She has raised a whole $20 and she is very excited it is underway! I know it does not sound like much but any donation is inspiring and considerate and appreciated!
She started her classes this weekend, although we have met with her teachers very often. She and they are very thrilled to begin work. She is a very hard worker and has already obtained a part-time job in the evenings.
Already she is learning that there are very strong difference in the technique and artistic styles and her teachers are very old school. I will leave those wide differences and contrasts to her to explain in her updates to her Appeal. If you should choose to subscribe or to donate, she will keep you posted!
On the other hand, of you donate to this blog (or both), I will put your investment to good use as as well. Currently, I’m planning to begin a ballet school in New York for underprivileged children. They will only pay what they can afford, if anything, for correct ballet training. If anyone is interested in assisting with this, please contact me directly.
As usual, if you want to read up on the Differences of Movement, check out my book on my blog under differencesofmovement.wordpress.com
Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley succeeds with ‘do-or-die’ fundraising effort
By Karen D’Souza
POSTED: 03/16/2015 06:00:07 AM PDT# COMMENTS| UPDATED: A DAY AGO
Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley successfully overshot its do-or-die fundraising goal over the weekend by almost $100,000. Many see it as a much-needed shot in the arm for the valley’s fragile art scene.
“The community does not want to lose another arts organization,” said Lisa Mallette, head of City Lights Theater Company. “People are willing to step up and ensure that this one remains strong and vital.”
The South Bay’s major resident dance company snagged $640,000, more than the $550,000 it needed to stay alive. With the emergency push behind it, ballet leaders said they intend to reboot its operation, including rebranding it: Silicon Valley Ballet.
Corps de Ballet members, from left, Alison Stroming, Grace Anne Powers and James Kopecky, practice during a company class taught by San Jose Ballet Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño, at Ballet San Jose in San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group) ( LiPo Ching )
“This campaign proves that people care about the ballet as much as we do and it gives us the ramp we need to get out ahead of the situation,” said ballet CEO Alan Hineline. “Finally there is some good news for the arts in the South Bay. We believe the ballet can be a rallying point for the city and the downtown.”
Withhttp://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2015/0310/20150310__SJM-BALLET-0311~1_300.JPG many in the arts community still reeling over the loss of San Jose Rep, the fact that the ballet stayed afloat is the source of great relief. It was also seen as a vote of confidence that the valley, often knocked as an industry town interested only in high tech, also values the arts.
TEETERING ON THE EDGE
It’s also a refreshing outcome because it comes after a series of devastating losses in recent years.
Corps de Ballet members, from left, Alison Stroming, Grace Anne Powers and James Kopecky, practice during a company class taught by San Jose Ballet Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño, at Ballet San Jose in San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group) ( LiPo Ching )
The region has lost not only the Rep, which went under last year, but also Shakespeare Santa Cruz, which died in 2013 (before being reincarnated in a smaller form) and American Musical Theatre of San Jose, which perished in 2008.
Hineline, for one, has been pushing hard to buck the trend of local arts groups teetering on the edge.
“We know that the collapse of the Rep hurt everyone. A loss like that sends shock waves,” Hineline said. “We wanted to change that narrative, to change the ending of that story — and we did. Finally there is some good news for the arts in the South Bay.”
So, what made the ballet better positioned for survival than the Rep, which was also a beloved local institution?
One of the smartest moves the ballet made may have been making a public appeal over its fate, instead of slipping away quietly.
“The Rep went under without a word, which upset a lot of people,” said Andrew Bales, head of Symphony Silicon Valley. “The ballet made some noise and gave people a chance to have their say.”
Of course, this could be just a temporary reprieve. Ballet leaders must stay on their toes because there is another deadline looming. Company officials say they will need to raise $3.5 million by October to restructure the company’s business model and re-brand itself as Silicon Valley Ballet. The troupe, now led by ballet hotshot Jose Manuel Carreno, wants to raise its profile and reach out to a wider geographic audience.
SHORT HISTORY
The troubled company, which partnered with New York’s American Ballet Theatre in 2012, has weathered many fiscal crises over the years. Old debts have piled up, including a $500,000 tax bill, and the company’s biggest patron, John Fry, CEO of Fry’s Electronics, dialed back his patronage. The ballet has countered by cutting back, scrapping some performances and dropping live music accompaniment here and there. The budget for the organization, which includes 32 professional dancers and bustling school of 350 students, now stands at $5.6 million, down from a high of $8 million.
One of the most frustrating aspects of the harsh South Bay arts economy is the comparative wealth of groups in San Francisco and Berkeley. Yet local arts honchos suggest these struggles may simply be growing pains.
“The San Francisco art scene was built over 150 years, seeded in the Gold Rush,” said Randall King, head of San Jose Stage Company. “South Bay cultural resources have a relatively short history. We have built a competitive environment in a very limited timeline. We are younger, but no less valid or viable.”
On Thursday and Friday evening last week we showcased two key strands of our work, the Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award and aDvANCE. These innovative projects provide opportunities for Royal Ballet School students to explore their creativity and develop skills creating original work.
Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award
This year nine 2nd Year students were shortlisted to develop and show their choreography for the Award, which is generously sponsored by Peter Wilson. There was a rich display of ingenuity put before our three distinguished judges Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet, Jeanetta Laurence OBE, Associate Director of The Royal Ballet and Arthur Pita, choreographer. After much deliberation they awarded first prize to Arianna Maldini for Quia Contra (For and Against), a piece of choreography inspired by an imagined meeting of the four elements of nature: water, fire, air and earth. The piece was set to Ezio Bosso’s music Thunders and Lightnings.
Second prize went to Joseph Sissens for his piece inspired by the transatlantic slave trade called Let My People Go. His emotive choreography was set to The Bitter Earth by Max Richter and On the Nature of Daylight by Dinah Washington.
Third prize was awarded to Grace Paulley for Amo, Amas, Amat, which explored the grammar of love, and the luminosity of impressionist art. It was set to Debussy’s Reverie.
The Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award has played an important role in encouraging the development of young choreographers since its inception nearly half a century ago. It has provided a launchpad for many influential figures including David Bintley, Christopher Wheeldon, Cathy Marston and Liam Scarlett.
Ursula Moreton was an instrumental figure in the encouragement of emerging choreographic talent in the mid-20th century. By nurturing great artists, such as Kenneth MacMillan and John Cranko, she played a vital role in the development of the British style. She was Chairman of the Royal Academy of Dance’s Production Club and later became Principal at The Royal Ballet School.
Our thanks to the judging panel for giving up their valuable time and to composer Russell Hepplewhite, who was music consultant to the choreographers. Congratulations to all the choreographers and dancers involved.
aDvANCE
Our aDvANCE scheme is part of our Dance Partnership & Access work, which provides broader access to ballet and the work of the School through an extensive range of primary and secondary school projects. aDvANCE offers our 1st Year students a unique opportunity to work with young people learning dance in other contexts. This year the students collaborated with students from Featherstone High School in Southall, West London. Over the past five months the young dancers have taken part in a series of creative and choreographic tasks as well as visiting each other’s schools to work together on a joint performance. On Thursday and Friday evening, the audience were treated to a performance by each school group separately before watching the collaborative piece Stabilimentum, choreographed by students themselves led by Dani Batchelor with assistance from Bim Malcomson.
The dancers took the tale of Arachne, a talented weaver who antagonised the goddess Athena and was then condemned to live as a spider, and developed it to create their own abstract interpretation of the story.
We are grateful for the generous support of the Department for Education, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and The Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation.
ON STAGE-Reposted from South Coast Today Posted Mar. 1, 2015 at 2:23 AM
Ballet tells Sacagawea’s story
COMMENT
Dartmouth and Westport residents are among the local dancers bringing “Sacagawea’s Song” to life. Back row: Victoria Cameron, Caroline Mello, Elicia Cormier, Felicia Garro and Kenzie Waskiewicz; middle row: Lily Johnson, Sophia Cameron, Olivia Cornell and Sarah Hurteau; front row: Maddison Medeiros and Brooke Spencer.
Posted Mar. 1, 2015 at 2:23 AM
New Bedford Ballet will host its annual spring fundraiser Sunday, March 8, 1 to 4 p.m. at NBB Community Theatre, 2343 Purchase St., New Bedford. The celebration of the arts will include an array of elegant desserts and beverages, live music provided by members of the New Bedford Symphony Youth Orchestra and performances of “Sacagawea’s Song” by the New Bedford Youth Ballet at 1:30 and 3 p.m.
Proceeds will benefit New Bedford Ballet’s arts education and dance scholarship programs.
“Sacagawea’s Song” is an original historical ballet created and choreographed by New Bedford Ballet’s artistic director Rebecca Waskiel-Marchesseault. The family-oriented ballet describes the story of Sacagawea, the Native American woman who served as interpreter and guide on the historic Lewis and Clark expedition across the western United States. Audience members will have the opportunity to travel back to the early 19th century and experience the renowned journey of an American icon who has become a symbol of women’s strength and independence.
The New Bedford Youth Ballet will also perform “Sacagawea’s Song” for elementary schools in Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Marion and New Bedford in March as part of their Bringing History to Life through the Arts program. An educational curriculum, including workbooks, will be provided.
Sponsored by Alves Chiropractic Center, two special additional performances of “Sacagawea’s Song” will be presented in March: one for patients, their families and staff at Boston Children’s Hospital, and the second for PACE Head Start students and families.
New Bedford Youth Ballet is a company of the New Bedford Ballet Foundation Inc. Founded in 1987, the foundation is a non-profit whose mission is to promote and present classical ballets, grant scholarships and educate the community about the beauty of the art. Aided by the financial support of the foundation, thousands of local children and senior citizens have witnessed live ballet.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $5 for children.
More information is available by calling (508) 993-1387 or visiting newbedfordballet.
Artistic Director and principle dancer Tamara Rojo & Fabian Reimair from English National Ballet rehearse Akram Khan ‘s new work: Dust, as part of a program entitled ‘Lest We Forget’ in commemoration of the start of World War I, at The Barbican Centre in London Photo: Araud Stephenson
Tamara Rojo: Axing dance in schools will restrict ballet to wealthy
Tamara Rojo, the artistic director of the English National Ballet criticised the decision of former education secretary Michael Gove to cut dance from the school curriculum
Artistic Director and principle dancer Tamara Rojo & Fabian Reimair from English National Ballet rehearse Akram Khan ‘s new work: Dust, as part of a program entitled ‘Lest We Forget’ in commemoration of the start of World War I, at The Barbican Centre in London Photo: Araud Stephenson
By Keith Perry 11:47PM GMT 05 Dec 2014
Tamara Rojo, the artistic director of the English National Ballet has criticised the decision of former education secretary Michael Gove to cut dance from the school curriculum, saying it risks making dance a preserve of the better off.
Ms Rojo said it was unfair as it meant “those that don’t have the means won’t have access to dance”.
She told the Evening Standard that is was particularly unwise to take dance out of schools as there was evidence of overwhelmingly improved results in maths taught through movement and 100 per cent increase in confidence.
The ENB itself offers tickets for as little as £10 to enable people to enjoy live dance. “We try to ensure that it is an art form that is accessible to everybody,” she said.
The Spanish dance star and her company are preparing to open their traditional Christmas production of Nutcracker followed by a run of Swan Lake.
Rojo said Nutcracker was important because the company had been performing it for more than 60 years. She added: There are two dozen Nutcrackers going round the United States. it is a very important tradition because for so many people it’s the first time they come to see ballet at all or to see a live performance in an orchestra.
“It’s a family tradition that goes from generation to generation and serves as an introduction to the art form.”
The challenge, she said, was to keep those first-time visitors – but audiences for dance have been growing. She praised both Billy Elliott, which overturned many prejudices about boys doing ballet, and Strictly Come Dancing for helping to foster a new passion.
But she rejected any notion she might follow Darcey Bussell in becoming a judge on the BBC show saying: “I think Darcey does a wonderful job.”
Rojo, 40, boosted the ENB’s fortunes when she returned as principal and boss two years ago but she said the pressure was shared with the arrival of major dancers such as Alina Cojocaru and guests including and guests including Ivan Vasiliev.
But she warned she would not be able to dance for as long as Sylvie Guillem who will retire next year at 50.
“She has an incredible physicality that I sadly don’t have. My end will come much earlier than that.
The Nutcracker runs at the London Coliseum from Thursday to January 4.
mysylph 