Nashville Ballet

Last updated
Nashville Ballet Nashville Ballet.jpg
Nashville Ballet

Nashville Ballet is a professional ballet company in Tennessee. Founded in 1986 and based in Nashville, Tennessee, it presents a repertoire of classic and contemporary works by a variety of choreographers, including Artistic Director Paul Vasterling. [1]

Contents

The company is composed of 32 professional dancers from around the world. NB2, Nashville Ballet's official second Company, prepares aspiring dancers for a mainstage career through intensive training and performance opportunities.

History

Performances

Nashville Ballet presents five to seven mainstage performances each year. [16] The company performs at and is the resident ballet company at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in downtown Nashville.

Nashville Ballet has performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2017 [12] and at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY in 2018. [17] The company has performed internationally in Basel, Switzerland, [6] and Buenos Aires, Argentina. [7] In the spring of 2022, the company will tour Paul Vasterling’s Lucy Negro Redux to Denver, Colorado, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Kansas City, Missouri, and Norfolk, Virginia. [16]

The company presents a variety of classical and contemporary works each season. [16] Past repertory includes works by Salvatore Aiello, Jennifer Archibald, George Balanchine, Christopher Bruce, Val Caniparoli, Jiří Kylián, José Limón, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Christopher Stuart, Twyla Tharp, Christopher Wheeldon, and more. [18]

Nashville Ballet collaborates with musicians across all genres for live performances. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Paul Vasterling, Nashville Ballet has commissioned 22 original scores for brand-new ballets. [5] The Nashville Symphony accompanies each of Nashville Ballet’s classical productions. For contemporary works, they have worked with musicians such as Ben Folds, Maren Morris, Rayland Baxter, Louis York, Sugar + The Hi-Lows, Sheryl Crow, 10 Out of Tenn, Guy Clark, Shannon Sanders, and Lockeland Strings. [18]

Vasterling’s 2019 Lucy Negro Redux in collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens examined themes of otherness, equality, and self-worth; it was dubbed a “Nashville miracle” by The New York Times. [13]

Education and Community Engagement

School of Nashville Ballet provides dance education for children, youth, and adults for ages 2–70. [19] The school aims to focus on development, inclusivity, and excellence in dance by teaching the fundamental foundation of classical ballet. [8] The Community Engagement Program brings arts education to more than 50,000 individuals each year. [20] The company visits schools, libraries, parks and community centers to introduce new audiences to dance. [21] The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet currently serves as a home for their professional dancers, students, and administrative offices. [22]

Artists

Artistic Director

Named Artistic Director in 1998, Paul Vasterling is a nationally acclaimed choreographer and former Nashville Ballet Company dancer and has been with the organization since 1988.

Company dancers

There are thirty two full-time professional dancers, recruited through annual auditions. As of October, 2022:

Company Members

  • Brett Sjoblom
  • Colette Tilinski
  • Garritt McCabe
  • Imani Sailers
  • Marissa Stark
  • Mollie Sansone
  • Sarah Pierce
  • Christian Renforth
  • Julia Eisen
  • Nicolas Scheuer
  • Jaison McClendon
  • Noah Miller
  • Kennedy Brown
  • Michael Burfield
  • Jamie Kopit
  • Daniel Rodriguez
  • Lily Saito
  • Owen Thorne
  • Claudia Monja
  • Celeste Borman
  • Jasmine Wheeler
  • Aeron Buchanan
  • James Lankford
  • Emily Ireland-Buczek

Company Apprentices

  • Anneliese Guerin
  • Farin Taft
  • Raquel Smith
  • Joshua O'Connor
  • Autumn Tierney
  • Maia Montgomery
  • Annie Bakland
  • Justin Abel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikhail Baryshnikov</span> Latvian-American dancer (born 1948)

Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov is a Latvian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male classical dancer of the 1970s and 1980s. He subsequently became a noted dance director.

Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dancers; there are more than 100 performances throughout the year.

Gelsey Kirkland is an American ballerina. She received early ballet training at the School of American Ballet. Kirkland joined the New York City Ballet in 1968 at age 15, at the invitation of George Balanchine. She was promoted to soloist in 1969, and principal in 1972. She went on to create leading roles in many of the great twentieth century ballets by Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Antony Tudor, including Balanchine's revival of The Firebird, Robbins' Goldberg Variations, and Tudor's The Leaves are Fading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joffrey Ballet</span> Ballet company (founded in 1956)

The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company and training institution in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at the Civic Opera House, including its annual presentation of The Nutcracker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Ballet</span> Boston-based ballet company

The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. It has been led by Violette Verdy (1980–1984), Bruce Marks (1985–1997), and Anna-Marie Holmes (1997–2000). Mikko Nissinen was appointed artistic director in September 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Page (ballerina)</span> American ballerina and choreographer (1899–1991)

Ruth Page was an American ballerina and choreographer, who created innovative works on American themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Ballet</span> U.S. ballet company

San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, and effective December 2022 under the direction of Tamara Rojo. It is among the world's leading dance companies, presenting more than 100 performances annually, with a repertoire that spans both classical and contemporary ballet. Along with American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet has been described as part of the "triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today."

Ballet San Jose was a ballet company based in San Jose, California, US, operating from 1985 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Villella</span> American ballet dancer and choreographer (born 1936)

Edward Villella is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He is frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer of ballet at the time. He has won numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the National Medal of Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cincinnati Ballet</span> American ballet company

The Cincinnati Ballet is a professional ballet company founded as Cincinnati Civic Ballet in 1958, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. After being registered as a company, it had its first performance in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami City Ballet</span> Non-profit organization in the USA

Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballet Austin</span> American ballet company

Ballet Austin is the 12th largest classical ballet company in the US, and also operates the largest combined training facility associated with a professional ballet company in the United States. Each year the Ballet Austin company performs ballets from a wide variety of choreographers, including Stephen Mills.

Helgi Tomasson is an Icelandic artistic director and principal choreographer for San Francisco Ballet, and a former professional ballet dancer. Since assuming leadership of San Francisco Ballet, he has helped transform the company from a respected regional troupe to one of the world's great classical ballet companies.

Kathryn Elizabeth Morgan is an American ballet dancer. She joined New York City Ballet in 2006 and was promoted to the rank of soloist in 2009. Morgan left New York City Ballet in 2012 due to health complications related to her suffering from Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Throughout her recovery, Morgan taught ballet and performed as a guest artist. From 2019 to 2020 she was a soloist at Miami City Ballet.

The New Jersey Ballet is a ballet company based in Livingston, New Jersey in the United States, founded in 1958 by native New Jerseyan Carolyn Clark and her fellow dancer, George Tomal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City Ballet</span>

The Kansas City Ballet (KCB) is a professional ballet company based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was founded in 1957 by Russian expatriate Tatiana Dokoudovska. The KCB presents five major performances each season to include an annual production of The Nutcracker. The KCB, its school, and its staff are all housed in, operate from, and rehearse at the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, a renovated, seven-studio, office, and rehearsal facility in Kansas City, Missouri, that opened in August 2011. The company performs at and is the resident ballet company at the nearby Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a performance venue in downtown Kansas City that opened in September 2011.

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre is the associate school of American Ballet Theatre located at 890 Broadway, within the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. The school comprises a children's division for ages 4 to 12, a pre-professional division for ages 12 to 18, and the preparatory program "Studio Company" for ages 16 to 20. It was established in 2004 and named in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who served on ABT's Board of Trustees as honorary chairman emerita for many years prior to her death. Besides its parent company, graduates of JKO have found employment in various companies, such as National Ballet of Canada, The Royal Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. Stella Abrera will become the school's interim artistic director for a year, starting in August 2022, following Cynthia Harvey's departure in May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greensboro Ballet</span> American ballet company

Greensboro Ballet is a professional ballet company in North Carolina. It is the only ballet company in the Piedmont Triad. It is one of the few non-profit ballet companies in North Carolina. Greensboro Ballet has presented works by George Balanchine. The company also has performed a number of works made especially for the Greensboro Ballet by Rick McCullough, Jill Eathorne Bahr, Leslie Jane Pessemier, Elissa Minet Fuchs, and Emery LeCrone. Maryhelen Mayfield, who served as artistic and executive director of Greensboro Ballet from 1980 to 2019, choreographed over twenty-five works for the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Randall Williams</span> American writer

Caroline Randall Williams is an American author, poet and academic best known for the 2015 cookbook Soul Food Love, co-written with her mother, author Alice Randall, and published by Random House. In February, 2016, Soul Food Love received the NAACP Image Award in Literature (Instructional).

Ming Luke is an American conductor who is the Principal Guest Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Nashville Ballet, founder and Program Director of Festival Napa Valley's Blackburn Music Academy, Music Director of the Merced Symphony, Music Director of the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, and Education Director and Conductor of the Berkeley Symphony

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Life behind barres: Dancing into the hearts of Middle Tennessee with the Nashville Ballet". WHNT. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  2. "Dance Companies". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  3. "Ballet Ball Celebrates 30 Years of Excellence in Dance". Tennessean. Retrieved 20 December 2021.[ dead link ]
  4. "Weathering Storms". Nashville Scene . Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Paul Vasterling". The Center for Ballet and the Arts. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "Nashville Ballet History". Nashville Ballet. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Nashville Ballet Presents Salsa Dreams". Hispanic Nashville. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Nashville's Nutcracker Returns, Mixing Young Dancers and Professionals". Tennessean. Retrieved 20 December 2021.[ dead link ]
  9. "Carmina Burana". Nashville Arts. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 "Nashville Ballet Receives Record Setting Gift". Tennessean. Retrieved 20 December 2021.[ dead link ]
  11. "Nashville Ballet Launches Men's Scholarship Program". Pointe Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Nashville Ballet Takes Ben Folds Project to Prestigious Kennedy Center". Tennessean. Retrieved 20 December 2021.[ dead link ]
  13. 1 2 "A Nashville Miracle". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  14. "Nashville Ballet to Present Televised Premiere of Nashville's Nutcracker". Tennessean. Retrieved 20 December 2021.[ dead link ]
  15. "Emmy Award Nominated Nashville's Nutcracker to Return to NewsChannel 5 this Holiday Season". Visit Music City. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 "Nashville Ballet Schedule 2021-2022 Season". Tennessean. Retrieved 20 December 2021.[ dead link ]
  17. "Nashville Ballet, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra Collaboration, Match Made in Amphitheater Heaven". The Chautauquan Daily. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  18. 1 2 "Past Repertory". Nashville Ballet. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  19. "The Most Fun Workout You've Never Tried". StyleBluePrint. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  20. "Nashville Ballet". Visit Music City. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  21. "Nashville Ballet Helping Teachers Navigate New Demands of Hybrid Learning". Dance Informa Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  22. "Nashville Ballet Studio A". Now Playing Nashville. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.