 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2023) |
 Swan Lake | |
| Formation | 1958 First performance: 1964 |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit |
| Legal status | Foundation |
| Purpose | Fine Arts, Ballet |
| Headquarters | 1801 Gilbert Avenue |
| Location | |
| Website | Cincinnati Ballet |
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.
Organizing founders Nancy Bauer, Virginia Garrett, and Myrl Laurence first chartered the company as the “Cincinnati Civic Ballet” in 1958. [1] Then in 1962, seven ballet teachers in the Cincinnati area, including Anneliese von Oettingen, Shirley Frame Elmore, Mac Vestal came together to officially form the company. [2] The first official auditions were in 1963 at the YMCA where 41 dancers were chosen from the 200 audition hopefuls. Debut performances took place at the University of Cincinnati’s Wilson Auditorium in 1964 and 1965. The first performance included an original ballet by guest choreographer Joseph Levinoff, Chopin Piano Concerto in F Minor. The repertoire consisted of ballets choreographed or staged by Oleg Sabline, Tania Karina, William Dollar, and John Taras.[ citation needed ]
Oleg Sabline, a European-trained dancer whose career had taken him through Europe and the United States, was appointed director for the first performances. He originally came to Cincinnati to teach ballet and stage the classics at The University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
In 1966, the directorship passed on to David McLain. He also headed the Dance Division of CCM. CCM gave the young company the advantages of studio space for classes and rehearsals, access to talented students, and the use of the Wilson Auditorium for performances. The dancers in the company also had to pay a fee of $10.00 per year to be a part of the company. As the organization outgrew the profile of a non-professional civic company, the company was re-named “Cincinnati Ballet Company” in 1968 and gained Carmon DeLeone as music director.[ citation needed ]
By 1970, professional status was achieved when ten salaried dancers were hired. CCM faculty member James Truitte began to train dancers in the contemporary technique created by the American choreographer Lester Horton. As the company dancers became proficient in Horton technique, they began to perform Horton's choreography. As a result, Cincinnati Ballet Company earned national recognition for keeping this historic work alive.[ citation needed ]
However, by the mid-1970s, CBC was still first and foremost a ballet company with classical works in the repertoire, including Les Patineurs , Pas de Quatre and variations from The Sleeping Beauty , along with two Balanchine ballets, Concerto Barocco and Serenade. Performances took place at the Taft Theatre and tours were added in Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Jacob's Pillow and at New York City's Dance Festival in 1975.[ citation needed ]
The Nutcracker was premiered in 1974 at Music Hall. Frisch's Restaurants from Cincinnati sponsored the performances and have continued to do so. [3] Today Frisch’s presents: The Nutcracker is a Cincinnati tradition. [4]
The Nutcracker was choreographed by Moscelyne Larkin, Roman Jasinski and Frederic Franklin. This led to Franklin's long tenure as Resident Choreographer and the period of his being Interim Director.
Beginning in 1978, regular repertoire performances were also held at Music Hall, and the schedule expanded from three series to five by 1980. The company's name was shortened to “Cincinnati Ballet”, and in 1983 a sister-city arrangement begun with New Orleans to further increase performing opportunities.[ citation needed ]
McLain died in 1984 and Frederic Franklin became interim director. [5] A permanent artistic director, Ivan Nagy, was appointed in 1986. The company moved out of CCM, although it was still designated the official school. It was Nagy's intention to have Cincinnati Ballet stand alone as a professional company. The company continued to perform at Music Hall but rehearsals were now in the Emery Building. A Hungarian native who had danced all over the world, Nagy knew many foreign dancers, and brought a number of them to Cincinnati. The arrival of highly experienced dancers began to raise the company to a new standard of performance. The company expanded to include five principals, nine soloists and twenty-three corps members.[ citation needed ] It joined the American Guild of Musical Artists and added the SCPA Dance Department, along with the CCM Children's Dance Division, as “feeder” institutions to provide apprentices and child performers.
A new Nutcracker, choreographed by Ben Stevenson of the Houston Ballet, was also performed every year in Knoxville as part of another sister-city arrangement. Repertoire included a full-length La Sylphide and Balanchine's Four Temperaments as well as pieces by contemporary choreographers such as Andre Prokovsky, Mauricio Wainrot, and Ronald Hynd.[ citation needed ]
Nagy left in 1989 and three artistic directors came and went in quick succession. Richard Collins was the first. A British-trained dancer, and a director of promise, he was killed in a car accident. Nigel Burgoine succeeded him in 1992 and Peter Anastos in 1994. During his two years in Cincinnati, Anastos created the very successful ballet Peter Pan with an original score by DeLeone. The ballet (now with the 2001 choreography by Septime Webre) was last performed in 2018, which also marked DeLeone's 50th anniversary with Cincinnati Ballet.
Through the Kaplan Foundation and the Budig Foundation, a new permanent home was built for the company. The Cincinnati Ballet Center on Central Parkway at Liberty Street opened in 1994. The Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet was launched in 1996. Offices, dance studios, a training school, wardrobe/costume storage, and rehearsal space were all in the same complex. The intimate Mickey Jarson Kaplan Performance Studio was added in 2005.
The Aronoff Center for the Arts became the permanent home for the repertoire series of performances [4] and a number of ballets were acquired. “Americana” ballets such as Agnes DeMille’s Rodeo, and modern dance pieces by Paul Taylor challenged the dancers and intrigued audiences. In 1996, Balanchine's full-length Jewels, was performed by the company. Other contemporary choreographers included Kirk Peterson, Kathryn Posin, Stanton Welch and Val Caniparoli, Trey McIntyre in addition to Nigel Burgoine and Victoria Morgan, who was appointed artistic director in 1997. [6]
Artistic Director and CEO Morgan, whose tenure continues at the present time, has honored the Cincinnati Ballet tradition of performing not only new works, but also keeping the historic repertoire alive. [7] An example was the tribute to Frederic Franklin and the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo in 2002. The ballets presented were Devil’s Holiday by Frederick Ashton, plus the third movement of Seventh Symphony (music by Beethoven), and Gaîte Parisienne, choreographed by Leonide Massine.
Franklin restaged the two remaining extant movements from Seventh Symphony two seasons later, aided by Cincinnati Ballet's Principal Ballet Mistress and former Cincinnati Ballet soloist dancer Johanna Bernstein Wilt, who researched and recreated all three Seventh Symphony movements from the original 16 mm film with coaching from Franklin.[ citation needed ]
Also of note were three collaborations between Cincinnati Ballet and BalletMet Columbus. Together the companies presented Balanchine's Jewels (2003), Stars and Stripes (2006) and a full-length production of Swan Lake (2009).
In 2008 Devon Carney, a former principal dancer and Ballet Master with Boston Ballet, was appointed as Associate Artistic Director. In addition to providing his own choreography for nine pieces, Carney has restaged and added fresh choreography to full-length classics such as Giselle , Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake to this date and during his five previous years as Ballet Master-in-Chief.[ citation needed ]
During the 2007–2008 season, Morgan negotiated a performing partnership with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, which resulted in the presentation of a joint program both at The Aronoff Center and Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center in 2008.[ citation needed ]
The 2013-2014 season marked the 50th Anniversary of Cincinnati Ballet. In May 2014, as a part of Cincinnati Ballet's 50th Anniversary celebration, they performed at the prestigious Joyce Theater in New York City.
In 2014, Cincinnati Ballet danced the world premiere of Victoria Morgan’s King Arthur’s Camelot with a score composed by John Estacio.
In February of 2020, it was announced that lead principal dancer Cervilio Amador would retire and assume the position of Ballet Master.
Cincinnati Ballet is made up of dancers from all over the United States and the world. They perform at The Aronoff Center and tour American cities, as well as Europe.
Colleen Geisting, Karl Lindholm, Patrick Hinson, Richard Early, Peggy Lyman, Cynthia Ann Roses, Kimberly Smiley, Donna Grisez-Weber, Roman Jasinski, Sara Nieto, Diane Edwards, Melissa Hale, Patricia Rozow, Christina Foisie, Leisa Moran, Debra Kelly, Patricia Kelly, Margo Krody, Barbara McFarlane, Michael Sharp, Thomas Morris, Ian Barrett, Kevin Ward, Charles Flachs, Rose Marie Wurzer, Suzette Boyer, Philip Rosemond, Meridith Benson, Claudia Rudolf, Carol Krajacic, Rebecca Rodriguez, Trinidad Vives, Marcello Angelini, Victoria Hall, Darren Anderson, Daniela Buson, René Micheo, Karyn Lee Connell, Alexei Kremnev, Anna Reznik, Kristi Capps, Cervilio Amador, Anthony Krutzkamp, Stephanie Crank, Janessa Touchet, Adiarys Almeida, Joseph Gatti and Dmitri Trubchanov. Karen Kuertz Travis, Jane Wagner Green[ citation needed ]
2020-2021 Season: [8]
Principal dancers
| First soloists
| Soloists
| Corps de ballet
| New Dancers
| Apprentices
| CBII: Cincinnati Ballet Second CompanyTBA |
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's first music director. City Ballet grew out of earlier troupes: the Producing Company of the School of American Ballet, 1934; the American Ballet, 1935, and Ballet Caravan, 1936, which merged into American Ballet Caravan, 1941; and directly from the Ballet Society, 1946.
Frederic Franklin, sometimes also called "Freddie", was a British-American ballet dancer, choreographer and director.
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.
Philadelphia Ballet is the largest ballet company in Philadelphia. The company's annual local season features six programs of classic pieces, such as George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, in addition to presentations of new works. The company's artistic director is Angel Corella.
François Perron is a French ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher, who now works and resides in the United States. Perron is a graduate of the Paris Opera Ballet School where he studied under the direction of Claude Bessy. In 2011, Perron founded the French Academie of Ballet, based in New York City.
Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the longest continuously performing ballet company in the United States and the State Ballet of Georgia.
The Minnesota Ballet is a ballet company and school located in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1965 by Donna Harkins and Jan Gibson as the Duluth Civic Ballet, the company has since expanded into a touring company with seventeen professional artists. From 1992 to 2007 the Artistic Executive Director of the Minnesota Ballet was Allen Fields, who retired to become Artistic Director Emirtus. Fields acquired rights to works by choreographers including Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, and George Balanchine. He was succeeded by Robert Gardner. In 2019 Karl von Rabenau was appointed Artistic Director. The Minnesota Ballet entered its 54th season in 2019/20.
Todd Bolender was a renowned ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director. He was an instrumental figure in the creation and dissemination of classical dance and ballet as an American art form. A child of the American Midwest during the Great Depression, he studied under George Balanchine and led the Kansas City Ballet in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1980 to 1995.
Helgi Tomasson is an Icelandic choreographer, and a former professional ballet dancer. He served as artistic director and principal choreographer for San Francisco Ballet.
The Singapore Ballet is Singapore's national dance company, founded in 1988 by Anthony Then and Goh Soo Khim. The Artistic Director of the company is Janek Schergen.
Wayne Eagling is a Canadian ballet dancer, now retired. After more than twenty years as a popular member of The Royal Ballet in London, he became well known as an international choreographer and company director.
The Hamburg Ballet is a ballet company based in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1973, it has been directed by the American dancer and choreographer John Neumeier. In addition there is a ballet school, School of the Hamburg Ballet, established in 1978. The performances of the Hamburg Ballet are usually held at the Hamburg State Opera, while the training and education facility is the "Ballettzentrum Hamburg – John Neumeier".
Concerto Barocco is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Bach's Concerto for Two Violins. Danced by a cast of eleven, the ballet is completely plotless, and according to Balanchine, "has no "subject matter" beyond the score which it is danced and the particular dancers who execute it". The ballet was made for the American Ballet Caravan's 1941 South American tour, and premiered on June 27, 1941, at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro. The ballet has entered the repertories of many ballet companies, including Balanchine's New York City Ballet.
Colorado Ballet encompasses a 31-member professional performing ballet company, a studio company for advanced dance students, an academy, and an education and outreach department. Based in downtown Denver, Colorado, Colorado Ballet serves more than 125,000 patrons each year.
Los Angeles Ballet (LAB) is a classical ballet company based in Los Angeles. While rehearsals take place at the Los Angeles Ballet Center, the company tours venues across LA County, such as the Dolby Theatre and Royce Hall, during its performances. A typical LAB season consists of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, a storybook ballet, and a mixed repertoire performance.
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 Israel Ballet is a dance company that performs works of classical ballet and neoclassical ballet. The company often stages newly choreographed works, and in addition, it is the only professional ballet company within Israel that stages works of the classical international repertoire. The Israel Ballet regularly tours internationally.
Darren John Anderson is an internationally acclaimed ballet dancer. He is also known for his work in contemporary and classical choreography.
The Alabama Ballet is a ballet company in Alabama, United States.
Wilhelmina Frankfurt is an American ballerina, dance educator, and choreographer. She was a soloist with the New York City Ballet, dancing under the direction of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins, until she left the company in 1985. Throughout her career, she performed in various Balanchine ballets including Agon, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Chaconne, Symphony in Three Movements, The Nutcracker, and Jewels. She was a founding member of the Lincoln Center's Arts and Education program and served as an artist in residence at Sarah Lawrence College, Vassar College, and The Masters School. In 2012, Frankfurt alleged that Peter Martins sexually assaulted her while she was a dancer at New York City Ballet. In 2022, she assumed the position of artistic director at the Stapleton School of the Performing arts succeeding Virginia Stapleton, the companies founder.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
