Ballet Arizona is a professional
ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...
in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
directed by
Ib Andersen
Ib Andersen (born 14 December 1954) is a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, and painter.
Biography Early days
Born in Copenhagen, Andersen was first exposed to dance through ballroom dancing. At age 7, he was accepted into the Royal Dani ...
. The company was created in 1986 by a merger of three smaller Arizonan dance companies that were struggling to survive. Today, the company of thirty-one dancers occupies a prominent place in American ballet. The company is also integrated into the School of Ballet Arizona.
History
Allen Rosenberg, a Phoenix
philanthropist and arts supporter, orchestrated in 1986 a fusion of the Phoenix Ballet, Arizona Dance Theater, and Ballet West Arizona, all of which were in difficulties due to a lack of funding and audience. The company was originally directed by
Jean-Paul Comelin, formerly with
Milwaukee Ballet
The Milwaukee Ballet is a professional ballet company founded by Roberta Boorse of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is located in Milwaukee, and is currently run by Michael Pink, the artistic director.
History
The Milwaukee Ballet was fo ...
and
Stuttgart Ballet, and New Zealand dancer Malcolm Burn. Burn left soon thereafter, and the company was guided through its early success by Comelin until 1992, when Michael Uthoff became artistic director. During the 1990s the company continued to grow, until it was beset with financial trouble in 1999. In September 2000, Ballet Arizona narrowly escaped shutting down due to severe debts, and was resurrected at the last moment by a wild funding campaign. Ib Andersen was named artistic director in May 2000, and has held that position ever since. Andersen reshaped the company and greatly expanded their repertory, adding a number of works by
George Balanchine as well as pieces of his own choreography. In 2004, Kevin Myers was appointed Management Consultant to head the administrative division, and one year later the company eliminated its debt.
Performances
Ballet Arizona has a wide repertory of works by well-known choreographers such as Balanchine,
Christopher Wheeldon, and
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music.
Fr ...
. Artistic Director Andersen also choreographs his own works for the company, and has reinterpreted many classical ballets including
Coppélia
''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis- ...
,
Romeo and Juliet,
Swan Lake, and
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...
. In October and November 2008, the company presented Andersen's new version of
A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The company performs regularly at
Phoenix Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall is a multi-purpose performing arts venue, located at 75 North 2nd Street between North 3rd Street and East Washington Street in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Part of Phoenix Civic Plaza, the hall is bounded to the north by the West B ...
and the
Orpheum Theatre.
Ballet Arizona Performance Venues
"Pre-Performance Chats" are offered before all performances except ''The Nutcracker''. Each performing season is kicked off with a series of free, outdoor performances known as "Ballet Under the Stars". The company has an active volunteer organization known as the "Esprit de Corps," which provides a number of services including hosting the company's annual Nutcracker Party.
Company
Ballet Arizona as of September 2021.
Dancers
* Jillian Barrell
* Alli Chester
*Juliette Jones
*Katelyn May
*Isabella Seo
*Gabriel Wright
* Demitra Bereveskos
* Rachel Gehr
* Colleen Hoopes
* Nayon Iovino
* Eastlyn Jensen
* Helio Lima
* Katherine Loxtercamp
* Kaelyn Magee
* Arianni Martin
* Atsunari Matsuyama
* Alberto Morales Perez
* Randy Pacheco
* Alberto Penalver
* Abby Phillips Maginity
* Ethan Price
* Serafin Castro
* Tiffany Chatfield
* Luis Corrales
* Sarah Diniz
* Natalie Ramirez
* Alison Remmers
* Ricardo Santos
* Sasha Vincett
School
The School of Ballet Arizona is the academy affiliated with the company. The school teaches dance to over 100 students, which consist of ages 3 all the way to adulthood. The school gained its first full-time director, Kee-Juan Han, in 1993. Then, Nancy Crowley became the director from 2003 to 2010. Now, the school is directed by artistic director Ib Andersen. Students of the academy perform in an annual spring performance and ''The Nutcracker''. The school is also involved with the Arizona School for the Arts
Arizona School for the Arts is a non-profit public charter school in Phoenix, Arizona. Emphasis is placed on a college preparatory curriculum and the performing arts. Its mascot is a one-legged pigeon named Stumpy.
History
It was founded in 1995 ...
through after-school programs and performances, and a previous home study program: Arizona Academics for Performing Arts. The school has taught a large number of students that have moved on to perform for companies such as The Ailey School and The School of American Ballet.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona, Ballet
Ballet companies in the United States
Ballet schools in the United States
Culture of Phoenix, Arizona
1986 establishments in Arizona
Performing groups established in 1986
Dance in Arizona