The Ballet Bible

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur is a centre of enjoyment & excellence for students to gain a love and appreciation of the performing arts.

Located in Narellan, in the Macarthur region of Sydney, the Academy has certainly grown from our humble beginnings in the early 90s, where we started out teaching in a little hall in Camden.

With innovative new programs and enthusiastic, caring teachers, the Academy now provides students with 5 fully equipped studios under the one roof, offering classes 6 days a week in dance, singing and theatre for students aged from 3 years through to professional level.

One of the most important aspects of the Academy is our teaching philosophy - that students learn best when they enjoy what they do. This ethos of enjoying yourself as you learn has been consistently maintained from the very beginning, and one that is shared by all teachers at the Academy, creating a unique and friendly atmosphere of which we are proud.

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur has a history stretching back over 25 years.

Pauline Hincks School of Ballet

In 1979, Pauline Hincks opened the first fully equipped studios (Pauline Hincks School of Ballet) in the Macarthur area opposite the Dumaresq Street cinemas in Campbelltown. The studio became a launching pad for a number of young professional performers many of whom got their start at the studio and with the attached Macarthur Youth Ballet which toured extensively throughout NSW.

Learning at the school throughout this time was Pauline’s daughter Danielle. After studying full time at the Victorian College of the Arts, Hallidays Dance Centre, and finally with private tuition from Brett Morgan (rehearsal director for Sydney Dance Company), Danielle was offered a contract with Ballet Omaha in the USA in 1991 at the age of sixteen.

Whilst in the USA, Danielle travelled extensively, attending some of the world’s most famous dance schools and companies including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the Joffrey Ballet School then based in New York City.

Academie de Classique

Meanwhile, Pauline had since returned to the Macarthur region after a couple of years classical coaching in Melbourne, and began offering classes in the old church hall next to St Johns in Camden under the name ‘Academie de Classique.’

With a fine reputation for quality training, the academy quickly outgrow the church hall, and fully equipped studios were soon built in the upstairs suites of the Village Court in Argyle Street, Camden.

ADC Performing Arts Centre

Returning to Australia at the end of 1993, Danielle began teaching at the academy and the fledgling school grew even further. Students soon found it easier telling friends that their new found skills were being learnt at ‘ADC’. This led to a change of name from Academie de Classique to ADC Performing Arts Centre.

With Danielle and Pauline both now at the helm, the focus was now set on creating a performing arts school in the Macarthur area which combined a friendly atmosphere with first-rate facilities and teaching.

By 1998, with ADC starting to outgrow it’s Camden studios, the search was on to find a location to house a dream for the area… a first-class performing arts facility where students could feel inspired and supported, and a place which could continue to attract and keep the finest teachers in Sydney.

They were offered the opportunity to move into their current purpose designed location in Narellan in August 1998. At Narellan, the studio continued to grow, adding drama/acting and singing.

The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur

In October 2002, Danielle officially took over the reigns as sole Academy Director, renaming the studio ‘The Academy of Performing Arts Macarthur’ to signify a fresh new era and beginning for the studio.

Now, the Academy continues to be a dream come true, not just for the teachers, but more importantly for the students who are now learning in a truly wonderful environment.

And with some of the most sought after teachers in Australia passing on their love of the performing arts, they continue to provide the youth and people of Macarthur with the best in performing arts education & facilities.

The Ballet Lubbock

The Ballet Lubbock Company was formed with the goal to present quality ballet performances for the local community and provide advanced ballet students with the opportunity to prepare for a career in dance. It is the official company of the Ballet Lubbock School.

Ballet Lubbock is a 501(c)(3) educational, nonprofit organization. It was founded in 1969 by Suzanne Aker and has since grown into a successful ballet school.

More than 50 Ballet Lubbock alumni have gone on to professional dance careers and teaching posts in the U.S. and abroad. Ballet Lubbock is the only pre-professional school of classical ballet with a performing company in West Texas/Eastern New Mexico. Students from the school are consistently accepted to the nation’s top-ranked professional summer ballet programs and intensives.

The school provides scholarships to students showing artistic merit and financial need. Ballet Lubbock’s mission has always been to provide classical ballet training to students aged 3 through adults and to maintain a pre-professional performing company. Under the direction of Artistic Director Yvonne Racz, all classes are taught with an emphasis on strong discipline and proper technique.

Whether a student wishes to pursue a professional dance career or simply enjoy the beauty and challenge of dance, our ultimate goal is to nurture a love and respect for the art of dance. Ballet Lubbock fulfills its goals by being able to provide Lubbock and surrounding communities with a school of classical dance and community performances that provide an understanding and appreciation of dance as a vital art form.

Ballet Lubbock’s Founder, Suzanne Aker, served as their first Artistic Director and Choreographer. Ms. Aker holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Art from Tulsa University, and has taught professionally for over 50 years. She holds Teacher Certification from the Royal Academy of Dance (England) and was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Dance at Texas Tech University.

Ms. Aker has been honored in many areas, including being named one of the Notable Women of Texas, the Chamber of Commerce Pathfinder Award, Who’s Who of America, Who’s Who of American Women, the National Dance Plaudit Award from National Dance Association and was the 9th person inducted into the Buddy Holly Hall of Fame. In 1998, Ms. Aker was honored as the first recipient of the Founders Award for Outstanding Service to Youth. Texas Tech University has presented Ms. Aker with its Certificate for Outstanding Choreography four times.

Choreography credits include Texas Tech Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, Texas Tech Theatre, Lubbock High School and the Garza Theatre, Post. In addition to her dance accomplishments, Ms. Aker has contributed articles to Dance Magazine, national and state physical education journals, authored a children’s book “What Comes in Two’s, Three’s and Four’s”, and illustrated several children books.

One of only a few icon artists in the Southwest, Suzanne Aker’s icons hang in churches in the United States and abroad. She formally retired as an instructor and as the Director of Community Outreach Program for Ballet Lubbock in May of 2000.

Ballet Alba

Founded in 1991, the Ballet Alba birth from the union of experimented and talented artists who put together all their knowledge in terms of dance, choreography, drama, music and song in order to serve the flamenco expression.

Enriched by its experience, the Ballet Alba has performed in many stages in Paris as well in cafés-théâtres as “Les Divans du Monde”, the “New Morning”, “La Chapelle des Lombards” as in prestigious stages like the “Palais des Congrès”, the “Théâtre Maubel-Michel Galabru”, the “Théâtre 18″.

Well-known artists as Manitas de Plata, El Chato, Serge Lama et Paco Ibáñez have invited the Ballet Alba to perform at their firsts parts in their shows.

The ballet has also traveled trough cities like Nice, Châtellerault, Poitiers, Monaco, Vichy and even across the French frontiers to conquer the Swiss, Belgium, Italian, Danish audiences.

Flamenco vivo, is a generous show, highly colored, emotionally rich, which express the values of an ancestral tradition.

Dancer’s gesture, power of the song, guitars’ chords take the audience trough the flamenco’s vertiginous spirals.

The audience get surprised by the repertoire wealthy juggling with “farruca’s” sobriety, “martinete’s” and “soleá’s” distress, “bulería’s” mischievousness, “alegría’s” freshness, “gipsy tango’s” sensuality.

Soft and nostalgic sequences follow purple passages performed by accomplished artists. Sumptuous costumes, reflecting the atmosphere of each act, will make you get in the magic of the show.

A Lorca, a homage to the great Spanish poet through the performance of his collection “Cantares populares”.

Love, jealousy, pass of the time, death… all these dear themes to Federico García Lorca that Ballet Alba let us discover or rediscover in an original directed play.

First of the 20th century, in a café in Madrid , a young man meet and seduce a beautiful gipsy woman. His jealous fiancée cannot accept such an offence. But the young man knows his nearest end because a fortune teller told him a few months before. He decides to follow his hearth, and, by this way, do not escape from his destiny.

Federico García Lorca is a great and emblematic figure of Spanish literature. Dead in 1936, shot by Franco’s army. Federico know how to touch through his worlds as well the lower class as the intellectual groups. This flamenco lover was at the origin, with the great Spanish compositor Manuel de Falla, of the first Festival de Cante Hondo which took place in Granada in 1927.

De Albéniz a Falla, flamenco’s mystery has fascinated many classical music composers. Their greatest art works are performed by the Ballet Alba’s dancers in a brilliant and refined show.

Five to ten dancers moving around carried by the greatest Spanish classical such “La Habanera” by Bizet, “España” by Chabrier, “La Danza del Molinero” by Falla… at which it mix pasodobles, “zarzuelas’ ” interludes and another philharmonics works.

Prestigious contemporary authors as Manolo Sanlúcar or Paco de Lucía inspire as well the dancers who bring us all theirs skills in the field of dance and theatrical performance.
Castanets sound, shawls’ and caps’ effects, fans’ fluttering ornament the enchantment of the show.

Ballet Alba let you choose of these three creations. It will adjust itself according to your budget and the available space. So, these precedent plays can be presented by 5 to 14 artists.

Ballet Memphis

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary season, Ballet Memphis is a creative resource to the nation as a maker and interpreter of the Mid-South region’s cultural legacy through dance, production and training. Artistic Director Dorothy Gunther Pugh founded the company in 1986 as Memphis Concert Ballet with two professional dancers and a budget of $75,000. Today, Ballet Memphis employs 14 professional dancers and has a $2.8 million budget. The company performs at the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Memphis, as well as at non-traditional venues throughout the city and on tour. Ballet Memphis also performs for and presents teaching artist sessions to more than 15,000 students annually.

The Ford Foundation awarded Ballet Memphis $1 million New Directions/New Donors for the Arts grant in 2000. Ballet Memphis was one of only four dance companies in the U.S. to receive this honor. The other three companies were San Francisco Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance and the Alvin Ailey School of American Dance.

In 2001, Ballet Memphis became the first Memphis arts organization to appear on a main stage in New York when the company performed at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse to enthusiastic reviews by the New York press. Fast Company and The Wall Street Journal also featured articles about Ballet Memphis.

The following year, internationally renowned choreographer Trey McIntyre joined the Ballet Memphis staff, and in 2003, the company was one of nine dance companies invited to perform in Houston’s Dance Salad. In addition, Ballet Memphis dancers performed works by company member Garrett Ammon in the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur near Montreal, winning third place in the choreography competition, and later on, in Palm Desert, Calif., winning the Grand Prize. Most recently, the company performed on the Inside/Out Series at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Mass., in August 2005, and the company is scheduled to perform at the prestigious Joyce Theater in New York for a week in April 2007.

Ballet Memphis has garnered national interest through Creating Work That Matters: Memphis Choreographs to the Soul of a City, part of the Ford Foundation’s The Business of the Arts Monograph Series, and What Works: A Dance of Relevance,by Jocelyn Dong, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2004.

The Ballet Memphis School trains more than 600 students annually. Performance experience is provided through the Junior Company of Ballet Memphis. In addition, Ballet Memphis offers Pilates and movement instruction at the Hope and Healing Center. Ballet Memphis’ Educational Enrichment program is made possible in part by the generous support of the Greater Memphis Arts Council. In 2006-2007, the combined entities of Ballet Memphis—dance company, ballet school and Pilates Centre—served approximately 75,000 people.

Pacific Northwest Ballet

Pacific Northwest Ballet was founded in 1972 as Pacific Northwest Dance Association under the aegis of Seattle Opera Association, with early leadership provided by Leon Kalimos (Executive Director, 1973-1977), Janet Reed (Ballet Mistress and Director of the School, 1974-1976) and Melissa Hayden (Ballet Mistress, and Director of the School, 1976-1977). Highlights of these early years include the acquisition of Lew Christensen’s Nutcracker in 1975 and a mixed repertory season offered in Spring 1977. The Company became an independent organization in September 1977 and was renamed Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1978. The groundwork had been laid and the audience was large and enthusiastic, but enduring artistic leadership was needed.

In August 1977, Kent Stowell and Francia Russell were appointed Artistic Directors of Pacific Northwest Dance, and real growth and development began. During their extended tenure the Company and School attained an international reputation for superb performances and excellent training.

In July 2005, Peter Boal succeeded Mr. Stowell and Ms. Russell as Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School.

The Audience
Pacific Northwest Ballet presents more than one hundred performances each season in Seattle at Marion Olivier McCaw Hall and on tour. In 1977, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 1,200 subscribers indicated serious interest in ballet for the Northwest. In 2005, Pacific Northwest Ballet boasted nearly 10,000 subscribers.

The Company
In 1977, Pacific Northwest Ballet comprised 18 dancers. In 2006, the Company included 44 dancers, many of whom have received training at Pacific Northwest Ballet School.

Career transition has been a constant priority for Pacific Northwest Ballet. In 1988, the first dancer transition program, Beyond Dance, was established. Today, Second Stage for Dancers offers a variety of assistance, including continuing education grants, mentoring, and an in-house program of university courses in cooperation with Seattle University.

Artistic and Production Staff
Artistic Director Peter Boal is assisted by three Ballet Masters. Otto Neubert danced with Stuttgart Ballet and New York City Ballet and has been with Pacific Northwest Ballet since 1992. Anne Dabrowski, formerly with Hartford Ballet, joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as Ballet Master in 1997. Paul Gibson joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a Soloist in 1994 and was made a Principal in 1996. He became Ballet Master upon his retirement in 2004. The Ballet Masters teach and rehearse the Company and also rehearse Pacific Northwest Ballet School students who perform in Nutcracker and other ballets with the Company.

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s resident production staff is renowned for their excellence. Led by Lighting Designer and Technical Director Randall G. Chiarelli (with PNB since 1979),the full-time staff of impressive tenure comprises stage managers, technical crew, and scenic shop, as well as a costume shop managed by Larae Theige Hascall (with PNB since 1983) and wardrobe. The scope of their talent isrevealed through the Company’s vast repertoire, most of which is built on site in Seattle at the Phelps Center and Pacific Northwest Ballet’s scenic shop in Fremont.

Pennsylvania Ballet

In the forefront of dance in America for 40 years, Pennsylvania Ballet has firmly established itself as a cornerstone of Philadelphia’s cultural life. Its annual audience has grown to over 100,000 and includes visitors from all over the country. Its outreach and educational programs are introducing new generations to the world of dance. Its repertoire is expanding, with innovative contemporary works and major new productions of classical like Swan Lake and The Firebird.

Since its inception in 1963, Pennsylvania Ballet has been at the forefront of dance in America and is widely regarded as one of the premier ballet companies in the nation. The School and Company were established by Barbara Weisberger, a Balanchine protégé, through a Ford Foundation initiative to develop regional professional dance companies.

During its first decade, the Company forged the unique identity for which it is still known today: a diverse classical repertoire with a Balanchine backbone performed by versatile dancers whose energy and exuberance are the Company’s enduring signature. A leader in the regional ballet movement of the 60s, the Company performed in the national spotlight for the first time in 1968 at City Center in New York – a highly successful debut that led to a decade of national touring, appearances on PBS’ acclaimed Dance in America series, and a stint as the official company of the Brooklyn Academy of Music during the 1970s. From 1987 to 1989, Pennsylvania Ballet forged an alliance with Milwaukee Ballet in an unprecedented venture to create one company. The new organization, with 43 dancers and a greatly expanded repertoire, was the first in the country to offer its dancers year-round employment.

In 1994, the trustees of Pennsylvania Ballet selected its first homegrown Artistic Director, Roy Kaiser. A former company member hired in 1979 by Barbara Weisberger, and brought to artistic proficiency by Benjamin Harkarvy and Robert Weiss (Artistic Directors of the Company from 1972-1982 and 1982-1990, respectively); Mr. Kaiser rose through the ranks from Corps de Ballet to Soloist to Principal by 1990. Following his retirement from the stage in 1992, Mr. Kaiser became Principal Ballet Master and Associate Artistic Director under Christopher d’Amboise until being named to his current position.

The premier classical ballet company in the Philadelphia region, Pennsylvania Ballet is currently comprised of 42 dancers. The Company is headquartered on Broad Street and Washington Avenue, at the beginning of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. This state-of-the-art facility houses several dance studios, artistic and administrative staff offices, wardrobe and costume department, the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Performing Arts Physical Therapy Center.

Drawing its audiences from throughout the tri-state region, Pennsylvania Ballet presents a season of six productions in Philadelphia, including the holiday spectacular, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, balancing classic ballets with new works that challenge the dancers and attract a diverse audience. The Company also tours throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as in other locations in the Northeastern U.S. Under the artistic leadership of Roy Kaiser, the Company is committed to presenting new works. During the Company’s 40-year history, it has commissioned original ballets from such choreographers as Merce Cunningham, Christopher d’Amboise, Trey McIntyre, Matthew Neenan, Kevin O’Day, David Parsons, Val Caniparoli, Christopher Stowell, Dwight Rhoden, Meredith Rainey, Kirk Peterson, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett, as well as the 40th Anniversary commission of Swan Lake by Christopher Wheeldon.

Over the past several years, Pennsylvania Ballet has enhanced its artistic integrity while continually increasing its reach and strengthening its foundation through creative programming; initiatives such as the Family Matinee Series and Prologue Lecture Series; and educational outreach programs such as Accent on Dance. In 2002, Pennsylvania Ballet II, the Joyce and Herbert Kean Trainee Program was formed as a pre-professional training company and as an additional component for outreach programs. From Giselle to Rodeo, A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Company B, and Serenade to the signature Carmina Burana, Pennsylvania Ballet has continued to stretch its own boundaries, reinforcing its reputation for artistic excellence and technical virtuosity, and fulfilling its mission to present the best in American dance to Philadelphia audiences.

Carolina Ballet, Inc.

Carolina Ballet was launched in 1997, under the direction of artistic director Robert Weiss, to serve the ever-expanding Triangle community that includes Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Research Triangle Park, Fuquay-Varina and beyond. After only seven seasons, Carolina Ballet with a budget of $4.3 million is being recognized as one of the top ten ballet companies in the country. The company totals 31 dancers and has performed 62 times in Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill and Wilmington between September 2005 and May 2006.

Carolina Ballet, Inc. was founded in 1984 as Raleigh Dance Theatre, Inc. by Ann Vorus, owner of the Raleigh Dance Theatre. As a student company, its purpose was to provide performance opportunities for students of the school. Over several years, both the school and the company grew in reputation and stature in its metamorphosis as Carolina Ballet Theatre, a pre-professional regional company under Ms. Vorus and her successor as Artistic Director, Mary LeGere. Performances of the company began to attract favorable notice from area dance critics. In the fall of 1993, Raleigh lawyer Ward Purrington suggested to Ms. Vorus and the Raleigh Dance Theatre board that the company aspire to professional status. Market research suggested a professional dance presence in the Triangle region was not only needed but desired as well.

After exhaustive planning and subsequent interviewing of candidates from all over the country, Robert Weiss, former principal dancer with New York City Ballet and past artistic director of Pennsylvania Ballet, was selected in April 1997 as the founding artistic director of the new professional company, known as Carolina Ballet, Inc.

Upon the advice of other successful ballet companies, Mr. Weiss spent the fiscal year 1997-98 building awareness in the community and raising a three-year reserve on which to grow. During this planning year the company was dark, with the exception of the March 1998 Gala which featured dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Kirov Ballet and Miami City Ballet, and which kicked off Carolina Ballet’s first subscription campaign.

In August 1998, 21 dancers from around the world began to rehearse. They were selected earlier that year from a national audition tour. The company’s inaugural season opened in the fall of 1998 with more than 2,600 subscribers. During Carolina Ballet’s first season the company attracted the acclaim of critics and audiences alike. The season began with a performance of George Balanchine’s Square Dance at Cary’s Regency Park, attended by over 2,500 people.

Beginning with an All Balanchine production in tribute to Mr. Weiss’ mentor, the company then performed a world premiere staging of Handel’s Messiah with choreography by Robert Weiss and additional choreography by Sacramento Ballet’s Amy Seiwert, Duke University’s Tyler Walters and Carolina Ballet’s own Timour Bourtasenkov. This work was performed in collaboration with members of the Raleigh Oratorio Society, the Opera Company of North Carolina, the National Opera Company and North Carolina Symphony. In March 1999, a world premiere collaboration with the Ciompi Quartet was performed at Duke University’s Reynolds Auditorium. Innovations, an eclectic repertoire of modern works, was presented in April and the classic full-length Romeo & Juliet, with new choreography by Robert Weiss, was performed in May in collaboration with North Carolina Symphony.

Carolina Ballet’s second season was an unqualified success as well. Presenting both new, innovative ballets and classic works, the company of 26 dancers performed 30 times before 34,283 audience members in four North Carolina locations – Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem and Greenville. The season opened with An Evening Direct from New York, a production of three ballets originally choreographed for the New York City Ballet. Robert Weiss completed his Messiah adding choreography for parts II and III. The ballet quickly took its place among other Triangle area Christmas traditions. The Kreutzer Sonata, a unique combination of theater and ballet, premiered in February 2000 with original choreography by Robert Weiss. Based on Leo Tolstoy’s novella, The Kreutzer Sonata, this work was set to the music of Leos Janacek and Ludwig van Beethoven and specially commissioned music by J. Mark Scearce and used actors to tell the story as the dancers acted it out. A second collaboration with Ciompi Quartet included a new ballet by Duke University dance professor Tyler Walters whose choreography was funded by a national Choo-San Goh Foundation grant. In May, the company presented the premiere of Robert Weiss’ full-evening production of Carmen, only the second known choreography and the first by an American artist. The season was capped by a June program featuring Cabaret, a unique collaborative effort joining the grace and beauty of ballet choreographed by the renowned, Tony Award nominee Lynne Taylor-Corbett with the elegance and charm of acclaimed cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci performing live on stage with the dancers. In recognition of the North Carolina Museum of Art’s Rodin exhibition, Carolina Ballet also performed Margo Sappington’s brilliant Rodin, Mis en Vie. The company’s work was praised in several national publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time.

The 1999-2000 season marked the beginning of Carolina Ballet’s role as cultural ambassador as it began its first touring season in Winston-Salem, presenting Robert Weiss’ Romeo & Juliet and a repertory program of Balanchine’s Square Dance and The Kreutzer Sonata. The company also traveled to Greenville as part of the East Carolina University’s Performing Arts series.

In the third season, Carolina Ballet increased in size to 30 dancers and continued to perform exciting and innovative ballets that included Weiss’ new version of Coppelia, Messiah (again to sold out audiences), new ballets with the Ciompi Quartet by Christopher Wheeldon, Tyler Walters and Richard Tanner and a Classics program of Concerto Barocco, Tarantella, The Lilac Garden, and The Moor’s Pavane. Lynne Taylor-Corbett created a new Carmina Burana on Carolina Ballet that received rave reviews locally and from Clive Barnes in Dance Magazine. The program also included two of Taylor-Corbett’s earlier works – Great Galloping Gottschalk and Chiarscuro. In Winston-Salem Carolina Ballet revived Carmen and presented Messiah for the first time as an Easter celebration.

The fourth season brought two significant moves for Carolina Ballet. The company moved into a new studio in Raleigh where for the first time the administrative, and artistic arms of the company were under one roof. And Carolina Ballet moved from being a regional touring company to a national and international touring company. Carolina Ballet truly became an ambassador for the state of North Carolina when it preformed on the “Works & Process” series at the Guggenheim Museum and participated in the II Dance Festival in April 2002 in Budapest, Hungary. Another significant milestone for the fourth season was the premiere of Weiss’ new $1 million Nutcracker, sponsored by Progress Energy and presented with North Carolina Symphony at Christmastime to over 30,000 patrons. This premiere production of Nutcracker included 128 children from the Triangle community. Two special productions were presented for free to Wake County public school children.

The season opened with a reprise of Romeo & Juliet and included a second collaboration with Andrea Marcovicci and choreography by Lynne Taylor-Corbett for Cabaret II. The program included the two segments of the earlier collaboration and added a third segment of ballet to the “spoken word”, the poetry of Noel Coward, read by Ms. Marcovicci. The fourth Ciompi Quartet program presented new works by Tyler Walters (his third premiere with Carolina Ballet), Damian Woetzel, Timour Bourtasenkov and Lynne Taylor-Corbett (in collaboration with the North Carolina School of the Arts.) A second week of ballets from the repertoire was also part of the Ciompi program. The season ended with Robert Weiss’ new Firebird on a program with Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Valse Fantaisie, and Peter Martins’ Valse Triste.

The 2002-2003, fifth season at Carolina Ballet opened with 34 dancers in the company. Of that number twelve dancers (plus ballet master Marin Boieru) were founding members of Carolina Ballet. The fifth season appropriately highlighted several of Robert Weiss’ triumphs and offered new ballets by the artistic director and some of his top guest choreographers. The fall opened with a reprise of Carmen, Nutcracker played for 19 performances (including two free performances for the Wake County elementary school students) and Messiah was repeated at Easter. Two of the most important aspects of the season were Weiss’ new Stravinsky’s Clowns (all new choreography for Jeu de Cartes, Petruschka and Pulcinlla) that The Wall Street Journal called “an evening of real brilliance” and The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen which closed the season. Weiss invited Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Damian Woetzel to each choreograph a ballet with him for this program. Damian Woetzel received a Choo-San Goh grant for his choreography for the fairy tale The Nightingale. Carolina Ballet added Rocky Mount, Wilmington and Pinehurst to its list of North Carolina cities where it performs.

After the successes of the first five years, Carolina Ballet continues to grow. The company has 37 dancers at the start of the sixth season and is adding a mini subscription series in Pinehurst, North Carolina with performances in the spring and fall, as well as a tour to Asheville in February 2004. The season will highlight works by the great George Balanchine in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Carolina Ballet will present A Balanchine Celebration in February and close the season with Act I of Balanchine’s magnificent A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

San Francisco Ballet

As America’s first professional ballet company, San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a long and rich tradition of artistic “firsts” since its founding in 1933, performing the first American productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker, as well as the first 20th-century American Coppélia. A lively, vital ensemble, San Francisco Ballet is one of the three largest ballet companies in the United States.

Since its early years under the direction of American dance pioneers and brothers Lew, Willam, and Harold Christensen, San Francisco Ballet now presents more than 100 performances annually, both locally and internationally.

Under the direction of Helgi Tomasson since 1985, the Company has achieved an international reputation as one of the preeminent ballet companies in America. By commissioning new works by some of today’s most sought-after choreographers, giving rise to young talent, acquiring existing works by master choreographers, and introducing new interpretations of classic full-length productions, Tomasson has created a sophisticated, diverse international repertory that offers powerful entertainment for all audiences.

San Francisco Ballet, the oldest professional ballet company in America, has emerged as a world-class arts organization since it was founded as the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1933. Initially, its primary purpose was to train dancers to appear in lavish, full-length opera productions.

Willam Christensen arrived in 1938 and choreographed the Company’s first full-length production, Coppélia, the following year. In 1940, he staged the first American full-length production of Swan Lake. On Christmas Eve 1944, Christensen launched a national holiday tradition with the premiere of Nutcracker, the first complete version of the ballet ever staged in the United States.

In 1942, the Company became a totally separate entity from the opera and was renamed San Francisco Ballet. Willam Christensen was artistic director, and his brother Harold was appointed director of the San Francisco Ballet School, a position he retained for 33 years. Lew Christensen, America’s first premier danseur, joined Willam as co-director in 1951 and took over the Company the following year. Under Lew’s direction, the Company made its East Coast debut at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1956 and toured 11 Asian nations the following year, marking the first performances of an American ballet company in the Far East.

In 1972, after performing in various San Francisco theaters, the Company settled permanently in the War Memorial Opera House for its annual residency. The following year, Michael Smuin was appointed associate artistic director and celebrated his new partnership with Lew Christensen by collaborating on a full-length production of Cinderella. In 1976, Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet became the first full-length ballet and the first performance by a West Coast company to be shown on the PBS television series “Dance in America.” In 1981, Smuin’s The Tempest—the first ballet ever broadcast live from the War Memorial Opera House—was nominated for three Emmy Awards (Willa Kim received the award for Outstanding Costume Design). Three years later, Smuin received an Emmy Award for Choreography for the “Great Performances—Dance in America” national broadcast of A Song for Dead Warriors.

In 1974 San Francisco Ballet faced bankruptcy, but its supporters and the community responded with an extraordinary grassroots effort called “Save Our Ballet,” which successfully brought the Company back from the brink. That same year, Dr. Richard E. LeBlond, Jr., was appointed president and general manager of the San Francisco Ballet Association. He developed the first long-range plan for an American dance company, and in 18 months San Francisco Ballet was in the black financially.

Helgi Tomasson’s arrival as artistic director in July 1985 marked the beginning of a new era for San Francisco Ballet. Like Lew Christensen, Tomasson had been for many years a leading dancer for the most important ballet choreographer of the 20th century, George Balanchine. Less than two years after Tomasson’s arrival, San Francisco Ballet unveiled its fourth production of Nutcracker during the Company’s 54th Repertory Season. Tomasson has since staged acclaimed full-length productions of many classics, including Swan Lake (1988); The Sleeping Beauty (1990); Romeo & Juliet (1994); Giselle (1999); Don Quixote, co-staged with former Principal Dancer and current Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov (2003); and a new Nutcracker (2004).

In 1991, San Francisco Ballet performed in New York City for the first time in 26 years, returning in 1993, 1995, 1998, 2002, and in 2006 for the Company’s first engagement at the Lincoln Center Festival. Following the first tour, The New York Times proclaimed, “Mr. Tomasson has accomplished the unprecedented: He has pulled a so-called regional company into the national ranks, and he has done so by honing the dancers into a classical style of astonishing verve and purity. San Francisco Ballet under Helgi Tomasson’s leadership is one of the spectacular success stories of the arts in America.”

In May 1995, San Francisco Ballet played host to 12 ballet companies from around the world for UNited We Dance: An International Festival, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter, which took place in the War Memorial Opera House. The festival was held at the Performing Arts Center in San Francisco; never before had a dance event brought together over 150 international artists for two weeks of creative exchange and inspiration.

San Francisco Ballet continues to enrich and expand its repertory and presents approximately 100 performances annually. The Company’s vast repertory includes works by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, August Bournonville, Christopher Bruce, Val Caniparoli, Lew Christensen, Nacho Duato, Flemming Flindt, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Jirí Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Hans van Manen, Peter Martins, Mark Morris, Rudolf Nureyev, Marius Petipa, Roland Petit, Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, and Christopher Wheeldon.

In recent years, the Company’s touring program has become increasingly ambitious. In particular, the Company has developed strong relationships with a number of domestic performing arts centers including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; New York City Center; and Southern California’s Orange County Performing Arts Center. San Francisco Ballet has also enjoyed more frequent overseas tours, including engagements at prestigious venues such as the famed Opéra de Paris-Palais Garnier in Paris (2001); London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre (1999, 2004) and the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (2002); Athens’ Megaron Theatre (2002); the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles (2003); and the Edinburgh International Festival at the Edinburgh Playhouse (2003).

Notably, on the second day of the Company’s London engagement in 2004, Sadler’s Wells’ box office experienced the second-highest single sales day in its history. Of the engagement, David Dougill of The Sunday Times wrote, “Helgi Tomasson’s outstanding artistic direction (now in its 20th year)…has transformed a regional American troupe into one of the world’s top ballet companies.”

In 2005, the Company returned to Paris, participating in a three-week inaugural engagement at Les étés de la danse de Paris, a new outdoor dance festival held in the Marais district of Paris. As part of the engagement’s three-program repertory, San Francisco Ballet presented commissioned works by internationally acclaimed choreographers Lar Lubovitch, Paul Taylor, and Christopher Wheeldon.

In 2004, San Francisco Ballet was the first American ballet company to present the evening-length Sylvia, with all-new choreography by Mark Morris. The Company also performed a two-week Centennial Celebration to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Master Choreographer George Balanchine. In December 2004, San Francisco Ballet debuted Tomasson’s critically acclaimed new production of Nutcracker, hailed by The New York Times as “…striking, elegant and beautiful.” In 2005, Tomasson was awarded the prestigious Lew Christensen Medal in honor of his 20th anniversary as artistic director of San Francisco Ballet, and that same year, the Company won its first Laurence Olivier Award, for its 2004 fall season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. In 2006, in a readers’ poll conducted by Dance Europe magazine, San Francisco Ballet was the first non-European company to be voted “Company of the Year” by the publication. In 2008, San Francisco Ballet celebrates its 75th anniversary.

The San Francisco Ballet School, overseen by Tomasson, attracts students from around the world, training approximately 350 annually. In addition to filling the ranks of San Francisco Ballet, graduates have gone on to join distinguished ballet companies throughout the world.

Houston Ballet

In 1955, the founding members of Houston Ballet Foundation had a vision for dance in Houston: to create a resident ballet company and to start a school which would train its dancers. Houston Ballet Academy was established that same year under the leadership of Tatiana Semenova, a former dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In 1969, the professional company was founded, under the direction of Nina Popova, a former dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and American Ballet Theatre.

Houston Ballet Foundation has seen the fulfillment of its goals: an internationally acclaimed ballet company which is now America’s fourth largest and an academy which supplies over 40 percent of the company’s dancers. The New York Times has hailed Houston Ballet as “one of the nation’s best ballet companies.” The company is comprised of 54 dancers, including artists who have won gold and silver medals at major international ballet competitions. In July 2003, the acclaimed Australian choreographer Stanton Welch assumed the leadership of Houston Ballet as artistic director. Mr. Welch, who has created ballets for many of the world’s leading companies, has choreographed eight works especially for Houston Ballet: Indigo (1999), Bruiser (2000), Tales of Texas (2004), Blindness (2004), Bolero (2004), Nosotros (2005), Brigade (2006) and a spectacular new staging of Swan Lake (2006).

From 1976-2003, Englishman Ben Stevenson, O.B.E., a former dancer with Britain’s Royal Ballet and English National Ballet, served as artistic director of Houston Ballet. He established a core of permanent choreographers whose works have greatly enriched the company’s repertory. In 1989, Sir Kenneth MacMillan joined the company as artistic associate and Christopher Bruce was named resident choreographer. Sir Kenneth worked with the company from 1989 until his death in 1992, setting five of his pieces on Houston Ballet dancers. Mr. Bruce, who currently holds the title of associate choreographer, has set ten works on the company, including four pieces created especially for Houston Ballet. In March 1995, Trey McIntyre, one of the most talented young dance makers in the country, assumed the position of choreographic associate. Mr. McIntyre has created seven world premieres for the company, including his first full-length production of Peter Pan.

In 1984, a newly renovated dance facility was inaugurated to further the excellence of balletic training and to accommodate the growth of the company and its academy. In 1987, the company moved into its new performance space, the magnificent Wortham Theater Center, a state-of-the-art facility in which the company currently performs over 75 performances seven months a year.

Throughout its extraordinary growth period, Houston Ballet’s operating expenses have grown from less than $1 million in 1975 to over $16 million today. In May 1987, the company launched an ambitious endowment drive. Houston Ballet’s endowment stands at over $60 million, as of April 2007, making it one of the largest endowments of any dance company in the United States.

Under the leadership of managing director Cecil C. Conner since 1995, Houston Ballet has also taken the lead in arranging collaborations with major American ballet companies to nurture the creation of new major productions, among them Dracula (1997) with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT); The Snow Maiden (1998) and The Pied Piper (2002) with American Ballet Theatre; Cleopatra (2000) with PBT and Boston Ballet; The Firebird (2001) with the National Ballet of Canada; and Carnival of the Animals (2007) with Pennsylvania Ballet.

Through hard work and dedication, Houston Ballet Foundation has ensured Houston Ballet’s place as a major cultural asset in the community and as one of the leading ballet companies in the world. The company has toured extensively to critical praise in Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia, Canada, and in cities throughout the United States. In July 1995, Houston Ballet was the first full American ballet company invited by the Chinese government to tour the People’s Republic of China. An estimated 500 million people witnessed Houston Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet when the company’s opening night performance was telecast live on Chinese television. Over the last ten years, the company has emerged as one the most effective international ambassadors for the City of Houston, performing in London, New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

Atlanta Ballet

Atlanta Ballet was founded seven decades ago by dance visionary Dorothy Alexander (1904-1986). Miss Dorothy had a dream of bringing quality ballet to the Atlanta community. The result was the Dorothy Alexander Dance Concert Group—the first step in the regional ballet movement that swept the nation. Upon gaining professional status in 1967, the company was renamed Atlanta Ballet. Today, under the artistic leadership of John McFall, Atlanta Ballet is the oldest professional dance company in America, the largest self-supported arts organization in Georgia and official Ballet of Georgia.

Atlanta Ballet’s eclectic repertoire spans the history of ballet; highlighted by the most beloved classics and the most inventive originals. Although a renowned leader in the promotion and education of dance, Atlanta Ballet’s roots have been firmly grounded in the community and playing a vital role in the city’s cultural growth and revitalization.

The Company has also served as an ambassador for Atlanta nationally and internationally, performing around the globe-from the stages of Taipei in Taiwan to the Presidential Palace and the Sejong Cultural Arts Center in Seoul, Korea. In 1996, the Company performed during the Olympic Arts Festival/Cultural Olympiad and in 1999 Atlanta Ballet debuted in London performing John McFall’s enchanting Peter Pan as the centerpiece of Royal Festival Hall’s millennium celebration.

In 1958, Miss Dorothy invited Robert Barnett, a soloist with the acclaimed New York City Ballet and a protégé of George Balanchine, to join the Company as a principal dancer. Upon her retirement in 1963, Barnett was named artistic director and introduced many Balanchine masterworks into the repertoire including The Nutcracker. For more than 30 years Barnett expanded Miss Dorothy’s dream of excellence.

John McFall became the Ballet’s third artistic director in 1994. McFall’s imagination and innovative vision have brought contemporary and modern dance premieres, numerous new full-length ballets and several world premiere productions to Atlanta. His pioneering spirit has inspired collaborations between Big Boi of OutKast, Indigo Girls, The Red Clay Ramblers, the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Choir and the Michael O’Neal singers..

McFall has created an ensemble company of extraordinary professional dancers from every corner of the world including, Uraguay, Taiwan, China, Mongolia, South Africa, Canada, and the United States. McFall is eager to provide the country’s most innovative choreographers including Christopher Hampson, Laurie Stallings and Violette Verdy with an artistic home, while exposing Georgia audiences to exciting new works.

In 1996, Atlanta Ballet opened the Centre for Dance Education, dedicated to nurturing young dancers while providing an outlet for adults to express their creativity though different courses. The Centre offers classes for children as young as four, an acclaimed pre-professional division and a spectrum of colorful dance classes ranging from modern and jazz to swing and hip-hop. Students enrolled in the Centre program enjoy opportunities to perform with the professional Company. Students receive first priority in casting for roles in the Nutcracker as well as other productions.

The Centre for Dance Education also prides itself on its renowned community outreach programs. School programs have increased the spirit and grades of thousands of metro Atlanta school children. The Centre has been a tireless leader of dance education.

Through endeavors such as these, Atlanta Ballet continues Miss Dorothy’s vision. Atlanta Ballet commitment to dance education and performance has inspired by expressing its commitment to share and educate Atlanta the empowering joy of dance with audiences everywhere.