named song won both an Academy a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance ByA. Duo Or Group With Vocal. Another Celine Dion duet, "When I Fall in Love " with English singer Clive Griffin, became the driving radio force behind the tripleplatinum Epic Soundtrax album "Sleepless In Seattle ". Dion's next album, "The Color of My Love" was released in November 1993 on 550 Music, a new label of the Epic Records Group. By February 1994, when Celine began a sold-out headlining US tom, the album' s first single, "The Power of Love ", had been No.l on the Hot 100 for four straight weeks. hn March 1994, 550 Music released "Dion Chante Plamondon " , a French-language collection in which the singer interpreted the work of noted French-Canadian songwriter Luc Plamondon. In March 1996, Dion's new 550T Music album, "Falling into You", entered the Billboard chart at o.2. That same month, "Because You Loved me" (Theme from Up Close and Personal), the album's first single, became the singer's second US No 1 single. By September, "Falling into You " was the nations No I a album, remaining in the Top Five for 27 consecutive weeks. "Falling into You" became the best-selling album released 1996, and winner of Album of the Year and Best Pop Album in the 39th annual Grammy Awards. "Falling into You " spun off three Top Five singles: the No. 1 smash "Because You Loved Me " (Theme from Up Close and Personal); the No.2 hit, "It ' s All Coming Back To Me Now", and the No. 4 hot, "All by Myself'. The album has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide and today is certified 10X platinum in the US. In the 39th annual Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles in February 1997, "Falling Into You " won Best Pop Album and Album of the Year. In addition, "Because You Loved Me", written by Diana Warren, was voted Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or For Television. Released November 18, 1997, "Let's Talk about Love" is certified 8X platinum in the US (on June 9, 1998) and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. In 1998 Dion reached a new plateau of international success with her Number One single, the Academy Award-winning "My Heart will Go On"- as heard in the motion picture "Titanic " , on its multi-platinum soundtrack album, and on "Let ' s Talk about Lov" on March 23, 1998 Celine sang "My Heart Will Go On" on the worldwide telecast of the 70th Annual Academy Awards, live from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angles. The song won the Oscar for Best Original Song- the second Oscar for a song sung by Celine Dion, following "Beauty and the Beast" in 1992.