A Tutu for You

All That Jazz

2012-01-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than unwinding to jazz music after a busy day, grooving to Motown, or rejoicing with Gospel music. What’s even better? Experiencing a show that has all that and more, Jazz Moves Columbus at BalletMet!

Everyone here is preparing for the opening of BalletMet’s next performance, Jazz Moves Columbus. The show features dance from jazz to ballet with music ranging from jazz to Motown. BalletMet, along with the Jazz Arts Group, celebrates the 200^th birthday of Columbus by honoring the original Jazz Moves (which won the Greater Columbus Arts Council's Artistic Excellence Award) by showcasing the past, present, and future of Columbus life through dance.

The show features pieces choreographed by local and Tony nominated talent. Last week, I had the honor of watching the company rehearse a piece by Dan Knechtges, Tony nominated for his work in Xanadu. Not only has Dan choreographed numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, but his work is also seen in movies and music videos. His piece in Jazz Moves samples all your favorite oldies, such as The Temptations “My Girl”.

A quick look at the other choreographers in Jazz Moves:

-Lynne Taylor Corbett: Lynne was nominated for 2 Tony awards and some of her work can be seen in the original “Footloose” film.

-Randy Duncan: Randy was the three-time winner of Chicago’s prestigious Ruth Page Award for the Outstanding Choreographer of the Year and was nominated for the American Choreography Award for his work in the movie Save the Last Dance, featuring Julia Stiles.

-Stella Kane: Stella was the founding Artistic Director of BalletMet’s JazzMet and was a featured dancer in the national tour of Bob Fosse’s Broadway hit, Dancin’.

-Harrison McEldowney: Harrison has worked with multiple ballet companies and his work was featured in the closing ceremonies of the ’92 Olympics in Barcelona.

-Darrell Moultrie: Darrell is both a choreographer and performer; he starred opposite Toni Braxton on Broadway in Aida and danced in the original Broadway productions of Hairspray, The Color Purple and Billy Elliott.

After a sneak peek of just one of the pieces, I am so excited to see Jazz Moves! The performance opens February 2 and runs through February 12 at the Capitol Theatre. For more information on show times and tickets, visit https://www.balletmet.org/current-performance#1. Hope to see you all for Jazz Moves Columbus :)

-Kelsey

For a sneak peek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBccc90bLUU&feature=player_embedded

Out with the old, in with the new..

2012-01-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

It’s 2012! Out with the old, in with the New Year, the first snowfall of the winter, and me, the new marketing intern for BalletMet! My name is Kelsey and I am a senior at THE Ohio State University. Just to share a little about myself: I am a Strategic Communications major and a Theatre Minor. I am always asked, “Strategic Communications? What’s that?” Basically it is entails everything from public relations to publicity, marketing to advertising, even special event planning.

“Okay so you want to do PR and marketing, why theatre?” I have been involved with dance and theatre since I was 5 years old. I started dancing at Dance Reach with Mary Rose and suffered from terrible stage fright. I think my exact words to my parents at my first ballet recital were “Don’t smile at me.”

After a 2^nd grade field trip to see BalletMet’s production of The Nutcracker, my interest in dancing was peaked. I sang and danced in Show Choir through middle school. In high school, I became a member of the flag corps, one reason being that I saw this as a way to get back into dance. I was very involved in the theatre department in high school, including musical theater and I am an International Thespian. My favorite shows were the annual musicals, where we had the opportunity to work with a professional choreographer!

When I took my first hip-hop dance class at OSU my freshman year, it made me wish that I had stuck with dance when I was younger. I knew a minor in dance seemed unrealistic when paired with a communications major, so I chose theatre. A way for me to still be a part of something I am passionate about.

Now, here I am! Finally getting the opportunity to be a part of something I am excited about! Yes, I have been an intern before; once for a local restaurant and catering company and once for an on-campus non-profit organization. While I gained a lot of experience that will help with my career, my career goal is to end up working in an aspect of the entertainment industry, whether it’s dancing, theatre, or music.

I know it’s cheesy to say but when I stepped into BalletMet for my interview last week, I felt at home. I had only been in the building for 5 minutes and the relaxed atmosphere of the dancers stretching in the halls felt familiar. After my interview, I was able to take a tour of the facility. Stopping in the costume shop and peeking into the studio to see some of the company rehearse made me so excited to start this internship!

It’s only my first day and I am about to go watch the Director’s circle, featuring a piece by Dan Knechtges from BalletMet’s upcoming Jazz Moves. Who knew an internship could be so fun?! I am looking forward to all the new experiences that I will get to be a part of and the knowledge I will gain from this internship. Best of all, I get to share it with you!!

To be continued…

-Kelsey

Goodbye For Now

2011-08-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well, my summer at BalletMet is coming to a close, and while I’m delighted to be entering my last semester of college, I’m also sad to leave such a great work environment. Today, I read over my introductory blog entry which I posted on the first week of my internship, and I’m pleased to say that my expectations of and attitude towards BalletMet have not changed. I still stand by that BalletMet is different from anywhere that I ever have and probably ever will work. The atmosphere is relaxed I feel like people work at BalletMet because they want to, not because they have to. I felt this more than ever when the company returned to begin rehearsing for the upcoming season. I realized that everyone who works in the office upstairs is involved in projects to ensure that everyone downstairs (the company dancers, academy students, and artistic director, Gerard Charles) can continue to flex their creativity, perform spectacularly, and do what they love. Being a dancer myself and seeing so many having to quit because they didn’t have the time or the money to continue, I found this aspect of BalletMet particularly special.

I have a similar state of mind. This internship has not been just a resume builder for me, but an actual beneficial experience for where I’d like to go in life. I’ve found that opportunities like this are very hard to come across. Most classes, seminars, etc. that I’ve attended have vaguely described how to “make it” in the real world. This internship has immersed me in exactly how a ballet company and academy are run, how they reach their subscribers and fans, and how they organize their operations. Sure I’ve also spent a considerable amount of time scanning, printing, and stuffing envelopes; I am an intern after all! But while I was doing those things I was also observing others and their projects, which has been most beneficial. I feel as though there’s still a lot for me to learn; if I were at BalletMet during the actual season I can imagine I would have a completely different set of tasks to complete. But for now, I will take the knowledge that this internship has given me and use it as best I can. Thanks for having me, BalletMet!!!

~Colleen

Good Wine, Great Shoes

2011-08-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

What better way to spend an evening than with shoes, wine, and ballet! Thanks to Mary Weiler, a dedicated BalletMet board member, women in Columbus have the chance to do just that. The group is called Women Wine for Shoes and they are wonderful supporters of the ballet. Their cause is shoes, shoes, and more shoes; raising money for the BalletMet Shoe Fund. After all, pointe shoes are pricey and each female BalletMet dancer needs 40 every season (That’s about 620 pairs total).

Inspired by other local social support organizations for non-profits, the concept behind Women Wine for Shoes is that women of all ages get together twice a year for a fun-filled cocktail party followed by a BalletMet performance, and make a donation to the Shoe Fund. This season they will attend Carmen in November, and Jazz Moves Columbus in February. To learn more about those shows, go here.

Weiler started this organization several years ago with about 80 guests at the first party and the numbers have been growing since. But the women who attend are not solely philanthropic in their motives, many of them are happy for the opportunity to go to the ballet with people of similar taste. Weiler says:

“During my time on the Ballet Board, I have found many women who would like to attend the Ballet, but don't have anyone with whom to go. Women Who Wine for
Shoes solves that problem! The women who attend are very diverse and of all age groups.”

Weiler hopes that this organization will expand in the future to fundraise and build events that support BalletMet, but we’ll need your help to do that. If you’ve been looking for a companion at the ballet, go here to learn more about Women Wine for Shoes. To become a member, you need only attend one event.

Keep it Local

2011-08-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

To present a memorable and spectacular ballet, a show must not only consist of dance, but integrate the other art forms. Music and dance have an apparent harmonious relationship with one another and BalletMet embraces that connection, joining forces with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and even the OSU Marching Band in the past. The art of fashion makes an appearance at every BalletMet performance, thanks to the talented hands at our costume shop. And this spring, BalletMet is collaborating with the Wexner Center for the Arts to present DanceTech, a multi-media event showcasing the art of technology.

But for BalletMet’s next endeavor, we’re calling on YOU to provide the art. BalletMet presents OnDemand this September and will be displaying the work of local Columbus artists at the performances. It’s fitting that we are reaching out to the public for this presentation because OnDemand will consist of previously performed, fan-favorite pieces voted on by the community. BalletMet is letting go of the wheel completely and putting Columbus in charge of this show. To learn more about OnDemand and buy tickets go here.

This is a great opportunity for artists in the community to showcase and sell their work to the vast and varied subscribers and fans of BalletMet. We are still accepting submissions so if you want your work to be seen, email the following to Becca Misselwitz at bmisselwitz@balletmet.org no later than August 26th.

-Digital photograph of piece
-Title of Piece
-Artist name, email address, and phone number
-Approximate measurements of piece
-Mounting requirements for piece

These submissions can be in any medium, any style, and do not need to be dance related. Each artist can submit up to five pieces. For more information on this opportunity go here.

We look forward to seeing what Columbus has to offer and celebrating the arts a whole!

~Colleen

What I Did On Summer Break...

2011-07-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

Just because the BalletMet season hasn’t started yet, doesn’t mean that our dancers haven’t been keeping busy. Recently I had a chance to connect with Adrienne Benz (pictured left), who is returning for her ninth season with BalletMet, to discuss how she’s been spending her summer. Adrienne was lucky enough to be asked by Darrell Moultrie to perform in his piece at Summer Stage in New York City. Summer Stage is a spectacular event set up in Central Park with a fun outdoor concert vibe that spans the entirety of the summer and is free to the public. For those of you who have never heard the name Darrell Moultrie, get to know it. Moultrie is quickly becoming one of the most sought after choreographers, doing everything from Broadway to ballet to commercials. Learn more about Moultrie here.

“Melting Pot” is the name of Moultrie’s Summer Stage performance and is a collection of ensemble pieces meant to resemble his personal experiences growing up. This is not the first time Adrienne has collaborated with Moultrie; BalletMet has been lucky enough to have him choreograph a piece called “Square Off” in 2008, “Simply Sammy” in the American Legends production in 2010, and “Wrath” as part of 7 Deadly Sins this past April. Of Moultrie, Adrienne says:

"Darrell has a crazy energy in the studio and I feel like we bonded the minute we worked together…his choreography feels comfortable to me but somehow he always seems to put a new twist on his work!"

This experience also allowed Adrienne to collaborate with a “melting pot” of dancers from all over the country who are a part of Dance Grand Moultrie, a new pick-up company using dancers that Moultrie loves whenever they are available. Summer Stage was their premier company performance. Check out more of Moultrie’s choreography here.

But it wasn’t all work and no play for Miss Benz. Being a New Jersey native, she was able to catch up with friends and family during her New York trip, and earlier this year she got married! Congratulations to Adrienne on all her accomplishments. We’re glad to have her back in Columbus!

What do you think about Adrienne’s experience? Have you seen any of Moultrie’s work before?

~Colleen

This Summer is Getting Intense!

2011-07-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

The BalletMet Summer Intensive is in full swing this week. For 4-5 weeks, young dancers are thrown into an experience that will better them not only as dancers, but as people. Obviously, the Summer Intensive focuses on improving each student’s physical ability. A typical day in the life of a BalletMet dancer begins around 8:30 when they arrive at the studio to warm-up. Throughout the day, they’ll take about six classes. These classes include, modern, jazz, Pilates, flamenco, yoga, and of course ballet.

What sets BalletMet’s Summer Intensive Program apart from others is its outreach beyond just dance. BalletMet believes in “training the whole dancer”. This means not only improving their technique, but developing skills they will need should they choose a career in dance. Classes that address these skills include injury prevention, proper pointe-shoe fitting, acting, and make-up. BalletMet has a very important partnership with The Ohio State University that allows Intensive students to go through an assessment which measures their physical imbalances and provides exercises to fix them. This is the same assessment the BalletMet Company dancers go through. On top of that, BalletMet’s students participate in a number of “enrichment” classes that will prepare them for life regardless what they do in the future including self-defense, nutrition, and interviewing skills. The faculty is also a key player in creating the BalletMet experience. Maybe it’s the Midwestern attitude, but the people behind this program make a point to get to know each student, and make themselves easily available if those students encounter a problem.

When the Summer Intensive students leave, they will come away with so much more than just a better sense of how to execute a triple pirouette; they will have become responsible adults. After all, these are future dancers who will carry on the name of BalletMet. Some may even find themselves a job in a familiar place, like Jimmy Orrante, Annie Mallonee, Samantha Lewis, and Olivia Clark who are all BalletMet Company dancers who once spent their summer in the BalletMet Summer Intensive Program.

BalletMet Summer Intensive 2011 in Numbers:

Number of students: 114
Number of male students: 3
Youngest student: 11
Oldest student: 20
Number of students not yet old enough to drive: 43
Number of states represented: 22
Total approximate miles traveled: 52,597
Number of students from Ohio: 65
Number of students from the Columbus area: 47
Average number of classes taken per day: 6
Approximate hours spent dancing per week: 35 (that’s almost a full-time job!)

What do you think about these numbers? Are you surprised at how many local students there are?

Let's Go To The Movies

2011-06-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Last week the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) launched their Annual Summer Move Series in which they play a line up of beloved films at the Ohio Theatre over the course of the summer. They are showing true classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and Gone with the Wind, as well as more modern cult favorites such as Fight Club. I was pleased to see a strong list of musical movies among CAPA’s list, such as West Side Story, Funny Girl, The Sound of Music, and The Wizard of Oz. I love that these movies have continued to capture the attention of audiences in all age groups. Even the technology-driven kids of today know the words to “Do Re Mi,” and enjoy these movies despite their lack of CGI.

However, popular opinion dictates that none of these movies would survive today, but I beg to differ. Looking at pop culture over the past 50 years, musicals (and more specifically dance) have certainly evolved. Yet they continue to be loved. West Side Story stands out as a revolutionary movie in terms of bringing stylized dance into the mainstream in the 60’s. Then John Travolta single handedly made it cool to be a male dancer in the 70’s. There was an obvious spike of interest in dance in the 80’s with Footloose and Dirty Dancing. Even the 90’s had everyone moving with the “Macarena” and those catchy boy band dance moves. In the new millennium, the lines have blurred between musicals, movies, dance, and radio music. People are searching for a perfect hybrid of all these elements; a musical version of their favorite movie written by a top 40 artist and performed by the casts of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. The performing arts are always evolving but they are always loved. Today, technology is dictating how we are exposed to art, but true talent still reigns. We can digitally alter Natalie Portman’s body into the most perfect arabesque, and auto-tune the kids of Glee, but it’s never quite as impressive as knowing that someone can actually do those things live without the assistance of technology. Look at how many videos there are on YouTube of one person sitting in front of their computer playing guitar or premiering their original choreography or executing 27 consecutive pirouettes. People want to see talent, and it is clear that that will never change.

What’s your stance on this matter? Has there been a dance movie in recent years that really moved you with its talent, or one that disappointed you with its lack there of?

~Colleen

In The Summertime...

2011-06-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

The summer is finally here and I have officially begun my marketing internship at BalletMet. Much like the little campers I pass in the lobby, I am excited, anxious, eager, and most importantly thrilled to be surrounded by dance. To give a brief summary of who I am, my name is Colleen and I am a senior at Otterbein University with a major in International Studies, minors in both French and Dance, and a strong focus on Business (I know. It’s a mouthful). I began dancing when I was 4 years old in Philadelphia and have been in love with it since that first class. My mother and I had season tickets to the Pennsylvania Ballet for years, and dance has remained the one reassuring constant in my ever-changing life.

As I’ve grown up, I have realized that not everyone finds that one thing that they’re passionate about. It is clear to me, that whatever I do, it must be related to dance; and that is how I found myself here at BalletMet. Already, I can tell that the atmosphere of this company is so different from anywhere else that I ever have and ever will work. It’s obvious that the surroundings support creativity, not like the cluttered and fluorescently lit environment of a typical office job or even worse, retail. The people have been overwhelmingly friendly (something I am still not accustomed to after growing up in Philadelphia) and I could not feel more welcome.

I can tell that the next few months are going to be a great learning experience. Already on my first day I got to sit in on a strategy meeting which immediately immersed me in the inner workings of BalletMet. Although everything is still so new, I’m not nearly as overwhelmed as I thought I would be. In fact, I feel downright comfortable here.

Look forward to my future entries on my summer here, preparations for the 2011-2012 season, and maybe a few updates from the Nutcracker himself!!!

~Colleen

BalletMet and The Lancaster Festival Orchestra Present Pinocchio

2011-06-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

We all know the story of Pinocchio, right?

Gepetto, a woodcarver in a small Italian village, carves a wooden puppet, wishes on a star for his wooden puppet, Pinocchio, to become a real boy. The Blue Fairy brings Pinocchio to life. She gives him a cricket to be his conscience and promises that, if Pinocchio proved himself brave, truthful and unselfish, he could become a real boy. Pinocchio runs into temptations that cause him to stray from his path of bravery, truthfulness and unselfishness. Each time he lies, his nose grows. Ultimately, the tale has a happy ending, with Pinocchio being transformed into a real boy.

It’s been a book, a graphic novel, a Disney movie and now it’s a ballet!

That’s right, a ballet. Thanks to funding from PNC, BalletMet artistic director, Gerard Charles, and company dancers have teamed up with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra to bring the timeless classic to life! This world premiere production includes a beautiful musical score by Hungarian composer David Kiraly, performed by the Lancaster Festival Orchestra conducted by Gary Sheldon.

Never been to the Lancaster Festival? Neither have I, but after researching the 10-day affair, I certainly have it penciled in my planner!

Since1985, the Lancaster Festival has been a multi-faceted, 10-day event that transforms the historic city of Lancaster with musical performances and family activities while getting local businesses, museums and residents involved.

At the beginning of May, the company dancers, along with a couple Dance Academy students, began rehearsals for the performance. Before premiering the production on July 24th, the dancers, Gerard, Gary and the orchestra traveled to Lancaster-area high schools to introduce the ballet and festival to the students.

The performance will also include local children in Lancaster, cast by Gerard. Because of the timing of the project, Gerard had to rehearse the company dancers and Dance Academy students before he even met the children in Lancaster. He plans to work with the younger children in July before the company dancers return for their final week of rehearsals.

Gerard explained, in an email, the he is building the work modularly. He says:

“This has been a good opportunity for us to re-connect to the Lancaster Festival, a place we have danced in history, but not recently. It also offers some more employment to some dancers and gives us the opportunity to develop a children's story ballet that may have a life beyond the festival.”

The world premiere performance will take place at Fairfield Union High School on July 24th with show times at 1:30 and 7:00. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children.

The Funnest Week of the Year

2011-05-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

All urges to correct my grammatical error aside, June 13-17 really is the funnest week of the year according to Christina Rogers, managing director of The Dance Academy and director of BalletMet’s SummerDance Camp.

This year, to encourage students to dance the day away, BalletMet is presenting Step In Time! Whether it’s stepping in time with the music or stepping into a different time period, BalletMet’s SummerDance Camp offers a variety of dance genres that are sure to be a hit with dancers of any skill level. From 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, students are given the opportunity to make new friends and increase their fitness, all while having fun. Fun, friends and fitness – what could be better than that?

Despite its name, the SummerDance Camp isn’t ALL about dance. Attendees get to experience a mixture of the arts: dancing, improv acting, arts & crafts and much more. They’ll even get to view demonstrations by company dancers and learn more about visual imagery and what goes into costume design!

* * * * *

Today, I got to sit down with Sarah Wilson, a pre-professional student here at BalletMet.

(Just a little background on the pre-pro program: it’s designed for students of classical ballet who have reached an advanced level of study and are preparing to begin a career as a professional dancer.)

Anyway, I must say that she was the perfect person to speak with to get a better feel for the camp. You could say that Sarah has seen it all. She’s gone from camper to counselor and experienced everything in between.

Sarah, as a camper, in 2005.

Sarah, as a counselor, in 2010.

In case you didn’t know, in order to be a counselor for the SummerDance Camp, hopefuls must submit a resume, cover letter and references. Once Mrs. Rogers has reviewed their application, they’re interviewed. Being a counselor is no joke, people. Applicants must have a strong desire to be a part of the camp and exhibit qualities that are conducive to the overall environment.

Read on to see what Sarah has to say about her experience!

* * * * *

As a camper, what was your favorite part?

My favorite part probably was the fact that it wasn’t strict ballet. I had never done jazz or modern and I got to learn those. I also liked working with the older students who I knew. I got to meet a lot of kids that don’t actually take ballet regularly, too.

As a counselor, what was your favorite part?

I enjoy seeing the new kids each year. Seeing the transformation from Monday to Friday is incredible. The fact that they’re able to learn three different styles of dance in that time is pretty cool, too!

Will you be a counselor this year?

Yes!

What would you tell parents who are on the fence about registering their kids for this year’s SummerDance Camp?

I would say that it’s a good way to get your kid out there. At SummerDance Camp, they get a little taste of everything. They’re also in good hands all day (from the counselors to the professional teachers) and they’ll be tired when they get home! At the end of the camp, they’re also able to show what they’ve learned to their parents. They can show that they got something out of it!

In five years, do you see dance still playing a major role in your life?

Hopefully, yes!

* * * * *

Love the idea of SummerDance Camp but have a kid that’s younger than 7 or older than 12? Don’t sweat it, BalletMet has something for everyone!

Check out some of the other mini-workshops that BalletMet offers:

Singular Sensation
6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
@ BalletMet
Ages 13-16
$130

Love to sing? Love to dance? This is for you! Every little step you take becomes part of your repertoire during this musical theater experience. Learn from working professionals with classes in jazz, tap, scene study and song. Each day will also include a talkback session on auditioning, performing, resumes and more.

French Flare, with the Young Chef’s Academy
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
@ Vista-Plaza Gahanna
Ages 8-12
$265

Spend the morning exploring French cuisine followed by an afternoon of French inspired dance. Experience ballet, tap and jazz as well as arts and crafts.

Dancing Damsels & Dramatic Dragons, with Columbus Children’s Theatre
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
@ Vista-Plaza Gahanna
Ages 5-7
$150

Join BalletMet and Columbus Children's Theatre for a fairytale adventure. Each day you will rotate between BalletMet dance instructors and CCT teaching artists who will have fun activities in store. You will learn to sing, act and dance while creating a performance like no other.

Like what you see? Register your child for our camp today by visiting our website and printing off the registration form.

BalletMet’s Tiny Dancers

2011-05-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Did you know that BalletMet, through its Dance Academy, offers Early Childhood Classes? That’s right – we offer dance instruction for students from 4 to 7 years of age. Through the dance classes, young children can experience the joy of movement through musicality, creativity, coordination and social interaction.

Last Tuesday, I was able to sit down with some parents who currently have their daughters enrolled in the Creative Movement classes. These classes are for children ages 4-5. The classes open up the opportunity for the students to learn to love dance through individual expression and discovery. Simple movement sequences emphasize musicality and coordination while developing the children’s ideas and fantasies into movement and dance.

“Why ballet?”

Why did these moms decide to enroll their daughters in ballet classes? For some, their daughters had expressed an interest in dance. For others, they wanted to expose their daughters to the arts. One mom commented that these are the princess years for the girls. It was hard to argue that with little girls prancing around in pink tutus!

There was an overall consensus that the classes provided their daughters with a good social and structural experience. One mother said that the classes would be a good precursor to kindergarten classes.

Before the class began, you could find the girls standing in front of the studios watching the older dancers. One of the tiny dancers noted the beauty of one of the dancers in the studio by saying “Look, she’s so pretty!”

Then Miss Julia (the instructor) came over and asked the girls if they were ready to dance. As they formed a little line behind her, one girl couldn’t contain her excitement and shouted “Come on guys, let’s dance!”

I followed the girls to the dance studio and was able to sit in on the class. Let me tell you what – it was one of the cutest, most entertaining things I had seen all month. On the particular day I sat in, the girls were practicing for their final performance (or, in other words, their last class where there parents were going to watch them perform). Their final performance will be ‘Four Seasons’-centric with the girls portraying different concepts for each season. This class was dedicated to Spring and flowers!

Julia made sure to not only teach the girls, but to gauge their opinion as well. At one point, as the girls were practicing their dance, Julia asked each girl what animals they might find in a flower garden. Some girls said ladybugs, some girls said rabbits. One girl said a giraffe! The girls were then asked to pretend to be each animal they had guessed. While giraffes may not frequent any flower garden you’ve ever seen, she made sure to include it as an animal they pretended to be.

After the class, I had the privilege of speaking with some of the tiny dancers. While most of the girls were shy around me, a few spoke up when I asked what their favorite thing about the class was. The smallest girl of the bunch told me that she really liked dancing with her friends, echoing the mothers’ sentiment that the class provides a good social experience.

Overall, it seemed like the girls really enjoyed being part of the class. Laughter and giggles accompanied the enjoyment you could see in their faces as they danced around the studio. After watching the class, I’ve already made the decision that my future daughter will most certainly be enrolled (as long as she wants to be).

If you’re interested in more information on the types of classes that are offered, visit our website!

BalletMet Stirs Up a Recipe for Sin

2011-04-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

Remember the last time you were craving a sinfully delicious mixture of world class dance and rock & roll, but didn’t quite have all the ingredients to put it together?

Fret not, kind reader. BalletMet is here to indulge your cravings!

With time and patience, we’ve managed to come up with a recipe that we’re finally ready to share. It looks a little something like this:

7 Deadly Sins

Makes 6 Performances

One Batch of BalletMet

Combine the choreographers and the dancers.

With six renowned choreographers styling dance moves for the show, the performance is sure to be satisfying. Each piece shows a modern adaptation of the age old vices, with common design, aesthetics and musical styles tying them together.

Choreographers include:

Ma Cong, Pride

James Kudelka, Sloth & Gluttony

Darrell Grand Moultrie, Wrath

Gina Patterson, Lust

Amy Seiwert, Envy

Jimmy Orrante, Greed

Emily Ramirez, a company dancer who is in her 7^th season with BalletMet, will dance in wrath, pride and gluttony. For her, the process of learning the choreography can be traced back to August. With the choreography having a little more edge than it normally does, Emily is excited to see how the audience receives it.

She explained that with other, more classical performances, there was a small separation between her and the character she portrayed. Emily explains that with portions of wrath, the dancers are dancing as themselves, with stripped down emotions.

One Spoonful of Shadowbox Live

Mix the musicians and the singers.

In the first collaboration between the companies, Shadowbox Live lends their instruments, as well as their voices, to bring the sins to life. With new compositions and arrangements by Shadowbox to accompany them, the sins will take center stage and delve into the rousing and emotional questions that humanity has contemplated since ancient times.

Shadowbox members include:

Stev Guyer, producer & vocalist

Stacie Boord, vocalist

Julie Klein, vocalist

Matthew Hahn, lead guitar

Gabriel Guyer, bass guitar

Jennifer Hahn, keyboards

Brandon Smith, drums

Brain Rau, sound engineer

Seven Pieces of Sin

Stir in seven deadly sins.

You’ve heard them all before: envy, greed, gluttony, lust, pride, sloth and wrath. You’ve likely experienced them all before, but have you ever really seen them? The sins will take center stage, styled with a song, in a way you’ve that’s sure to leave you wanting more.

The transition from sin to sin will take you on a ride where you explore everything from the dancers’ deepest “quiet” rage in wrath to the destructive nature of jealousy. You’ll even experience pride in a celebratory light, rather than a sinful one.

One Drop of Costume Design

Add awesome outerwear.

Rebecca Turk, resident costume director, has been with BalletMet for nearly five years. Before BalletMet, Rebecca was the costumer coordinator at Western Oregon University and the costume manager at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival.

Rebecca looked to the contemporary rock n’ roll style for inspiration. Featuring pieces with a little bit more edge, she focused on the key elements of rock n’ roll: ruching, lace and even animal print. The pieces flow together with a black, white, red and gray color palette.

With the costumes being more organic than normal, Rebecca managed to maintain a cohesive design among the seven sins and their dancers.

A Mixture of MetPremiere + Barrio Tapas

Pour in a combo of MetPremiere and Barrio Tapas.

The final ingredient we have is a mixture of partnerships. MetPremiere has teamed up with Barrio Tapas to take you to dinner before the show on May 5^th.

We have drinks and tapas for those who purchase a special ticket package! The $50 package includes:

- One ticket to BalletMet's 7 Deadly Sins show

- Two Drink Tickets for a 7 Deadly Sins specialty cocktail

- Appetizers at Barrio Tapas

For more info, check out the Facebook Event!

Bake at 450º. Let cool – then serve!

And voila! There you have it – our recipe for 7 Deadly Sins. If you can’t wait to feast your eyes on the end results, check out our website for show times and ticket info!

Teaser Trailer:

Raising the Barre: The Youth America Grand Prix

2011-04-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Every year, more than 5,000 dancers from across the globe audition to take part in the world’s largest ballet scholarship competition.

The Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is an international student ballet and contemporary dance competition that awards over $250,000 annually in scholarships to leading dance schools worldwide. To date, the YAGP has awarded $2 million, with more than 250,000 dancers participating in workshops, competitions and audition classes. There are more than 200 YAGP alumni dancing with 50 companies around the world. These companies include:

American Ballet Theatre
New York City Ballet
Paris Opera Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
and many, many more!

In February, the BalletMet Dance Academy sent seven dancers to the semi-final rounds of competition in Indianapolis, Indiana. From there, Colby Treat, Stephanie Hearne and Bridget Kuhns advanced to the Final Round, which took place March 17-22, in New York City. Colby was offered a trainee position at the Grand Rapids Ballet Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bridget was awarded a full-year scholarship to the American Ballet Theatre. Stephanie, unfortunately, couldn’t compete in the scholarship portion of the competition, due to an injury.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Susan Dromisky, BalletMet senior faculty member, a couple weeks ago to gain a better perspective of the YAGP. Susan accompanied the girls to New York and was able to help me understand a little more about the competition itself and dance as an art form. It was nice to gain an insider’s perspective into this world renowned competition.

I mentioned to Susan that while I was researching the YAGP to write a press release, I came across a dance review in The New York Times written by Roslyn Sulcas.

In the article, Sulcas mentioned how Brian D’arcy James, the host of the closing night Gala, stated that the YAGP had “revolutionized the world of dance.” Sulcas felt that statement might be an exaggeration and said that what the competition (the YAGP) had done was emphasize and spread the idea that ballet is an American Idol kind of spectator sport. Here’s what Susan had to say:

“I absolutely concur with that statement. I call myself a ballet snob and I don’t mean that in an arrogant way, I really don’t. I just … I want it to be art. I don’t want it to be only about the circus act. I felt that, when watching the performances from the audience, they were many students that I loved and when these students performed, the audience was quiet. There was no response. Then when the flashy, what I would consider more American Idol-ish performances happened, the audience would go ballistic. In my mind, and unfortunately, this should be a somewhat educated audience. What they wanted was the flash and the bling. That’s pretty much it.”

Susan explained to me that the bling, for her, could be found in the finesse, the artistry, the detail and the control of the performances.

More than once, in talking to Susan, as well as the girls who advanced, I was reminded that dance is an absolutely subjective art form. When she told me that she felt the most important part of the entire competition was the process, I saw where she was coming from and couldn’t agree more.

As a dancer, maybe you advanced to the final rounds of a competition with an unusually high score from the current set of judges. What if the judges had been different? What if that day, one judge had called in sick? Judges may have the power to make or break a dancer in a competition, but they can’t take away the hours spent rehearsing and working towards growing as a dancer.

With all variables set aside, from the heart of a performance and beyond simple movements, you see a dancer’s drive and passion.

So, because of the subjectivity and variables, should dance as an art form be judged? It’s hard to say. The producers of Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Best Dance Crew would probably say yes.

But what do you think?

Interns Come and Interns Go

2011-04-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

An introductory post seems to be in order here. My name is Courtnie Elston and I’m a graduating senior at the Ohio State University, studying strategic communication and professional writing.

How ironic that I’m interning with BalletMet because, in all honesty, I can’t dance to save my life. If you were to Google world’s worst dancer, there is a strong possibility that my picture would be the first result yielded. No bother. Even though I have two left feet, I am reporting for duty!

Not as a dancer though. I’m here as an intern (*sigh of relief*). Actually, a professional writing intern, if you’re looking for specifics. I chose to work with BalletMet through the Professional Writing Minor Program at Ohio State. Out of all the internships available, BalletMet seemed most appealing.

If I may be a little transparent here, BalletMet is actually a big step outside of the comfort zone for me. Past internships and work situations have always been familiar, in that I’ve always felt comfortable and safe where I’ve been. BalletMet is a somewhat unfamiliar territory.

I’ve received little insight into the world of dance, which isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate it or find it fascinating. I was raised in a very small town by a very sports-oriented family. Moving to Columbus in 2007 afforded me the first opportunity to experience a more artistic culture. Yes, I’ve seen elementary and middle school productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, but never anything as beautiful and elaborate as a major company performance.

I am thrilled and unbelievably appreciative of the opportunity to work with BalletMet. In my ten weeks here, I hope to grow as a writer. Beyond that, I also hope to get a better feel for the world of dance. What better place to do that than BalletMet!

Thank you BalletMet!

2011-04-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

As BalletMet’s marketing and communications intern for the past 3 months, I would like to take the time to thank everyone for such an awesome experience. I am truly grateful that I found such a great opportunity with BalletMet and am sad that this is my last week here. I will definitely miss it!

A little about me:

I’m Chelsea, a third year strategic communication major and dance and professional writing minor at the Ohio State University. I grew up in Dayton, OH and have been dancing my entire life. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I want to always keep dancing in my life and that is how I landed here.

BalletMet was a great place for me to see a new perspective of all the behind-the-scenes work it takes to run a company and to put on a show. My knowledge of dance has grown immensely, and I have only been here since January. I loved taking a tour on my first day, seeing the costume shop, the studios, and all of the history here at BalletMet.

I started ballet and tap classes when I was five. Every Saturday morning my mom would dress me up in my leotard and pink tights and wrap my waist long hair into the perfect ballet bun, which usually looked a little like a birds nest by the end of the class. My first recital was something I’ll never forget (probably because there is video evidence that always seems to make its way out at family gatherings). For this tap number, we were all dolled up in a blue velvet tutu and bright white tap shoes and forced to sing our steps as we did them. Some of the girls cried, picked their noses or waved to their mothers in the audience. I was the loud obnoxious one in the middle (since I was much too tall for my own good at age 5) and could be heard over everyone else. I have never left the stage since.

Dance has always been my passion. It started at Margaret Leiber School of Dance, where my teachers planted the seed of dance in my life and it has been growing ever since. I cannot thank them enough. Now that I am in college, I rarely get a chance to perform, so I love coming to work at BalletMet. I get to see dancers every day and attend the amazing performances, where I can live vicariously through the dancers on stage. I’ve begun taking other classes too. Modern, jazz and hip hop too. I think salsa is next on my list!

Along with dance, I dabbled in theatre, choir, and art. But, I always managed to squeeze dance into every role I was given. Degas is by far my favorite artist. I joined show choir in high school so that I could dance every day at school. And, I always tried out for the musicals, since what is better than acting, singing and dancing all at the same time. Dance posters cover my room and my old pointe shoes, which I haven’t touched for years, still sit in my closet, just in case I ever get the urge to lace them up for old time’s sake. But when I do, I realize why I put them back in the closet in the first place : ) I have to give these pros credit, there is a lot of pain that goes into dancing.

Now that I am leaving BalletMet, I am not quite sure where my next step will be. But I know that I am leaving having learned so much and my passion for dance has grown even more. I cannot wait to take my skills that I have learned here into my next internship and into my career once I graduate (fingers crossed). But since I’ll still be in town, you better believe I’ll be buying those show tickets and taking a class or two here at BalletMet!

Thanks again to everyone who made this experience so great!

Bringing Sin to the Stage

2011-03-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

BalletMet presents the 7 Deadly Sins

In honor of BalletMet’s upcoming rock and roll ballet, 7 Deadly Sins, where BalletMet and Shadowbox join forces for a sinfully delicious mix of choreography, new compositions and music let’s take a closer look into the inspiration for such a show, or better yet, what exactly are these “deadly sins?”
It’s so hard to be good when being bad is just way more fun. Are you green with envy? Love to indulge at a buffet or two, or four? Do you love to lay around on a lazy day…or every day? Can’t keep that temper in check or just can’t help catching your reflection in the hallway mirror, a puddle on a rainy day, or your soup spoon at dinner? Can’t choke out a few quarters for those little charity jars at fast-food restaurants? Or how about the big one, can’t keep that lustful glint out of your eyes at the bar on a Friday night?
Bad news, these vices won’t just land a lump of coal in your stocking, they are your ticket straight to that “oh so sinful place,” according to the Catholic Church, who came up with this list of crimes sure to land you right on the naughty list. But good news, you’ll have a whole lot of fun on the way.
An iconic topic in pop culture everywhere, these deadly sins have made quite a nasty mark. From art to film, music to theater, video games to ballet, these vices have caused quite a commotion.

To name a few:

George Balanchine created a ballet titled the Seven Deadly Sins for the New York City Ballet.

Dante’s Divine Comedy gives us a run down of these sinful indulgences, and his punishments for them don’t exactly sound like fun. (Envy will send you straight to purgatory with your eyes sewn shut with wire…and that is one of the more pleasant ones. Yikes!)

Remember in high school English when we were forced to read Geoffrey Chaucer’s, Canterbury Tales? Well, there they are again, making their way into these not-so-pleasant characters.

The popular rock band, Bullet for my Valentine featured these seven deadly vices in their video for Betrayal in 2010. Check it out here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHgFJEJgUrg.

And who can forget the movie Seven (1995), whose storyline follows Brad Pitt as he searches for a serial killer using the seven deadly sins as his “modus operandi.” But wait, it’s a trap! Don’t get caught staring at Brad Pitt with envy in your eyes…or worse yet, well we just won’t go there.)

America’s Next Top Model even did a fabulous photo shoot where contestants posed in a coffin, depicting each of these vices.

Scholars have gone even further to say that Disney’s, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which we all watched as kids (on repeat if you were like me), are actually the seven deadly sins personified into adorable short, stout men who rarely bathe and love to sing.

And what about Gilligan, the Skipper too, the Millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Mary Ann, oh wait, all sins again! Hmm, maybe that’s why they were ship-wrecked for so long?

And, because you can buy anything and everything on the internet these days, you can even purchase sweatshirts, mugs, and mouse pads featuring these seven cardinal vices. Why not show everyone that you are lazy and gluttonous with a great T-shirt?
The term seven deadly sins, is never found in the Bible though. Crafted together in a list by the Catholic Church, these sins have been used since early Christian times. They are seen as the root of all other sins. I guess that’s why they are so deadly? Pride is the most evil and retched of these sins. Apparently, excessive love of self is much worse than laziness or eating a whole lot. Keep that in mind.
If you want to take a quiz to find out which sin describes you most, check out this website http://www.4degreez.com/misc/seven_deadly_sins.html.
I took it, and didn’t exactly get the warm and fuzzies when my results popped up, but still a good time. Check it out!

Seven Deadly Sins at a glance:

Envy: The desire for other’s traits, status, ability, or situation.
Why do we do it: The grass is always greener right?
Virtue: Kindness
Punishment: Dante says our eyes will be sewn shut, but others say we’ll be thrown in freezing water, so take your pick.
Associated with: The color green and dogs.

Greed: The desire for material wealth and gain.
Why do we do it: Kind of hard not to. We do live in country that sings about “material girls” and airs shows like MTV Cribs.
Virtue: Charity
Punishment: Boiled alive in olive oil (only the finest oil of course).
Associated with: The color yellow and frogs.

Gluttony: The desire to consume more than we need; the supersize-me-sin.
Why do we do it: We live in the world of buffets and “would you like fries with that?”
Virtue: Temperance
Punishment: Force fed rats, toads and snakes. A whole new way of “piggin’ out.”
Associated with: The color orange and pigs.

Wrath: Self-explanatory.
Why do we do it: People can be pretty annoying.
Virtue: Patience
Punishment: Dismembered alive, ouch.
Associated with: The color red and bears.

Sloth: Avoidance of physical and spiritual work; Laziness.
Why do we do it: Who doesn’t love vegging out in front of the TV …for hours?
Virtue: Diligence
Punishment: Thrown into a snake pit. You probably won’t be so lazy then.
Associated with: The color light blue and goats. And I would have thought it was the sloth.

Lust: Craving for pleasures of the body
Why do we do it: I’ll let you answer that one for yourself.
Virtue: Chastity
Punishment: Smothered in fire and brimstone…not kisses.
Associated with: The color blue and cows.

Pride: Excessive belief in one’s own abilities
Why do we do it: Because we’re awesome.
Virtue: Humility
Punishment: Broken on the wheel (whatever that means).
Associated with: The color violet and horses. Guess those horses have a lot of pride.

Drumming it up: BalletMet partners with James Cancer Hospital

2011-03-14T15:17:00.001-07:00

I had the honor to observe a drumming class that is part of the James Cancer Hospital and BalletMet partnership. And the participants are quite talented I might say! Sitting in a circle with bongo drums at hand, the participants played rhythms and beats and filled BalletMet with some great music!

Afterwards, I had a chance to talk to Alejandra Ferrer, who leads the classes, to get a behind-the-scenes look at what they are all about!

Me: What do you do at the James Cancer Hospital?

Alejandra: I am the music therapist for JamesCare for Life: Comprehensive Oncology Rehabilitation – a department that provides outreach and support to the patients, families and the community served by The Ohio State University Medical Center and James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Me: How did the partnership between The James and BalletMet come about?

Alejandra: I started my position in July of last year and felt that dance was the missing piece among all the programming we provide for our patients. We were doing a wonderful job providing art, music, exercise, and other classes but no dance. Since early on in my career, I’ve thought of dance as a very powerful therapeutic medium and a beautiful art form. I’ve always tried to incorporate some movement into my music therapy sessions. Because of this, I wanted to give the patients the opportunity to experience dance as part of their rehabilitation programming. So, I contacted BalletMet around October of last year and asked if they would be interested in offering some dance workshops for us. They were totally for it and here we are today!

Me: And how did the drumming classes begin?

Alejandra: The drumming thing really occurred by chance. We were looking all over town for a place that would put up with the sound level we produce as well as allow us to store our instruments. I asked Chris during one of the workshops if they would ever allow us to do this and again, she was receptive to the idea! We are so thankful to BalletMet for allowing this. I don’t know what we would do without you. I hope we can continue to work together. It is such a lovely experience for everyone involved!

Me: What kinds of classes are offered at the James?

Alejandra: On a weekly basis, we offer the participants a variety of classes including: aquatic exercise, guitar, drumming, choir, writing/poetry workshops, qigong, nutrition, art, and dance! And cancer education classes too. Aside from these, we offer our participants monthly support groups for their particular cancer (colorectal, gynecological, head and neck, brain, hematology, sarcoma, etc). Quarterly, we also offer disease specific conferences.

Me: Who can participate in these classes?

Alejandra: Our programming is open to all cancer patients/survivors and their caregivers. Programming is free of cost

for all participants.

Me: How many people have taken advantage of this opportunity?

Alejandra: In 2009, over 4000 participants (both survivors and their caregivers/families) took advantage of this opportunity.

Me: Chris talked about a big event coming up with the participants and BalletMet, could you elaborate on that?

Alejandra: I believe the big event was the workshop held at the studios this morning. The patients participated in a dance class taught by Ambre Emory-Maier and Bruce Terry. They did some breathing exercises, stretching, singing, self-massage, and some jazz dancing. It was a rainy day, but ten people attended! Following the class, the participants had the opportunity to see a little bit of a company rehearsal. They loved this!

Me: Are there any other opportunities coming up with BalletMet for participants at The James?

Alejandra: Yes! Beginning April 7^th, Daryl Kamer will be doing a weekly Dance! Move! Stretch! class for the patients

and their caregivers. Every Friday, also beginning in April, we will continue to hold two drumming groups at the BalletMet facility.

Me: What are the benefits of participating in these classes?

Alejandra: Each class offers something completely different. In general, all of our programming enriches the life of our survivors by providing positive and supportive experiences. Many of our programs focus on stress reduction and promoting healing and wellness. Others focus on teaching the participants how to live healthier lives. All of our programs are held in a group setting so automatically; they are set up to be social experiences where strong bonds and support systems can emerge.

Thank you to Alejandra and the class for letting me see what drumming class is all about! It made me want to join in on the fun. Maybe next time!

A Night in Havana

2011-03-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

The hottest dance party in town

It may have been cold and wet outside, but it was hot and spicy inside at Dance with the Dancers 2011, A Night in Havana.
BalletMet spiced it up right last Saturday, March 5, holding the 7th annual Dance with the Dancers fundraising event. Cuban beats played all night long, as staff, guests, and company dancers moved and grooved at the hottest dance party in town. With over 300 guests in attendance, the night was truly a success.
Food stations were provided by Cameron Mitchell Catering, Chipotle, Jenis Ice Cream and much more. An open bar with specialty drinks and DJ Mark Dantzer kept the party going all night long. The sangria and mojitos were to die for!
Silent auctions were a big hit too! From tropical vacation get-aways to shopping sprees to beer tasting parties, guests couldn’t resist placing a bid or two.
The event was held at the Brewmaster’s Gate, downtown in the brewery district. Walking in, the lights were low but the spirits were high, with a huge dance floor and glowing, neon palm trees that stretched all the way to the ceiling.
I had the privilege to work the Chipotle station, greeting guests and explaining salsas all night long. It was so much fun watching guests come in, dressed to the nines in Havana style. Guests came dressed to impress; Ladies donned flowers in their hair, swingy salsa skirts and high, high heels. The fellows came dressed in all white, Miami vice inspired suits, with fedoras to match and bright Hawaiian shirts. And don’t forget the coconut drinks in hand!
The dancers even performed a salsa inspired number for the guests and then were auctioned to dance to a fun and upbeat song with the highest bidder. The scrumptious spread of food was endless and delicious. From fried pickles to ice cream to a jelly bean buffet, guests could help themselves all night long. I was stuffed by the end of the night!
Special thanks to Barbara Markus and her team for planning an awesome event and of course to our sponsors who made such a great night possible.

UpClose with Jimmy Orrante and Gabriel Smith

2011-02-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

BalletMet UpClose will feature two of the company’s own dancers. Jimmy Orrante and Gabriel Gaffney Smith will unleash a world premiere, inspired by a simple drop of water.

I had the privilege to interview the two in somewhere they are quite familiar, the dance studio.

It all began when Jimmy approached Gabe, “I want to make a dance around a drop of water,” he said. He explored from there, using the flow of water, the paths, the shapes, the feel.

Gabe found the perfect drop online and began editing, adding layers of music and sounds. Taking away and adding, and then taking away again. “Sometimes it happened by accident,” he said. He was so passionate talking about his process, about music in general.

And his music inspirations? Or the “most played” on his iPod as I liked to call it: Phillip Glass and Sigur Rós.

Phillip Glass: Known for his simple and repeating sounds, a sort of minimalist approach to music. Wrote Operas, symphonies, and compositions. http://www.philipglass.com/

Sigur Rós: Icelandic, post-rock band with melodic, classical, and minimalist elements. Know for the ethereal sounds they produce. Just released the album Jonsi. http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/

This will be Gabe's first commissioned composition. He has contributed to other BalletMet works including Jimmy's piece Coming Into View last season and former company dancer, Adam Hundt's dwell in 2009.

What’s amazing is that Gabe taught himself to play all different kinds of instruments. He has played the saxophone since third grade and was in choir too, he said. Everything else, he had to teach himself, including piano and guitar.

The title of the piece is Watercolor, with four different parts:

Part one is inspired by a drop of water. Jimmy liked how it was chaotic. How the drop falls and splashes, exploding in all directions.

Part two is inspired by a stream of water. How it starts off small, and grows bigger, cascading down.

Underwater is the inspiration for part three, like two beams of light that intertwine with each other beneath the surface. This is the pas de deux; a very fluid and sensual duet.

“That is my favorite part,” Gabe said. “The music is exciting.”

And part four? “I haven’t gotten that far,” Jimmy said as he laughed. “You thought I was on a roll didn’t you?”

He thinks the final section will be inspired by evaporation; how you know the process is there but you just can’t see it.

Both Jimmy and Gabe are very inspired by music. That is one of the reasons they worked so well together, Gabe said.
My last question was for both of them: “If you had to choose between dancing and composing, or dancing and choreography for the rest of your life, which would you choose?”

“It’s kind of crazy. I’m torn,” Gabe said. “There is something so euphoric about dancing; I just get so into the music.”

Jimmy laughed, “Let’s just say one hurts a lot less.”

About the choreographer and composer:

Jimmy Orrante was a recipient of a 2005 Princess Grace Choreography Award. Now in his 16th season with BalletMet, the Los Angeles native has choreographed several works including Emergence in 2007, his first full-length ballet in 2009, The Great Gatsby, and Coming Into View last season. He attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Performing Arts and North Carolina School of the Arts. He attended the International Summer Workshop in Hungary; danced with Memphis Ballet, Nevada Dance Theatre and Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, and is on faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. A recipient of the Violetta Boft Award, he has performed with L.A.'s Dance Kaleidoscope, England's Northern Ballet Theatre and Dance St. Louis. He and his wife, former dancer Sonia Welker, have a son, Isaac, and daughters Aiyana and Imara.

Jimmy will perform in James Kudelka’s The Man in Black and David Parson’s piece.

Gabriel Gaffney Smith, from Saugerties, New York, began dancing at the Saugerties Ballet Center. After studying in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School Graduate Program, he joined the company in 2005 as a corps de ballet member. Mr. Smith has also performed with River North Jazz Company in Chicago and Hisatomi Yoshiko Ballet in Japan. This is his third season with BalletMet.

Gabe will perform in Watercolor and The Man in Black.

If the Shoe Fits

2011-02-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

Costumes are what we usually notice when dancers leap, spin, and float across the stage. But, what about what's on the dancers' feet?!
A lot of work goes into deciding which pointe shoe is right for you. It is different for every dancer too! And let me tell you, pointe shoes are not the most comfortable things in the world, so it’s important that they fit just right.
Here, we talk with shoe manager and BalletMet dance class teacher, Darielle Eberhard, all about pointe shoes! And, you can definitely tell she loves what she does!

Me: Do you work with each dancer to fit her when she needs new pointe shoes?
Darielle: Yes, Exactly! Most Shoe Managers are order takers: the dancer hands them her information and he or she orders and hands out. I am different in that I have a certain amount of experience in the industry so I can actually help a dancer figure out which brand, style and specifications she needs.

And wow, what experience she has! Darielle comes from one dance-loving family. Her parents are Daryl and Jack Kamer, two of the founders of BalletMet in 1974! She spent her childhood exploring the Ohio Theatre and has all sorts of fun secrets about the place (including secret passageways). She saw her first ballet, The Nutcracker, when she was five years old. It was here that she decided she would one day play Clara.
After enrolling in ballet classes, Darielle auditioned for The Nutcracker at age 9 and got a part. She continued to play other roles, until 1976, when she made her debut as Clara! She trained in classical ballet under Tatjana Akinfieva-Smith and Vitale Fokine.
After her Nutcracker days, Darielle went on to become a ballroom champion, taking the title of Canadian-American Professional Rhythm Ballroom Champion two years in a row! It was around this time she worked part time in a dancewear shop where she worked fitting dancers for pointe shoes. She even fit Sonia Orrante in her first pair!

Sonia Orrante was a student in the Academy, danced in the BalletMet company and is also on faculty.

Me: How often do dancers have to replace their pointe shoes?
Darielle: The average life of a pair of pointe shoes is about 8 hours. Dancers rotate 10 pairs of pointe shoes at a time. So they may have one pair that they use for class every morning; other pairs designated for rehearsals, and special pairs that feel really good reserved for one performance. They are also responsible for re-stiffening their shoes with special glue once the shoes are broken in, but they must also wait until the pair is completely dry and sweat-free in order to do so. Pointe shoes can be high-maintenance!

Me: How many shoes does a dancer go through for a show?
Darielle: Since we have the dancers taking care of their shoes so specifically, they average about one pair per week, one pair per performance, except for [dancers in title roles in classical ballets], who can exhaust one pair per act. The lights and adrenaline really do a number on pointe shoes!

Me: How many dancers wear pointe shoes in Cinderella?
Darielle: All of the roles require pointe shoes so all of the female dancers will be on pointe shoes during the show. I anticipate a huge pile when all is said and done!

With about 16 dancers on pointe and 10 performances, that’s about 160 pairs of pointe shoes! And, that’s not counting principal dancers who require more than one pair per performance and accounting for mishaps. Wow!

Me: Since the Evil Stepmother is played by a man, does he wear pointe shoes too?
Darielle: Haha! No, not in the production though men en pointe is not that rare anymore. I just went to see the Trocks and they’re brilliant!

The Trocks (Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo) is a professional company of all male dancers founded in 1974 who perform classical works of ballet en pointe and in tutus! They have become a major dance phenomenon and have toured all around the world.

Me: How do you know which brand/fit/style is right for each dancer?
Darielle: When fitting a student, the first thing I look at is toe configuration. I also check their depth (profile), toe length, arch height, and any other structural issues like bunions or curled toes. Toe configuration tells me which block shape will likely work for them; toe length tells me how long a block they need; arch height tells me how hard their insole must be; bunions and other bone issues factor into vamp shape and stiffness of block and wings, and how I might suggest a dancer pad her toes.
With professional dancers, I factor in their likes and dislikes, and aesthetic needs, and refine special orders from there. Very few professional dancers wear stock shoes, meaning their shoes are specially make with their individual needs in mind. You can’t just buy them off of the shelf, so-to-speak. A good portion of what I do is stay up on current abilities of each point shoe company.

Capezio, Chacott, Danshuz, Freed, Grishko, and Sansha are just a few pointe shoe companies, so keeping up with the latest trends in pointe shoes can be quite tedious!

Me: What kind of pads can a dancer use to keep her toes cushioned?
Darielle: There are so many things on the market, but the most typical padding you’ll see around here is lambs wool toe pads, lambs wool, handiwipes, paper towels, and the tip of a sweat sock. Dancers usually tape each toe as well.

Me: What are the parts of a point shoe?
Darielle: You cut the fabric layers off of a pattern depending on the size/girth of the shoes you’re making, and slather plaster on each layer as you place it atop another layer over a last (shaped like a foot). When it gets to the right state you use a hammer to shape the block (the part that encases the toes). Once it is shaped, you cut the vamp area (the vamp is the amount of fabric that comes up over the toes. Then, the drawstring casings are added and then the outsole, shank, and insole are added. They are generally pasted together as well as tacked together. I have an anvil in my office that I use for replacing tacks!

Me: How do you break in pointe shoes?
Darielle: Hopefully I’ve done my job as well as possible, so not too much is required other than flattening the block, sewing, pressing into demi-pointe a few times, and going into over-stretched pointe. Some dancers might need to steam a spot inside the block, or use my bunion buster, which right now, is somewhere in the women’s dressing room.

Demi-pointe: This is where the dancer goes up on the ball of her foot, but does not roll up all the way onto the box of her pointe shoe.

Over-stretched pointe: This is exactly what it sounds like. The dancer rolls up on the box of her pointe shoe and pushes even further so the front of her shoe is closer to the floor.

Sewing: A dancer must sew the ribbons of her pointe shoes by hand and sometimes will add elastic around the ankle to keep her pointe shoes secure.

Pointe shoes may be pretty, but they sure are a lot of work! A shoe manager’s work is never done. Pointe shoes are high maintenance, but they are so very important! Without pointe shoes, the show could not go on. And that is how the shoe fits!

2010-12-10T10:37:00.001-08:00

Hello readers! It's been quite a long time since my last post. Nutcracker season is in full swing and there is never a dull moment here at the office! We've had a lot of very exciting things going on, and of course, we are all excited for The Nutcracker to open tonight at the Ohio Theatre!

In honor of the opening, and to make up for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks, I have posted 3 Nutcracker related blogs. You can find them below this post. The first is all about BalletMet's recent tour to Syracuse, the second is an inside look at what it's like to be the Nuthead, and the third is a series of interviews with students who will be dancing in The Nutcracker this year.

I am sad to say that today is my last day interning here at BalletMet. I have had such a wonderful experience here and I feel so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with such fantastic people. Thank you to everyone who made my last undergraduate internship great. I know the lessons I've learned here will be invaluable as I graduate and begin looking for employment! My time here has been absolutely amazing and I have had so much fun! Thank you thank you thank you BalletMet!

Happy reading and happy holidays!

Hope to see everyone at the theatre!

Syracuse Tour

2010-12-10T10:34:00.001-08:00

BalletMet on Tour!

Though we are all anxiously waiting for opening night here in Columbus, citizens of Syracuse New York have already had the chance to see what we have in store for us. Last weekend, our dancers loaded onto a bus bound for Syracuse for a weekend tour. While the dancers began making their way to New York on the 2nd, the rest of the crew headed up to load into the theater a few days later. Several trucks of sets, scenery, costumes and floor (yes, floor, we bring our Marley and sprung wood floors if the theater doesn’t have one). Our dancers performed Dec. 3-6 and received great reviews! We are proud to say that the performances were a hit! Everyone got back late Sunday night, just before a big snowstorm hit Syracuse. According to one of our Facebook fans, we must have the luckiest Nutcracker of them all! The thruway shut down AFTER our buses got into town and Syracuse got snowed in AFTER they left! Yikes! We are thankful everyone is back safe and sound and are all very excited for opening night of The Nutcracker here in Columbus!

Syracuse.com posted a wonderful review of the performance, stating that the collaboration between BalletMet and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra resulted in a “brilliant” presentation of The Nutcracker. The authors write that BalletMet’s version of The Nutcracker is the most sophisticated they have seen! “It shows in the subtle colors and opulent sets. The dances are all the more beautiful for being presented with restraint and precision rather than-as some productions choose-a kind of overly energetic abandon.” Other highlights featured in the article included the “stunning” Arabian dance, which “yielded all the more magic when considered in contrast to the comic dance in which Mother Ginger, in her garish blue gown, expelled dancing, playful urchins from beneath her skirts.”

To read the full article, go here:

Syracuse Tour Review

Enjoy reading, and check out these great pictures taken from backstage at the performances!

Being the Nuthead

2010-12-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

SPOILER ALERT!!! IF YOU BELIEVE IN THE NUTCRACKER, READ NO FURTHER!!!
When I first started my internship here this quarter, I wrote that my time at BalletMet would be unlike any other internship experience. I was definitely right!

As some of you may know, our famous Nuthead is Mr. Popularity during Nutcracker season. We receive a lot of requests for him to appear at community holiday events and sales promotions. You should see his appearance calendar!! He’s a busy guy!

All the fame and recognition means that our beloved Nuthead is highly in demand on a weekly basis. We are fortunate enough to have amazing parents and staff members volunteer to don the costume. However, at times, emergency situations come up and we have to find someone very quickly to step up and step into the costume. So who do you think got to wear the costume when a crisis (not really a crisis but it sounds more interesting that way) arose?! Yours truly! ME!

You could say that wearing the Nuthead costume is somewhat of a rite of passage among staffers. We’ve all done it and we all have fun stories to tell! I am proud to say that after wearing the costume, I now have some of my own stories to tell!

Let me tell you-putting on that huge costume, snazzy white velvet pants and cool white gloves can transform you into a completely different person. I made my appearances for State Auto and PNC Bank’s corporate sales events. I waved, I shook hands, I made my way through crowded cafeterias, braved balconies and conquered escalators and revolving doors!

My journeys began with carrying the costume out to my car and trying desperately to fit it into my trunk without smashing it. I felt a little cruel putting him in a trash bag and stuffing it into such a small space, but he made it into the car safely and survived the car trips. It was a little difficult carrying the costume through parking garages and along city streets, but I did it and did it successfully!

I was very lucky to have two amazing handlers who helped get me into the costume and guided me. I admit I was a little nervous at first. I made sure to eat breakfast and drink a lot of water before so I stayed hydrated and didn’t get overheated! I even ditched my high heels and wore FLAT black boots! Shocking! Absolutely necessary though-I can’t imagine trying to walk around in heels with that costume on! I’m sure I would look hilarious though! Once I got the costume on, I was surprised by how tall it made me and I was surprised at how well I could see out of the costume! I didn’t really realize the costume added a few extra feet in height to the top of my head and a few inches to each side of my shoulders-I had to do a lot of ducking and crouching through doors. I could see everything pretty well! I am proud to say I didn’t run into anything or fall down. I’d say that’s a major accomplishment!

Since I wasn’t really interacting with children and families at these events, I had to make connections with adults. I tried my best to brighten the days of the State Auto and PNC Bank workers by bringing smiles to their faces or getting little laughs out of them. It worked, and it was so much fun when it did!

It was really fun to promote The Nutcracker with such great people. I’m happy I was given the opportunity to experience the Nuthead tradition firsthand and I love that I have my own stories to tell now!

Have you seen the pictures from the Nuthead’s appearance circuit?! If not, here are some for you to enjoy.

Walking in the Polaris Fashion Place holiday parade

City Tree Lighting

Columbus Blue Jackets Game

Become a fan of The BalletMet Nutcracker on Facebook to see more pictures and get updates about upcoming Nuthead appearances!

Student Interviews

2010-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of year again! We busy staffers and interns working upstairs are being serenaded by Tchaikovsky’s melodies and I personally have loved being here for all the excitement! There’s never a dull moment here at BalletMet during Nutcracker season!

One of the most fun aspects of The Nutcracker is the fact that over 100 student dancers of all ages perform with the company dancers each year! Some have been participating for many years, and others are dancing in the show for the very first time. However, whether they have been doing it for years or are experiencing the fun and excitement of dancing in The Nutcracker for the first time, each student takes away happy memories and each student has their own story to tell.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of talking to some of the student dancers in the show, and they were kind enough to share with me what it’s like to audition, some of their favorite things about the show, and how it feels to perform with a professional company.

Enjoy!

My first interview was with Sarah Wilson, a Pre-Professional student here at BalletMet.

How long have you been dancing with BalletMet?

-7 years

How long have you been doing Pre-Pro? What does that involve?

-I’ve been doing Pre-Pro for 2 years. Last year was my first year. It’s basically all day-I’m home-schooled so I do classes on top of rehearsals every week. I’m trying to get through my junior and senior year this year.

Do you still have to audition for The Nutcracker?

-Yes, everyone does

What does the audition process involve?

-You come in and fill out a registration form and then they always measure you for height. You don’t get to pick what you audition for-you get what you get. We do warm-ups after we get our height measurements, and then we audition. They usually make up new stuff for us since we already are familiar with The Nutcracker, that way we still have to think about what we’re doing. The audition lasts an hour and a half to about an hour and forty five minutes.

Do you get nervous?

-No-not really anymore-you just go in and do it. “I still want to do my best”. I still always go in and make sure my hair looks nice. I want to be professional.

Do you have a favorite piece?

-I like “Arabian” because it’s different. It’s not exactly your typical ballet.

What pieces are you dancing this year?

-“Arabian” and “Soldier”

What piece did you do last year?

-“Flowers”-I got to do it with the company twice.

When did rehearsals start?

-Auditions were the 2nd week of September-we started rehearsing the 3rd week of September. We start with Soldiers first. There are three casts for everything-I started Arabian with the pre-pros weeks ago.

So you were Clara? Can you tell me a bit about that? How old were you? What was it like to get your letter?

-Well, I got to be Clara twice. The first time I was just Clara-I was 12 years old and I was really excited to get my letter. Now they send out emails, but when I got it they sent me a letter in the mail, which was really exciting. We went to Buffalo, New York that year to dance the show and so I was Clara there too. My older sister was also Clara. The second time, I was Clara, a party girl, a party mouse and one of mother ginger’s children. One of the girls got hurt so they kind of threw me into it. It was a lot but I did it!

Do you have a favorite costume?

-I love the costumes for Flowers. They’re just so beautiful! Last year I got to wear the purple one which is my favorite since purple is my favorite color!

Do you have any favorite or funny memories from performing in The Nutcracker?

-Sometimes the Nutcracker we use on stage would be broken already-so sometimes whoever was playing Drosselmeyer or someone would say something funny on stage to make light of the situation or make it funny for the audience. The party scene conversations are always funny too because those are all improvised.

Do you have a favorite family holiday tradition?

-My family and I usually go to my grandma’s house for Christmas Usually everyone in my family comes to see me in The Nutcracker and we go out to dinner after.

The other student I was able to interview was Laserik Ross, who will be playing Fritz this year.

How long have you been dancing with BalletMet?

-I have been dancing with BalletMet for 3 years.

What is the audition process like? Do you get nervous? Do you do anything special to prepare?

-The audition process starts first with all of the boys and then the girls. When the boys go in Mrs. Yo gives the younger boys or boys smaller than her a combination and then the boys larger than a different combination. When I first tried out for Nutcracker I did get a little nervous but not anymore. Something I do something special before I audition is get into character and go over dance moves that I need.

What is it like to play Fritz? What was it like to find out you got the part? How did you find out?

-To me playing Fritz is very fun because you get to be in the naughty and nice scene, I get to do more stuff in the party scene and I get to do sneaky bad things in the party scene also. When I found out that I was Fritz I was excited and happy and couldn’t wait to go to rehearsal. I found about being Fritz through a letter.

What is your favorite thing about playing Fritz?

-My favorite part about being fritz is being in the family scene.

What is your favorite Nutcracker piece?

-My favorite Nutcracker piece is “Ginger”.

Is it cool to perform with the professional dancers in the company?

-It is really cool to perform with the professional dancers in the company because it makes the ballet seem even more real.

Do you have any funny/favorite memories from dancing in The Nutcracker?

-One of my funny memories from dancing Nutcracker was it was the closing show and a company member (Drosselmeyer) was supposed to get mad at Fritz and instead of flopping his cape he did like a turn/jump/flopping his cape and made a noise and the whole cast was trying not to laugh on stage even me.

Do you have a favorite holiday tradition and/or what is your favorite thing about the holidays?

-A Holiday tradition I have is to have a huge feast on Christmas just like Thanksgiving and my favorite thing about the holiday is receiving presents.

Come see Sarah, Laserik and over 100 students perform with the BalletMet company dancers in The Nutcracker, opening TONIGHT and running through December 26th at the Ohio Theatre!

2010-11-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Backstage Pass: Dangerous Liaisons

Welcome to Wardrobe! Not everyone knows this, but at BalletMet and many other theaters across the nation, the Wardrobe and the Costume Shop are actually two different areas of one department. The Costume Shop is in charge of the design and creation of a set of costumes for a production. Once the show is in performance, however, the Wardrobe takes over. We do everything from laundering, steaming and repairing costumes before and after every performance, assisting the dancers with any quick changes or costume-related emergencies backstage, and making sure that all costumes, accessories, hair and makeup maintains the standards set by the choreographer and designer. The audience never sees us, but we’re backstage every single show, doing what we do.

Our traveling costume ‘studio,’ tucked away in the corner of the Capital Theater green room.

Dangerous Liaisons is a fun show for hairstyles. People wore their hair very differently in the 18th century, and when the dancers dress their hair in similar ways, it adds wonderful historical detail to the show, taking us one step further into the world of the story. Part of our job is researching what the hairstyles need to be, and how people of that era achieved them, then coaching the dancers in how to do it themselves.

The hairstyles we chose sought to reflect character and age, and also to accommodate hair type. For instance, Kerri Riccardi, who played the character of Cecille de Volange, is quite young. We added some curls in the back to give her a sense of great youth and naiveté. You can also see Courtney, Olivia and Zoica. Courtney and Olivia have the high bouffant hairstyle worn by older ladies of that era. Zoica has a smaller bouffant, indicating that she is younger.

And speaking of Olivia and Courtney, remember these dresses?

Looking gorgeous as usual! You might notice that Courtney’s face looks a little different. Her character is quite elderly, which requires her to do aging makeup. Up close she looks very strange, but once she is on stage and under lights, the high contrast lines soften to become wrinkles. We also gave her longer sleeves, gloves (which she loves) and a fichu (neck scarf) to cover her lovely neck and arms and give an increased sense of age and infirm.

The men have some hair conundrums as well. Men of the 18th century wore their hair quite long, and pulled into some version of a pony tail, usually with a ribbon. We decided that we didn’t want to use wigs to achieve this look, so instead we just made the ponytails.

The boys were warned about two months in advance that they would need to grow their hair as long as possible, to make it easier to attach the “queue.” Most of them were able to grow their hair long enough to do a tiny stub ponytail that we could use as a base.

You see above that Andrew Notarile was one of the lucky ones with a ponytail. Even with it, however, applying the queue can be quite painful. The base of the queue must be tucked behind the ponytail, and bobby pins used to secure it to the base of the scalp. I then tucked and pinned the remaining hair on the neckline to complete the look.

The rule for attaching anything to the head is, “if it doesn’t hurt, it won’t stay.”

The men’s costumes have other complexities as well. Tights, black silk breeches, white flowing shirt with lace cuffs, waistcoat with only half the buttons buttoned, cutaway coat with large cuffs, and finally the cravat (a lacy ancestor of the modern day necktie). All of this is fussy enough on its own, but getting it all to stay in place while dancing… that’s an entirely different thing.

First, the top of the tights are rolled around a belt of webbing or elastic to keep them from riding down. A piece of stretch fabric (referred to as, ahem, a crotch strap) is passed between the legs and sewn to the front and back hem of the shirt to keep it from coming untucked. The breeches and waistcoat are buttoned together with pieces of buttonhole elastic- two in front and two in back- to keep the waistcoat in place.

buttoning waistcoat to breeches

The cravat is especially complex. First it is attached to the collar of the shirt with buttons. Then it is wrapped around the neck, tied, and attached to itself and the front of the shirt to keep it from flying in the dancer’s face or climbing up his neck.

buttoning the cravat

And finally, the coat itself is also buttoned to the front of the vest with strips of elastic. The men have been rehearsing with their coats for weeks now, because they actually have to shift the way they dance based on the weight of the coat. It can slow them down or knock them off balance if they’re not accustomed to it. And once the jackets are buttoned down, the weight shifts and they have to adjust again!

buttoning the coat.

Finally, Andrew is looking dapper and ready to dance!

Once the dancers are in costume, they must still be careful. They are not permitted to eat or drink or chew gum, and sometimes they’re not allowed to sit, in order to avoid wrinkling the costume more than necessary. After dancing two large and difficult ball numbers, Andrew and Gabe were finished for the evening, so they removed their jackets and sat down to a favorite backstage pastime.

We hope that you’re enjoying Dangerous Liaisons. We’ll see you at the theater!

2010-10-25T07:40:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the BalletMet Costume Studio!

We create about 85% of the costumes you see in BalletMet’s shows, and our stock contains over 6,000 hand crafted pieces. We have four full time employees that work in the studio each season, as well as a handful of professional seamstresses and tailors that come work for us on individual projects as we have need. The making and maintaining of costumes for a professional company is a side of dance that is not seen often, but it is our world, and we love it!

Currently in our shop are the following lovely ladies, from left to right:

Erin, Assistant Shop Manager and Wardrobe Manager, who has worked with the company six years and does a little bit of everything, including writing this blog!

Kate, Costume Apprentice, coming to us after earning a degree at University of Michigan (no egg-ing of cars please!) to spend a year learning about costuming dance.

Rebecca, Costumes Director, who has designed and worked all over the country, including St. Louis, Florida, Oregon, and New York.

Leigh, a free-lance stitcher who frequently works with us and other companies around town, as well as backstage on many Broadway tours.

Linda, draper and stitcher extraordinaire, who is celebrating her 25th year of making tutus for BalletMet and has singlehandedly produced about a third of our stock!

At any given time, we’re working on at least three shows at once, but currently the show that is closest to production is Dangerous Liaisons.

We still have the costumes from the original production in 1996, and our plan was to pull those costumes out of stock and refresh them for the new production. Sounds fairly easy, right? Well.... it just so happens that our current company is--on average-- about four inches taller than the company that was dancing here when this show was first performed! Thankfully, many of the pieces only needed minor alterations to be usable, but in other cases some major work had to be done. Here are two transformations we’re especially proud of...

Beautiful, isn’t it? This is the dress worn by the character of Mme de Rosemonde, aunt to Valmonte. This year, the character will be played by the fabulous Courtney Muscroft. What was less fabulous was the gap-osis she was suffering the first time she put the dress on! She had at least an inch of space between the bottom of the bodice and the waistband of the skirt, and the hem was a good 4-6 inches shorter than it needed to be. The bodice could be let out, but there was no altering that skirt...It was clear we needed to make an extension. And the best way to create an extension is to make it look like you did it on purpose.

So first, we pulled out the leftover show fabric and cut an extension, then made some piping to help the extension look more like a feature.

By some miracle, the original lace used for the dress was still hanging out in our lace box, so we added a few more rows to the center inset.

The real challenge was that gold trim. We didn’t have anything remotely like it. But we found three other trims that resembled certain aspects of the original...

And we combined them to make an almost identical replica!

Here’s the final piece with its extension. Would you have guessed that wasn’t a design choice?? We love the oohs and aahs this piece is getting as it stands by the door of the studio for passers by to see.

Our second major victory was the dress for Mme de Volanges, played by Zoica Tovar and Olivia Clark. Now, Zoica and Olivia are unable to share a dress due to their difference in height. So we altered the original dress to fit Zoica and then began drafting an entirely new one for Olivia. But unlike the Rosemonde dress, there were no leftover materials to work with. In fact, not a single fabric or trim used on the original dress remained. We had to replicate the dress totally from scratch.

Can you see the differences? The brown taffeta looks the same, but it’s actually half the weight. Olivia couldn’t believe how light the finished dress was. We mimicked the bright orange of the organza in the skirt by layering a deeper rust with a bright yellow. Rebecca was lucky enough to find an almost identical black dotted tulle at JoAnns. Thank you, Halloween season! And the silver trim is covered with black mesh to dull it’s luminosity.

Between Leigh, Kate and I it took about a week to get this dress ready for fitting, and another few days to finish it. But it was worth every moment. (Well, Kate might not agree. She had to sew the 26 closures.)

So the height challenge has been an interesting one, but we’re satisfied with the result. Before we sign off, we wanted to share a few more of our favorite pieces from this show...

This is Marquis de Merteuil, which you might recognize from our brochure. Linda and Kate both love this dress, for it’s color and the effectiveness of the decoration. The trims are light and simple, but give a feeling of sumptuous wealth. Linda remembers making this dress back in ’96, and loves it still.

Here’s Rebecca’s favorite. We had to replace one men’s coat due to the height issue, and this new one was a beaut! Note the rust lining.

Sometimes it’s the little things that are the most satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed the delicate detail work required to execute these little neck scarves, called fichus. They are for the maids, and each one is tacked so that the individual folds stay exactly in place every time they’re worn.

Leigh helped create the original Dangerous Liaisons as well as Linda, and she remembers this dress well. She made those rosettes by hand. Yup, that’s right. No store bought flowers, if you please!

Well, thanks for stopping by and coming on a tour of our little world. We’ll share more later if you’re interested. But until then, come see our beautiful costumes and talented dancers at Dangerous Liaisons next week. Merde!

2010-10-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

Good morning readers! It’s been a little while since my last post. I can assure you that as always, things are still busy and exciting here at BalletMet.

As many of you know, BalletMet is home to both a professional company and dance academy which we are very proud of, but, among all of the wonderful things here at BalletMet, we have something else we are extremely proud to share, and that is our Education and Outreach Programs.

Some of you may not be aware of BalletMet’s Education and Outreach Programs and their commitment to community involvement and student development. You should know that here at BalletMet, our Education Department’s mission is “to provide quality dance experiences that are informative, inspirational and accessible so that the entire community may appreciate and enjoy the art of dance.” This means that the Education Department wants to provide dance experiences for everyone. BalletMet also maintains a strong commitment to maintaining arts education in schools. Through its DanceReach programs, BalletMet strives to make dance education available for all students. Programming is constantly refined to increase educational impact and is designed to help students express themselves through movement, through their spoken words and through their writing. Programs such as Moving into Literacy and Morning at the Ballet focus on these goals. BalletMet also wants to ensure that every child has the opportunity to experience the ballet. Through its KidTix program, underserved children and special needs individuals are given the opportunity to attend a BalletMet performance. For many of these students, this performance is a first-time experience with the performing arts. I know I remember just how special my first performing arts experience was. Can you? If you can, maybe you remember how special you felt sitting in such a big, beautiful theatre. Maybe you remember how excited you were to see just what was behind that big red curtain or maybe you remember how you couldn’t stop talking about the performance after it was over. Maybe you wished you could see it again and again. No matter what we may remember, first experiences such as the ones BalletMet’s Education Department can provide are special, unique, and available for adults and children throughout the state. Though BalletMet is able to bring students to the ballet, the Education and Outreach Programs often go beyond the theatre and go directly into the classroom.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to speak with BalletMet’s Director of Education, Ambre Emory-Maier. Ambre has accomplished a lot during her time here. She has developed BalletMet programs such as Aladdin: Finding the Magic in Dance and Moving into Literacy and oversees the Dance Academy’s Scholarship Program. Ambre also has a dance background herself. Though she is a very busy lady, she was kind enough to answer some questions I had for her. I hope you enjoy reading some of the things she had to say. I know I enjoyed speaking with her.

How has your dance background helped you develop programs for BalletMet?

My dance training and the educational experiences I had growing up certainly had significant influences on me. My background has helped shape who I am, but no one person did that. You are who you are. Every experience you have and every person you come in contact with helps you grow and learn.

Ambre then went on to tell me that many of the BalletMet staff had dance backgrounds. How wonderful that people who grew up with dance are able to work around something they love so much.

Do you have any personal highlights or any particular stories that have stuck with you? Maybe about a particular child or group or class who seemed particularly moved or benefited by/from a program?

All kids benefit from the program, though it’s easier to see the impacts of experiential programming. At Morning at the Ballet, all the kids were talking to each other before the show started, and one of the kids was looking ahead to the stage and he said “is that a big screen”? It just goes to show the level of awe and wonder. For many of these kids, this is their first time experiencing the performing arts, and for many, it may be their only experience with them. With these programs, we are working on dispelling the stereotypes-the negative stereotypes. People may say “I don’t look like a dancer or move like a dancer or know anything about dance” but we want to show people that anyone CAN MOVE-and that has value.

I really like the ideas and goals behind Morning at the Ballet and Moving into Literacy. How are the programs designed to help students communicate through writing? Why do you think it’s so effective? Can you explain a little more about how these programs work?

We work to ensure that our programs are aligned with state standards and we attempt to cater to a school’s needs, such as programming to improve reading and writing. Our Moving into Literacy program is typically geared toward 2nd graders, but can be adapted. The programs can also be adapted to different school district’s learning curriculums. For example, in Westerville, they incorporated their lessons on Asian culture and wrote haiku poems. Other schools have focused on developing “how-to” writing. Another school did the program around fairy tales, and the children wrote their own fairy tales. Dance is just another language you can use to express yourself and communicate.

Aladdin, Finding the Magic in Dance is different. It’s designed as a curriculum unit-a 6 lesson unit and follows the creative process of BalletMet’s Artistic Director, Gerard Charles, from conception to the premiere of Aladdin. The program was funded by the Ohio Arts Council. It incorporates lessons in subjects such as math, drama and science. Teachers who participate in this program receive proper training in the elements of dance and in the curriculum itself. More than 90 teachers have participated in the program.

What are you most proud of? Is there a program you feel has worked really well or is there something about working for BalletMet that makes you particularly proud?

I’m proud of all of our programs; it’s hard to choose a favorite or something I am particularly proud of. I am really proud of our staff and I am proud of our mission. I am proud of what we do.

After speaking with Ambre, I know I am even more proud to be a part of BalletMet. For more information about BalletMet’s Education and Outreach Programs, please go to:

http://www.balletmet.org/education.php

Do you have any special memories from arts experiences you had at school? Has BalletMet’s Educational Programming made an impact on you? Please post and share!

2010-10-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! We are proud to announce that Requiem!!, our season opener, has run with great success and winning reviews. Only two performances left! Though the Capitol Theatre fills with the familiar sounds of Mozart, Requiem!! is anything but familiar, and certainly not one may consider traditional or safe. On the contrary, Requiem!! is exciting and thrilling its audiences. In honor of Requiem!!, I am dedicating this post to fun facts and press highlights.

Fact number 1: Some of you may not know that BalletMet was the first North American Ballet Company to perform Requiem!!, German choreographer Birgit Scherzer’s signature piece. Pretty impressive if you ask me!

Fact number 2: The characters M and Death are the only two characters seen throughout the entire work. They appear both literally and metaphorically. Death is always present, at times close and at other times far away.

Fact number 3: M is based on different accounts of Mozart’s life. As Birgit Scherzer did research for the piece, she found it very difficult to combine Mozart’s many characteristics and attributes into once dancer. Because of this, she created M1, M2 and M3. Though M is for Mozart, M also represents the German word for human - mensch," According to Birgit Scherzer, "It can be any of us."

Fact number 4: The suitcase seen in part 2 of the 3 part show is highly symbolic. It symbolizes being on a journey and not being at home. It also is a symbol of Mozart’s constant movement from one place to another. Other symbols include the black umbrellas, which come from the fact that it was snowing when Mozart died and so people were seen with umbrellas. (Snow also denotes winter when nature is dead). Umbrellas can also be viewed in a more generally sheltering or reassuring way.

Fact number 5: What’s up with those 2 exclamation points? In a recent interview, Artistic Director Gerald Charles said “they signify that it is more than just a dance to Mozart's music of that name. It is a dance piece in its own right with its own purpose and artistry."

The show is certainly unique, and audience members and reviewers have submitted rave reviews and provided very positive feedback.

Here are just a couple of press highlights for you to read. If you haven’t seen the show yet, maybe these reviews will inspire you to go this weekend!

“No one could accuse BalletMet Columbus of going easy on its audience in the company's season-opening program: Requiem!! by German choreographer Birgit Scherzer…it's stunning theatricality packs a punch to the solar plexus. No waltzing flowers here. This 90-minute thriller…in every way matches the depth of feeling and poignancy of its music, Mozart's Requiem.”
Barbara Zuck, The Columbus Dispatch

“…I realized this show wasn’t Swan Lake or The Nutcracker. Requiem!! isn’t a nice little Romance where Prince Charming falls in love with Princess Peach in toe shoes. This was horror at the ballet. Ok, maybe “horror,” isn’t a genre that translates adequately. I’m sure, as a dance, this more likely would fall under the category of “psychological thriller.” Regardless, my point is that if you’re not the typical Ballet-goer, this might be exactly the production to whet your appetite for dance. Oh, and it’s October – the perfect time to go see something a little darker than normal.”

John Theiss, CityScene Magazine

For more articles about Requiem!! and to read the full reviews, please follow the links below. Enjoy your weekends, and don’t miss your chance to see this spectacular show tonight or tomorrow.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/weekender/stories/2010/09/30/season-opening-celebrations-to-salute-germanic-gems.html?sid=101

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/02/review_balletmet.html

2010-10-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings! It’s been awhile since our last post and a lot has happened since summer has ended and fall has begun. One particular new thing is that BalletMet has a new Marketing Intern (me), and I am going to use this post to introduce myself, give you an intern’s perspective of BalletMet and tell you about my first day on the job.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Abby and I am currently a senior at Ohio State majoring in art history and minoring in business. I have interned in museums, galleries and arts councils in and out of state and recently finished an internship at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City where I served as a Development and Special Events Intern. As I began making preparations to graduate this December (scary, but very exciting), I decided I wanted to further expand my knowledge and broaden my work experience with one more internship. Though I study the visual arts, I grew up performing with my city’s children’s choir and high school choruses. Before I found my niche with singing, like many little girls, my dream was to be a ballerina. I begged my mother to enroll me in ballet and gymnastics classes at our local YMCA. However, it didn’t take too long for me to realize that I was not the best at ballet. I wasn’t the best at gymnastics either, I recently read one of my weekly gymnastics performance reports and saw that my teacher had written that I “had difficulty with skipping” and that my somersault “needed work”. I quit ballet. I kept the cute pink tutu.

Though I wasn’t the best at ballet, I still loved to watch my local company perform. My mother and I went to our local theatre’s family series and to our local art museum on Sundays. She took me to The Nutcracker when I was 8 and I fell completely in love. My mother loves to tell people that when the curtain fell, I stood up on my seat, clapped as loud and furiously as I could, and shouted “bravo!" just like I remembered seeing on Sesame Street, over and over again. Just as my mother loves to tell that story; one of my favorite stories to tell is that the first exhibition I ever saw in an art museum was Edgar Degas. After loving the Nutcracker, my mother thought I would like to see his ballerina sketches and Little Dancer sculptures. I did. I love that my appreciation for ballet and for Degas has somehow led me to BalletMet.

A long time supporter of the performing arts, I thought working for a world class performing arts organization such as BalletMet would provide me with insight into how a professional company is managed. When I was offered an internship position here in marketing, I knew an opportunity to learn another facet of the arts industry to which I have not yet been exposed was simply one I could not pass up.

I am in the middle of my first week here and I am in love with it already. My friends would all tell you that I called them after my orientation day gushing about the projects I will be working on this quarter. I am especially excited to have been given opportunities to write, help coordinate a Nutcracker volunteer orientation, and help with The Nutcracker Ball. I got a taste of working in special events this summer and can’t wait to get back into it with this particular fundraiser.

I am also particularly excited to work with the marketing team and learn new skills there. I am already noticing major differences between working for a visual arts organization. For example, in a museum, you put on a few big exhibitions a year. These exhibitions tend to run for a few months, giving museum staff much more time to plan, have events and market the art currently hanging on your walls. In a performing arts institution such as BalletMet, you have many more shows that each only run for a week or two. Because of this, working in the performing arts can put an employee or performer in a very fast-paced environment. It’s fast and sometimes extremely stressful, but also exciting, rewarding and very fun.

You may be curious about my first day at work. So I’ll now begin by telling you about how I got lost on the way, spilled juice all over my shirt, and spent my day making hundreds of copies and got coffee for everyone. Just kidding, none of those things happened. While a first day can give anyone jitters and all interns fear spending their days simply making copies and fetching coffee, my first day was great.

Everyone here was very welcoming and positive when I first met them; further indicating that BalletMet is a great place to work. First, my supervisor, Communications Manager Jennifer Sciantarelli, gave me the grand tour of the place. I didn’t realize the school and employees’ offices were all in the same building. I played it cool, but I was so excited to see dancers rehearsing! Jennifer showed me some of the studio spaces and where the costumes are made. I can't even begin to tell you how exciting it is to see little things like this. I love seeing how everything works behind the scenes. In the past, when I’ve done museum work, I always loved going to the storage facilities to see where the art is kept, or seeing the crates of art being prepared to be hung. It always made me excited to be a part of something so big and so rewarding to so many people.

Of course a first day of work never goes 100% smoothly. We had issues finding a computer for me to work on (something that is not new to me at all). However, once we got that under control, I began my first project, which is to write an article for Outlook Magazine. This is so much more than a typical internship;I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot more than making copies and fetching coffee! On my way out, I saw some young children preparing for their ballet class. It reminded me of when I was little and made me so happy to see. Though it very different than running into curators, art handlers and people listening to audio guide headsets, I have a feeling I’m going to love seeing ballet slippers, hair pulled back into neat ballet buns and love hearing Mozart, Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky every day.

Today, we found a free cubicle in the office and I have happily been typing and working away since this morning. I’ll end here by saying that I am very thrilled to be a part of BalletMet this quarter. If any of you are in the office, stop by the building or see me around please say hi or introduce yourself. I’ll be the one with the red hair and high heels (I'm always in heels).

I’d love to get to know as many of you as I can! Until next time…

Abby

A Tale of Two Dancers

2010-07-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the summer intensive experiences of two dancers, one a student from BalletMet Academy, the other a visiting student living in the dorms!

Wow! This year's summer intensive has been such an exciting experience. While the long days in the studios are pretty exhausting, they are also exhilarating since all of the dancers love what they do. The BalletMet summer experience is more than just sweat, blisters, and rehearsals. Throughout the five weeks, we have grown together as more than just roommates and peers, but as lifelong friends. From "So You Think You Can Dance"viewing parties, to having an impromptu photo shoot in the garden outside of our dormitory, we never had trouble finding fun things to do at night after a day of classes or on lazy Sunday afternoons.

But the dorm chaperones made sure to keep us busy with an array of weekend outings. We celebrated our country's independence at Red, White, and Boom, the acclaimed Columbus fireworks spectacle and slid down swirling slides at the water park Fort Rapids. We watched Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" and the classic musical "My Fair Lady" in the beautiful Ohio Theatre and were treated to a live performance of "The Producers" by the Columbus Children's Theatre. We even were lucky enough to have a few delicious ice cream socials in the cafeteria. And-of course-who could forget our epic, double whammy, back-to-back weekend trips to the Easton Town Center mall?

We've been named the greatest, and best behaved, group to ever grace the hallowed halls of the Schottenstein dormitory at Columbus College of Art and Design. But we'd like to think that what the chaperones don't know won't hurt them…. Only kidding of course!! It's been an unforgettable summer session, and the memories and friendships I've made here in C-bus I will always cherish.

-Shelby Shenkman

This is the last week of the pre-professional intensive, so my schedule is a little different than it was the past 4 weeks. My day starts at about 7 a.m every morning Monday through Friday and sometimes Saturday. I do my hair, then eat a healthy breakfast and I am out the door by 7:55 a.m. for the 15-20 minute commute to the Academy. First I check the schedule to confirm there weren't any changes, and then head to the dressing room where my locker awaits me. The reason I have a locker is because I am a year round student in the Pre-Professional (Pre-Pro) Program. I grab my warm ups and I head into the studio to warm up my muscles. Since this is Week 5, the Pre-Pros are living a typical week as a member of BalletMet's company. Most of the days we start out with a Ballet class which ranges from an hour and a half to a two hour long class. After that we get a 15 minute break to maybe grab a snack and to refill your water bottle.
We have two separate rehearsals that are either one hour or an hour and fifteen minutes. After dancing the morning away we get a 45 minute lunch break. Next we have yet another rehearsal for one hour, and lately we have been having a Flamenco class for one hour. To end the day we have a Modern class for one hour and thirty minutes. Yesterday, I took part in some demonstrations for the BalletMet Dance Academy Open House and was at the studio until 8:30pm! Once my day is over I go home eat some dinner, take a cold shower to refresh myself, then I relax and recharge for the day ahead.

Weeks 1-4 my day still started at 7am and was full of a variety of classes. Instead of long rehearsals, we had set classes like Ballet, Variations, Modern, Corps, and Enrichment, which could be anything from Yoga to Dance History. We get to work with the Artistic staff a lot which is an amazing experience.

I like the Summer Intensive because I get to meet people from all over the country as well as see people from past years. Last weekend I got to have a friend over who I met last year who I became very close friends with because she was moved up into the 5 week program. There wasn't a dorm room open so she spent the week at my house. She came over for a sleepover this year, and we went and saw the Titanic exhibit at COSI, accompanied by one of the other students that is in the intensive who is from Italy!!! After boarding the Titanic we went to Polaris and shopped a bit, came home had dinner and then we took them back to the dorms.

I really enjoy being a local student and having the opportunity to dance in my home studio, but with some different faces.

-Sarah Wilson

Macho Dancing Men

2010-07-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Male dancers have become more and more prominent in society over the past few years. With television shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance?, not to mention blockbuster hits like Step Up, the perception of the male dancer has been reborn. No longer is dance thought of as strictly a feminine art, but as a multi-faceted, strong and athletic art form that requires both a strong mind and body. Because of this, many men who are non-dancers have found that dancing, especially ballet, is a great way to increase strength and flexibility, and help them improve on and off the field.

To prepare for their 2007 season, The Ohio State University football team participated in a yoga class at BalletMet twice a week over the summer. Kirk Barton, an offensive lineman, said that the more flexible he is, the more powerful he can be on the field without risk of injury. “Flexibility is key, you never saw Gumby tear an ACL. Yoga also uses controlled breathing to maintain mental focus, which can be key under pressure,” Kirk said. OSU football coach, Jim Tressel, even took a few fitness classes at BalletMet!

Ohio State isn’t unique in this idea -- the Cleveland Browns players and the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Lynn Swann, are known for their cross training in ballet. They found it gave them more flexibility in their hips and even helped prevent injury! Swann took tap, ballet, and jazz classes as a young man and also while in college. He attributes his athletic skill to the strength he built in dance. "Certain dance movements are fundamental to the movements you need to make in sports. A basketball player can't jump without doing a plie. It may not be graceful and deep with your feet turned out, but it's the same thing,” Swann said (Dance Magazine, Jan . 2004)

But what about male ballet dancers? What sparked their interest in dance at a young age? We asked a few male BalletMet dancers why they began dancing. David Tlaiye, a BalletMet dancer of five years, began dancing when he was 11 years old. “I began dancing because my sister danced and I had to wait for her in the waiting room, leaving me with nothing to do. So I started dancing because I was bored,” David said. He improved at a fast pace, which allowed him to move up into more advanced classes. David was convinced to keep dancing once he realized the advantage of being around ladies all the time.

Jimmy Orrante, a BalletMet dancer of fifteen years, began dancing when he was in high school. “I began dancing to meet girls,” Jimmy said. In fact, Jimmy’s ties to dance led him to his future wife! Former BalletMet dancer and wife of Jimmy, Sonia Welker Orrante, met Jimmy at a BalletMet Summer Intensive Program. BalletMet Academy dancer, Chris Evans, began dancing at age 4 and has studied in the pre-professional program at BalletMet for three years. Read more about Chris’ experience in our post about “How To Become A Professional Dancer". In the future, Chris hopes to dance for a ballet company abroad.

What it means to be a Nonprofit Organization

2010-07-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

Nonprofit (adj.) - not established for the purpose of making a profit; not entered into for money

We hear this word a lot in our community and culture, but what does it really mean to be a nonprofit organization? Well, a whole lot more than a definition can explain.

Let’s break it down:

For-Profit Organization

Goal: generate profit

Organization is run by the owner or a group of shareholders.

Owner and/or shareholders keep the profit.

Non-Profit Organization

Goal: provide a particular service to a community

Organization is run by a board of trustees who have no monetary investment in the organization.

Profit is used to provide the service in which the nonprofit was formed to offer.

Both need to generate profit in order to grow and survive.

What is BalletMet’s particular service to the community?

BalletMet’s mission is to celebrate dance by engaging the community through quality performances, instruction, education programs and creation of new work. We want to share our love of art with others, and hope that they are inspired and entertained by it. It is our hope that people will experience movement and feel a connection – whether it be taking classes, attending shows, or supporting our company.

How does BalletMet engage the community?

BalletMet is actively working to encourage appreciation and participation in the arts in the Columbus community. BalletMet offers reduced ticket prices for schools to attend a “Morning at the Ballet,” and students who may have never seen dance before have the chance to enjoy a performance and learn theatre etiquette. High School students have access to "High 5" tickets available at Kroger, and can buy a ticket to one of our shows for only five dollars!

BalletMet also engages students in dance by providing dance programs in schools. The staff work with teachers to incorporate dance into educational curriculum, and BalletMet Academy students travel to schools in the inner city and all over Columbus to perform. We have special programs such as our Momentum program and Moving into Literacy that engage students in dance and music that encourage wellness, discipline, and education. It is BalletMet’s hope that the public will realize that dance is for everyone, and a love that can be enjoyed for a lifetime.

That’s why the Academy provides many dance scholarships for students, especially those that may be underprivileged and wouldn’t normally be able to experience dance. From beginner dance scholarships to scholarships for the Summer Intensive Program, BalletMet strives to make dance available to all who are interested.

If you have any questions about the programs we offer don't hesitate to contact us. We would love to start a program at your school!

I have a feeling we're not in Summer Dance camp anymore...

2010-06-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

So what happens when a dancer turns 13 and just a little too old for the fun days of BalletMet's summer dance camp? It's time for the big leagues. As a former dance student myself, I have come to realize just how dedicated dance students are. We're not like a one-season sport that only peaks for a few months; we work year round with few breaks, and even then are usually concerned with losing technique so we pick up a class here and there. When it comes to summer dance students use the break from school to focus fully on their craft.

Around the time a serious dancer turns 12 or 13 they'll begin attending Summer programs, usually called intensives, programs, or studies. And they're not just using the name to sell spots: It is intense. Students will begin their day around 9 a.m., taking various classes with small breaks, not ending the day until 5 p.m. The programs are designed to push a dancer's limits, build endurance, and give students an idea of what a real professional dancing career is like.

These programs are available at dance schools across the country, and BalletMet is fortunate to host a Summer Intensive and a Pre-Professional Intensive. The Summer Intensive is four weeks long, but can be reduced to three weeks for younger students who may be participating for the first time. The Pre-Professional Intensive is tailored towards students on the cusp of a professional career. The great thing about this five-week program, is that students have the chance to be invited to become a part of BalletMet's year-long Pre-Professional program or even receive a trainee position with the company. Every level, from age 12-20, takes classes from a renowned faculty with years of professional dance and teaching experience.

As an intensive student for three years myself, I can honestly say that BalletMet has a fantastic program and truly pushes dancers to their physical and emotional limits. The technique classes are difficult, and I can vividly remember plopping down on the couch when I would get home at the end of the day and feeling like every muscle in my body was sore. But it's about more than just physical improvement. BalletMet focuses on developing you as a dancer in a very holistic manner, mandating classes in yoga, acting, dance history, and even personal safety. Enough about my experience -- hear from Molly Ahler, a student who attended BalletMet's intensive for several summers and has been accepted to the University of Arizona's school of dance.

"I have attended BalletMet’s Pre-Professional Summer Intensive for three summers in a row. BalletMet is such a warm and kind environment. The staff, faculty, and students are all so happy and you feel welcome as soon as you walk through the door. They really have your best interest at heart. The best part about the intensive would be the feedback you get from teachers. They want you to learn and grow as a dancer and individual, which is not something you find everywhere. Every night after I got back to the dorms, I would write down corrections to help me become a better dancer. I had a new notebook every summer to take notes. Everything you learn follows you after you leave the program.
BalletMet helped me grow as a dancer because they know how far they can push your limits. I really liked the fact that the teachers wouldn’t just give you the answer to a problem or correction. You as a student, needed to figure it out on your own. They would help guide you, but they wouldn’t spoon feed you the answer.
The intensive as a whole was incredible. The teachers were hard in class, but positive and had a good sense of humor. You get to take so many different classes and are made to think outside of the box at times.They offer a diverse selection of classes during the intensive as well as night classes. I have recommended it to many friends and some have attended or will be attending the program. I had a blast the summers I attended their intensive and it was a positive learning atmosphere. "

As Molly's testimony proves, BalletMet's Summer Intensive shows results as well. Dancers who have participated in our program are now dancing in schools and companies such as Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Conservatory, Richmond Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Austin, Ballet West, Butler Ballet, our own Professional company, and more.

To find out more about our programs see the Summer Intensive web site and Facebook page.

Turning, Tapping, and Twisting Across America

2010-06-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last week the usual quiet mornings at BalletMet Columbus were instead filled with laughs echoing through the halls and music pounding from the studios. BalletMet's week-long Summer Dance Camp had finally arrived! This year's theme was "Moving Across America," and children looked forward to a week full of learning about and experiencing the culture of different types of dance.

Some of the children had never taken any kind of dance before while others were camp veterans, yet everyone learned something new through the entertaining classes. Participants took classes in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and modern. In addition, the students got creative in acting classes and art sessions. The goal of the classes was to take what the kids learned throughout the week and then put together a performance showcase for their families and loved ones at the end of the week.

The participants were split into three groups, each lead by older students of BalletMet Dance Academy. While all of the groups experienced many types of dance, they could only share a few pieces with their families in the closing performance. The great thing about taking many different kinds of classes during the week was that the students were able to use the skills and concepts from each art form in every class they took!

For example, one of the groups performed a hip-hop dance, where they were allowed to create their own short solo. They were able to take the moves they learned in their modern and jazz classes to use in their piece as well. Another group performed a California-themed tap number to Surfin' USA and California Girls by the Beach Boys, and were able to use surfboards they decorated in art class as a prop for their dance. That dance also featured a guest artist: One of the older Academy counselors flexed his West-Coast muscles with one of the campers!

The oldest of the three groups performed a jazz-modern fusion piece and were also given a section of dance where they could improvise their own movement. Allowing the participants to create their own movement and learn how to express themselves through art was an important aspect of the camp, and the kids practiced more improvisation in the acting classes. They played a game called "location freeze," where the instructor would say the name of a famous American landmark and the students would have to act out that place using only their bodies, no talking allowed. They were allowed to be anything; a tree, a dog, a subway car. The other game they played was called "family portraits," and they would have to pose to portray a certain family, for example, "The Rockstar Family," or "The Spongebob Family." They had a lot of fun with this!

The students learned some classical ballet and were able to show the audience a traditional "square dance." Not the kind you do in a barn, but the type of simple dance that is typically performed in big party or ball scenes of classical ballets. They also learned some historical dances and a song to go along with them!

Another cool opportunity for the students was watching some of the professsional dancers perform a demonstration. Company dancer Jackson Sarver came in and showed the campers different movements and talked about the hard work and dedication that comes with dancing. The kids also had a chance to see real costumes the dancers have worn on stage during the season shows.

The kids loved performing for their friends and family and it was great to see familiar faces from years past back for this summer's camp. The parents loved it too. "It was a great performance! It was lots of fun and amazing what they learned in 1 week!," Allison Savage, one of the dancer's parents, said. We hope to see all of the dancers back next year, and some new participants too!

See more photos from Summer Dance Camp at the Academy Facebook Page
BalletMet also offers a variety of other dance camps throughout the summer. Some even combine dancing with cooking, acting, singing, and more!! Find out more about these at our dance camp page.

Bright Nights, Foreign City

2010-06-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

Company dancers in front of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow

They’re back! The fourteen dancers who travelled to Russia for the
Moscow International Contemporary Dance Festival have returned to the states bringing good reviews and Russian culture back from the East. Both the dancers and Artistic Director Gerard Charles agree the trip was a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and for some was even their first experience out of the country.

BalletMet is the first American company to be invited to this festival, and this trip marks their fifth international performance. What was an even greater treat was that the company was able to visit one of the birthplaces of Ballet. Dancer Jackson Sarver thought it incredible to “be able to perform in the country that has born so many dancers before us.”

Take a look at some highlights of the trip from the dancers' perspectives!

Jackson Sarver

Jackson enjoyed the trip immensely and said he would have probably never done something like this until later in his life, if at all. However, the dancers faced several challenges while on the trip. “The floor of the stage was the biggest challenge,” Jackson said. Many older stages are “raked,” which means the back of the stage is actually set higher than the front of the stage. This is so the audience could better see the feet of the performers. However, the problem was not with the actual stage, but with the marley, the smooth gray surface the covers the floor. “It was not raked, but they laid the marley directly on the wood floor, unlike us who put down a 'sprung floor' first, then marley. It wasn’t a problem not having the sprung floor, except that the floor was ridged and uneven where it met the next piece of wood. It was like a picnic table that’s been warped a bit by sitting in the sun and heat for a few years.” Jackson also said the language barrier was thick, and they often had to “play charades” with the Russians in order to communicate. The dancers found it was easier to communicate with the people in St. Petersburg because the culture and diversity made them more willing to help out some confused Americans! Jackson also noted the White Nights as being one of the highlights of the trip. “I have a picture from the window of our hotel room at 12:30 a.m., and it looks like it’s only 8 p.m.” Jackson satisfied his so-called "historical-nerdy" side by watching the changing of the guard.

Andrew Notarile

For Andrew, this was his first experience leaving the United States! He describes the trip to Russia as “awesome, inspiring, and educational,” despite missed flights and a night spent sleeping on the floor of the Detroit airport. Like Jackson, Andrew found the stage and language barrier to be a difficulty, but enjoyed the beauty of the theatres and lively audiences. “The audiences for all the shows received us well,” Andrew said. “One thing I was not expecting was when they applaud, they clap in unison, unlike us where we clap at different times.” Andrew had the chance to go inside the Hermitage, the biggest museum in the world, with fellow dancers David Tlaiye, Annie Mallonee, and Dustin James. Though the dancers had much free time to explore the city, Andrew wished he had more time to spend in the museum. “I was telling my parents that I could spend a week or more just on the ceilings, floors, and moldings of the Hermitage alone, there is so much art to look at that it can’t be done all in one day,” Andrew said. He also found the White Nights to be especially beautiful, even though it confused his body and made it hard to fall asleep!

Adrienne Benz

“Russia was one of the most fun experiences I have ever had, with a great group of friends,” Adrienne said. She was lucky to be able to room with one of her good friends, dancer Adam Hundt. Adrienne is a big shopper, so she loved the souvenir tent shops and couldn’t get enough of the Russian nesting dolls, or as she likes to call them, “mushmoishas”. Adrienne also loved the historical sites. “The first day we got there we walked to the Red Square to see the Kremlin and St. Basil, which looked like it was from a fairy tale!” she exclaimed. The dancers also took a boat and bus tour of St. Petersburg and visited the Spilled Blood Cathedral.
Like the other dancers, Adrienne mostly stuck with familiar foods, but did try some traditional Russian cuisine. “I did try Borscht (a Russian soup), and they had great salads and even pizza,” Adrienne said. She even tried salmon caviar and didn’t think it was too bad.

Gerard Charles

Gerard and the dancers were impressed by the enthusiasm the audiences had for their performances and for dance in general. “It took us a little while to adjust our style of bowing at the end of a piece to fulfill their sustained hand clapping,” Gerard said. For their performance of Testify in Moscow, the company received a whopping 24 curtain calls. They even overheard a ballet master from the renowned Bolshoi Ballet saying it was worth waiting to see BalletMet perform Topsy. Despite slippery stages, feet caught in costumes, and music malfunctions, BalletMet gave performances to be remembered by the audiences. “At the last performance of the last piece just as the curtain was to open on Topsy, the person who ran the music told me she had the wrong music for the piece,” Gerard said. He had to run up and down three flights of stairs to fix the problem and said he “was still breathing heavily as the curtain closed.”
Gerard said that taking the overnight train ride from Moscow to St. Petersburg was a fun experience, though fitting all the people and luggage onto the train was like playing a game of Tetris.

To see more photos of the trip to Russia check out our Facebook photo album

School's Out for Summer

2010-06-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

BalletMet's professional dancers typically end their season after the final performance in the spring. However, this year, 14 dancers were selected to tour Russia. Some of the selected dancers are Adrienne Benz, Emily Gotschall, Dustin James, Bethany Lee, Andrew Notarile, Jimmy Orrante, and Emily Ramirez. These dancers performed in Moscow and in St.Petersburg in the Moscow International Contemporary Dance Festival. We'll have an overview of the trip for you soon.

So what else will our dancers be doing this summer?

Jimmy Orrante will be teaching dance at Blue Lake, a summer fine arts camp in Michigan. The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is a summer camp that offers fine arts education to more than 5,300 gifted elementary, junior high, and high school students. Jimmy and his wife have been teaching dance classes at Blue Lake for several years and really enjoy it!

After returning from Russia, Adrienne Benz and Emily Ramirez will be dancing for the National Choreographers Initiative in California. The National Choreographers Initiative was developed to promote the creation and production of professional dance. It is a workshop setting where choreographers can initiate new work as well as experiment and develop their craft. This is an opportunity to develop and produce dance in support of the national dance community by inviting choreographers of note to participate in this project. Adrienne has been dancing for the National Choreographers Initiative for several years, but this will be Emily’s first year.

David Tlaiye is traveling this summer to visit friends and family. Many of the dancers like to take their summers to travel and relax until next season!

BalletMet hopes all the dancers have a great summer and we'll see them when they return in August for the 2010-2011 season!

2010-05-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

BalletMet to Russia!

BalletMet's Artistic Director, Gerard Charles, and fourteen of our professional dancers are currently in Russia. The company will be performing in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Both cities are huge centers of dance in Russia and have festivals that celebrate the arts in early June.

Two years ago, BalletMet Columbus was honored with the invitation to perform at the Russian festival, Moscow International Contemporary Dance Festival, or Moscow Footlights. Since January of this year, Gerard and BalletMet staff have been intensely preparing for the trip. Planning time abroad can be difficult, especially when you don't speak the language. Russia has also had some fairly recent political changes which added a little more confusion to the preparation process. Luckily, Gerard and BalletMet staffers have risen to the occasion and done an amazing job in hashing out the details of the trip.

Gerard took time away from planning a couple weeks ago to discuss some of the differences and difficulties he has encountered in getting ready for BalletMet's time in Russia.

Costumes
The company costumes cannot be shipped ahead of time to Russia. Therefore, they will be taken on the flight. A few BalletMet dancers will take extra suitcases in order to transport the costumes. Russia does not have Laundromats and their theaters do not have washing machines like theaters do in the United States. That will make laundering the costumes very interesting, especially because certain detergents must be used due to the allergies of the dancers. Gerard is determined to find a solution. He jokingly mentioned paying the hotel staff to wash the costumes at the hotel or at home if need be. I cannot wait to hear how that turns out!

Music
During a typical BalletMet performance, the music used has been recorded to a CD. In Russia, the music used is taken from mini-disks. These disks can skip from song to song like a CD, but the mini-disks allow for editing of the songs as well. Therefore, BalletMet recorded the performance music on a mini-disk instead of a CD for the trip. Gerard has decided to bring his iPod as a backup for the music that will be heard during the show. I think that was a smart move - better to be safe than sorry!

The dancers and Gerard will be in St. Petersburg for the White Nights Festival. This festival is in honor of the time of year when the sun never sets in Russia. That will not only be something to get used to, but something for the visiting BalletMet staff to enjoy in Russia!

Interested in learning how to greet someone in Russian? Click on this link to learn how!

COMING SOON: Stories and pictures from the trip!

2010-05-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

BalletMet: The Academy Spring Performance

The BalletMet Dance Academy is ranked among the country's top dance-training centers affiliated with a professional company. The Academy is filled with talented dancers, including a number of Pre-Professional students, who have been nationally recognized for their dance abilities. Students of the academy range from infants to adults, which creates a diverse student population at BalletMet. There are a wide variety of dance classes offered to students, including ballet, modern, jazz, pointe, and many more.

The Academy student dancers take classes all year, learning and practicing dance works for the end of the year showcase, the Spring Performance. The Academy instructors spend most of the year preparing their students for this performance, so it is a rewarding experience for them to see their students perform what they have learned throughout the year. These dancers put a lot of time and effort into learning and perfecting their pieces, and therefore look forward to the Spring Performance.

Dancers as young as nine years old have the opportunity to dance in the Spring Performance. However, the toddlers and the adults in the academy do not perform in the final showcase. There are 283 Academy students performing in the Spring Performance this year.

Each dance class will perform at least one dance work to display the talents of the dancers. The younger dancers typically perform one or two pieces for the show; however, the Pre-Professional students perform over 10 group pieces, which does not include the additional solos, duos, and trios that they perform as well.

Senior faculty member Susan Dromisky let me sit in on a Pre-Professional class to give me an insider’s look on a typical day of rehearsal for these dancers. These students use half of the year to prepare for The Nutcracker and the other half focusing on the Spring Performance. They explained that they are in the BalletMet studios six days a week, and typically spend nine hours a day rehearsing and training. A few of the Pre-Professional students said that though rehearsals can be tedious at times, they look forward to performing for their family and friends at the end of the year.

The Spring Performance is one of just a few opportunities for many of the Academy students to be on stage performing for their family and friends, so this is most of the dancers’ favorite part of the year. Whether or not the Academy students perform one or 12 dances, all of the dancers get to experience that special feeling under the spotlight for at least a few minutes. To some students, this is what dancing is all about: sharing their love for dance with the audience!

The Academy student dancers are continuing to rehearse for the Spring Performance and they hope to see all of their family and friends in the audience on the weekend of June 4. There will be five performances that weekend!

2010-05-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

BalletMet: Pre-Professional Students, Faculty, and the YAGP

Two of BalletMet's Pre-Professional students, Elizabeth Stack and Sofia Saari, placed in the top 20 dancers at the Youth of America Grand Prix (YAGP) Senior Division in March. The YAGP is an international student ballet and contemporary dance scholarship competition that is open to dancers ages nine to nineteen. How did these BalletMet students prepare for this competition? Who at BalletMet helped them? Glad you asked!

Susan Dromisky, one of BalletMet's full-time ballet teachers, assisted the dancers in training for the competition. Susan began dancing at age six, but her dance story is unlike that of most dancers. She describes her entrance into the dance world as a "fluke." Although dance was something that she fell into, Susan truly excelled in it. She fell in love with the hard work, sweat, and striving nature of ballet. With her years of experience and knowledge of dance, Susan was a great asset to the dancers as they geared up for the YAGP.

"The students have only a minute to present themselves and all the skills they have accumulated up until that point to the judges, " says Susan. Therefore, it is important that the dancers are prepared and at their best the day of competition. Competitions require extra work from both BalletMet students and staff. The number of hours devoted to preparing for the competition depends on both the competition and the student competing. BalletMet faculty and dancers must squeeze in extra practice around scheduled classes. The students are also responsible for working on their pieces individually.

Dance competitors are asked to chose two pieces from a repertoire list distributed by the specific competition. BalletMet's Artistic Director and Faculty then collaborate to pick which pieces from the list will be performed. Elizabeth Stack danced two classical variations at the YAGP, The Sleeping Beauty and Walpurgis Nacht. When asked about her performance, Elizabeth explained that BalletMet was the first dance academy she has been a part of that has paid special attention to artistic expression. She attributes much of her personal improvement over the past year to this. Elizabeth has been dancing since she was four years old and watched The Nutcracker on PBS with her mother. As part of her training as a dancer, Elizabeth values the knowledge and experience that she has gained through competitions such as the YAGP.

Susan Dromisky sees the goal of BalletMet's Faculty as assisting the students in becoming well-rounded dancers. In addition to the day-to-day instruction dancers receive at BalletMet's Dance Academy, preparing for competitions and being evaluated by judges is just another way that BalletMet pushes its dancers to excel.

All of BalletMet's Pre-Professional students, along with academy students ages seven and up, will be dancing at the year-end performances in the beginning of June. These performances will show family and friends what BalletMet student dancers have learned the past year through both academic instruction and involvement in competitions.

2010-05-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

BalletMet: Using Momentum to Build Momentum in Children's Lives

You may already associate BalletMet with our professional company and our instructional dance academy, but did you know that BalletMet is very active in the Columbus community through educational dance programs in local schools?

Momentum is a part of BalletMet's DanceReach Residencies. Through the Momentum Program, students engage in music, movement, and choreography in order to build confidence, excellence, and discipline. Classes are held weekly for students in grades third through fifth in seven different Columbus and Hilliard elementary schools during the school year. The students have two performances. One is in their school's gymnasium mid-year whereas the year-end performance is at the Capitol Theatre downtown.

Approximately 400 students, who have been preparing since late September with the help of Momentum administrator Monica Kridler, dance teachers and accompanists, will present their hard work at their year-end performance on May 26th. This year's production has a health and fitness theme and was inspired by The Wizard of Oz. The main concepts are eating right, staying active and sleeping well in order to be fit for life. In the show, Dorothy has become a lazy couch potato. With the help of the students, she learns what it takes to live a healthy life.

I visited Weinland Park Elementary to watch as a group of third graders polished up their dance for the production. All 400 students will dance to the opening song as well as the finale. The show is comprised of dances which showcase each individual school. Weinland students will be dancing to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which demonstrates the importance of sleep to a healthy lifestyle.

The energetic students started their class with warm-up exercises that consisted of clapping, stomping, and stretching. Janine, the students' Momentum dance teacher, instructed students to mimic her movements and follow her commands. The kids seemed to really enjoy the exercises, which are not only a good way to warm up but also a good way to practice movements that are in the dance.

Children, who otherwise might not have the opportunity, are gaining access to dance and music through Momentum and similar BalletMet educational programs. Not only that, but these students are learning discipline and excellence through dance. The mission of BalletMet's Education and Community Programs is to provide quality dance experiences that are informative, inspirational, and accessible so that the entire community may appreciate and enjoy the art of dance.

BalletMet Momentum participants are working hard and getting excited to perform for friends, family and community leaders on May 26th.

2010-04-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

The Costume Shop: Stitching the Show Together

American Legends's first weekend was a success! I attended the matinee performance this past Sunday. Can you say amazing?! Not only was the choreography unique to each musical artist being paid tribute, but the costumes for each section were distinctly unique as well.

Costume Shop Manager Rebecca Turk and her staff are responsible for producing the extraordinary costumes seen on stage. Rebecca collaborated with Maurice Hines and Darrell Grand Moultrie in designing the costumes for Wonderful! and Simply Sammy. Jim Searle designed the costumes for The Man in Black.

Rebecca was kind enough to take a break from sewing to share with us what the costume shop and its staff do to prepare for the show.

Time + Fabric + Sweat = . . .

The costume shop has four full-time employees: a manager, an assistant manager, a lead technician, and a lead apprentice. Also working in the shop is an intern who, along with two staffers, is backstage during the run of every show.

The shop put in over 1640 hours of labor to get ready for American Legends. That is over 68 days spent sewing and designing!

How do these costumers stay motivated to get the work done? "We listen to mostly fast-paced music in the shop to keep us moving," says Rebecca. They had to be moving because over 140 pieces were needed for the show, 90% of which were made from scratch!

Not only were tutus sewn and suit tails pressed, but different shoes had to be purchased to outfit the dancers for each number. Eight pairs of cowboy boots were purchased for The Man in Black and over 20 pairs of ballroom shoes were bought for Simply Sammy.

What would a BalletMet costume be without some spandex? It would probably be a very bad idea, that's what! That is why over 50 yards of spandex were used in creating the costumes for the show.

Thank goodness for the costumers! Without them and their hard work, the show would not look the same!

Don't worry if you didn't get a chance to see American Legends last weekend because there are still two more shows (4/30 and 5/1)! Buy your tickets ASAP because they are going fast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVIE!!!

2010-04-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

Not only is Stevie Wonder's 60th birthday quickly approaching, but tonight is OPENING NIGHT for BalletMet's production of American Legends!

What better way to celebrate the musical icon's birthday than through acclaimed choreographer, Maurice Hines's interpretation of some of Stevie's most well-known songs in American Legends.

In honor of opening night, I have found some fun facts about not only the birthday boy, but about Johnny Cash and Sammy Davis, Jr. as well, who are also being paid tribute in the show.

Johnny Cash performed at the Ohio State Fair in 1981.

Both Johnny Cash and Sammy Davis, Jr. had variety shows on TV, The Johnny Cash Show and The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show.

Stevie Wonder was a guest on The Johnny Cash Show in 1970 on the same day that Sammy Davis, Jr. married his third wife, Altovise Gore.

All three artists have received Kennedy Center honors: Sammy (1987), Johnny (1996), and Stevie (1999).

Stevie Wonder has been honored with 22 Grammy awards.

Johnny Cash has received 13 Grammy awards.

Sammy Davis, Jr. received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Reward in 2001.

Now you can "wow" your friends with your knowledge of the artists tonight while waiting for the curtain to go up for American Legends!

Eat a piece of cake for Stevie and I'll see you at the show!

And then they nursed it, rehearsed it and gave out the news...

2010-04-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

...that the southland gave birth to the blues!

Today I had the exciting experience of sitting in on today’s open rehearsal with renowned choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie, one of three choreographers for American Legends. Darrell choreographed a piece that pays tribute to the work of singer, tap dancer, actor, and musician Sammy Davis, Jr.

An energetic crowd of more than 90 people attended the free rehearsal in the BalletMet performance space. The audience clapped along and gave the dancers several standing ovations through out the hour.

During the rehearsal, Darrell filled in for the tap dancer, who will be Marshall L. Davis Jr.

Love Me or Leave Me, a duet performed by Adrienne Benz and the hoofer (tapper), was performed at the rehearsal. The piece is full of vitality and everything fun. Adrienne and Darrell danced with an adorable chemistry.

I was surprised when watching Adrienne because she moved with such ease through the jazz jumps, leaps, and turns. I wouldn’t know from watching just this that she was a ballet dancer; she looked like she belonged on Broadway. Darrell announced later that she learned the piece in just one hour and that when she danced it for the first time with Marshall that it looked like they had known each other for years.

Another piece rehearsed was Birth of the Blues, which has several couples dancing together. It has amazing lifts and switching up of partners. The best way of describing this piece is that it’s gooey and hot like a chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven. (I’m not just saying that because I’m on a diet!) It ends with the men spinning the women like tops on their backs on the floor. I really want to learn how to do that!

Darrell took several questions from the lively audience through out the rehearsal. Many were wondering about his choreography process.

“For me, it’s the music.” Darrell said. “I listen to music over and over again and try to visualize something. I wonder how I can keep it interesting. I try to make each dance its own world.”

Darrell explained how when he gives dancers solos he has them take the music home and listen to it on repeat so they can learn to know it like the back of their hands. When he choreographs, he knows every ping, hum, and tick in his music.

One question from an audience member was, “Who chose that the women dance in those heels?” Someone else from the audience yelled out, “a man!”

Darrell said that the costumes were too fabulous to be worn with flats.

“It’s so hard, but these girls treat them like they’re sneakers,” Darrell said.

Special training for contemporary ballet

2010-03-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Midsummer and Carmina illustrate the differences between classical and contemporary ballet. Sometimes it’s as if they’re two entirely different art forms, requiring different artistic and athletic abilities.

Dancers must train very differently for both genres as to perform to the best of their abilities and to prevent injuries.

Hope Davis from Ohio State’s Sports Medicine's Program for Performing Arts Medicine is the head athletic trainer at BalletMet. She’s onsite everyday for injury checks, onsite treatments and formal physical therapy as well as launching injury prevention and educational programs.

“Carmina Burana and Coming into View are very athletic, aerobic, and cardiovascular demanding,” Hope said. “The movement quality is also unusual and doesn’t follow typical ballet training, especially with lifting.”

Hope prepared dancers for these pieces by giving them special exercises to prevent injuries. The male dancers did lower back and core strengthening exercises, while the female dancers received neck and shoulder strengthening.

Men were given exercises such as transverse abdominus work outs to prevent injuries from lifting the women from their trunks and without their legs, which is uncharacteristic of typical ballet. Women were given arm and shoulder exercises should as scapula push-ups for postural stabilization to help them with their unique lifts where they take a lot of weight and pressure on their shoulders.

Company dancers were also given self-release techniques to help keep their muscles from getting too tight, especially those not used as much in traditional ballet. Hope also educated the dancers on the importance of hydration as well as muscle recovery and cross training.

What amazes me is the lengths that BalletMet’s dancers are willing to go to perform various dancing roles to the best of their abilities. Not only did BalletMet’s company dancers rehearse the pieces extensively and take a variety of dance technique classes, they also completed extra exercises on top of that. Way to go company dancers! And thank you Hope for educating and taking care of our dancers!

How to become a professional dancer

2010-03-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

The lights go up and the curtain draws. A perfect ballerina appears on the stage and moves about effortlessly with a gleaming smile. She goes up on her toes, moves her feet quickly, runs, and then jumps high off the ground almost as if she’s a puppet attached to a string.

Little did you know that that’s actually: plié, sous-sus, bourrée, tombé, pas de bourrée, glissade, grand jeté... and that’s just the feet.

As you probably already know, dancing is a skill that takes a lot of time and hard work to develop. Many dream of being professional dancers, but few go the distance and make the cut. As a dance viewer or a dancer yourself, you might be wondering: what does it take to be the one on that stage?

One teenager's dream to become a pro...

BalletMet pre-professional student Christopher Evans has hopes to become a professional dancer in a European dance company.

The 15-year-old knew he wanted to start dancing when he saw Baryshnikov in the Nutracker.

“He was doing all these cool jumps and turns,” Chris said. “I turned to my mom and told her that I wanted to dance.”

Chris’s typical day begins at with a Cota bus ride from Delaware to downtown Columbus at 6:30 a.m. He then spends time at a local coffee shop to wait until BalletMet opens at 8:30 a.m. He fits in his home schooling between classes, which have him dancing for at least three hours a day.

All of Chris’s long days paid off when he placed at an International Ballet Competition, Prix de Lousanne this January.

Starting this August, Chris will be spending one year in The Hamburg Ballet school in Germany.

Young company dancers following their dreams…

Some of BalletMet’s newest and youngest company dancers Kerri Riccardi and Samantha Lewis tell their stories about following and living their dreams to dance.

Kerri, 20, from New York has been dancing since she was three years old and made the wish to be a dancer when she blew out the candles on her 5-year-old birthday cake. (I guess now that she’s a pro, she can share the wish secret!)

Kerri traveled into NYC to dance during high school and became a trainee at BalletMet last year and stayed on this year.

“Dancing professionally is a lot more dancing than in high school and involves constant performing,” Kerri said. “Before we’re done with one show, we’re on to the next. You must train your mind and body to learn a variety of pieces.”

Samantha, 21, has been dancing since she was four years old and trained in BalletMet’s pre-professional program for four years in high school before making it into the company.

In high school, Samantha wanted to quit dancing to do cheerleading, but didn’t because of encouragement from her parents who believed that dance was teaching her self-discipline and time management skills. Her senior year, she left school early to come to BalletMet to take classes.

The audition process…

To understand what the audition process is like, Kerri says that you should watch the movie, A Chorus Line.

“It’s very intimidating standing in a room with 200 girls and 50 or 60 guys," Kerri said. “You wonder, how am I going to stand out?”

When attending an audition, you must bring a resume, headshot, and body shot.

“You spend hours and hours looking at every detail only for them to maybe throw it away,” Samantha said.

Auditions start with a ballet class and they cut people as you progress. If you make it to the end, you’re lucky, Samantha said.

Auditions can be positive and negative experiences.

“The worst feeling is when a director isn’t looking at you,” Samantha said. “That’s really frustrating.”

Samantha once auditioned in a room where the fire code was 40, but there were 250 dancers. The director eliminated several dancers at the very beginning by having them show their tendue. (That's a very simple step where you point your foot.)

Kerri had an audition that began with a simple walk across the floor so the directors could quickly eliminate dancers.

“Be yourself because that’s the most comfortable and will shine through when you’re auditioning,” Kerri said. “Also try to find the right company for you.”

Kerri auditioned for 22 companies and got two offers.

“Rejection happens and is part of this career," Kerri said. "Just keep on going."

Challenges once they’ve “made it”…

Both dancers expressed that there are still many challenges once you become a professional.

“Fitting in” can be a challenge when you’re the new kid on the block and everyone else has been here for several years, Kerri said.

Seniority and hierarchy present a challenge because “there’s a way things have always been and people don’t like to break the mold,” Samantha said.

Socially it’s difficult to meet new people because of not living the typical college life, Samantha said.

Working on multiple dances at once also presents challenges for the young dancers, who sometimes feel under-rehearsed the week before a show.

“As professionals, it’s our job to pull it all together,” Kerri said.

Aspirations for the future…

Kerri is currently a student at Columbus State Community College (our neighbor) studying to become an elementary school teacher, which will involve getting her master’s degree. In the coming years, she hopes to mature as an artist as well as dabble in choreography.

Samantha believes that she’s grown tremendously as an artist and dancer in the past few years and hopes to continue to grow, while exploring different styles of dance.

The dancers expressed concerns about how long their dance careers will last.

“It can be short and it’s daunting at times,” Samantha said. “The key is to enjoy every moment.”

Career length is a concern for many dancers who want to become professionals. BalletMet’s oldest company dancers are in their mid-thirties.

Advice for youngsters who want a career in dance…

Kerri:
-Never give up on your dream and work hard.
-Make the most of every opportunity and stay true to who you are.
-Remember that this is what you love to do.

Samantha:
-Don’t get jaded. Always work your hardest.
-Know that even the best are trying to get better.
-No matter how many parts, awards, or scholarships you get, always keep trying.
-Make it a rule to never miss class.
-Try all different kinds of dance and be open-minded.

Tips from Susan Brooker, BalletMet Academy Director
-Stand back and take an honest look at yourself and your abilities.
-Go to as many dance performances of different forms as possible. As you widen your experience you widen your choices and opportunities.
-Speak with your parents about your desire to make dance your career. You will need their support through the years of training.
-Ask a trusted dance teacher's opinion and advice or that of a dance professional. An honest assessment of your potential can help you make the best choices as a student and potential professional.
-Find as much information as possible on the most appropriate training method for your chosen form of dance. Intensive Training, Pre-Professional programs, College Programs, Traineeships, or apprenticeships are examples of programs of study.
-Research dance companies, the sort of dance the company director hires, the repertoire style and quality of the company.
-Be true to yourself. You will be required to study up to six days a week, many hours a day. You have to love your art form and all the hard work involved in arriving at your goal.
-Enjoy your dancing and stay positive. There will be times when you fly forward with your work and times when you will seem to go nowhere. Intelligent hard work always pays off!

Carmina Burana As Seen In...

2010-03-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight is opening night for Carmina Burana, which runs from March 5 to March 13. Carmina's contemporary choreography and musical stylings set it apart from more classical ballet pieces.

Fabulous, Inovative Choreography...

Choreographer Dwight Rhoden, a Dayton native, is widely known as "a dancer's choreographer." Rhoden has worked with, coached and created for some of the most diverse artists spanning the worlds of ballet and contemporary dance. He has directed and choreographed for TV, film, theater and live performances including So You Think You Can Dance, E! Entertainment's Tribute to Style and Cirque Du Soleil. He has also worked with such high-profile artists as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkson and Patrick Swayze.

Check out this video of Rhoden’s choreography on Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance. This piece, performed to Michael Buble’s At This Moment left the judges almost speechless. Adam praised the dancers and choreography and stressed the importance of live dance performance.

This video of a rehearsal of Rhoden's Othelo that the North Carolina Dance Theatre premiered in 2009 demonstrates his unique and innovative style and his use of powerful, obscure music.

Speaking of music...

Carmina's music, composed by Carl Orff is especially famous for O’Fortuna, which is seen widely in pop culture. O’Fortuna made its movie debut in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur and since has been used for dramatic effect in many movies, musical works, television shows and commercials. It is considered to be an unknown-but-known work. See if you recognize it in these commercials: Carlton Draught "Its a Big Add" Commercial and Gatorade's Celebrity Sports Ad.

Make sure to purchase your tickets!

A dancer's perspective...

Zoica Tovar, first year BalletMet dancer says that the choreography is very unique and challenging. (The marketing interns would like to make it known that Zoica is totally adorable and that we love her!)

“The movements are so fast, and every piece of music is different than the other,” Zoica said.
The greatest challenge for Zoica has been remembering the sequence of the steps and the musicality.

Zoica's favorite parts of Carmina are The Tavern and the bench duets. (To understand what that means, you'll have to see the show!)

The training for Carmina has been grueling. BalletMet's dancers have been working on the piece for a month and for the last two weeks have worked on it for up to 6 hours a day.

Channel Your Inner-Rockstar!

2010-02-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

It’s the opening night for your new tour. You’re standing on stage with jitters in your stomach with a microphone inches away from your lips. The curtains draw and beaming light warms your face and blinds your eyes as thousands of people begin to cheer and scream your name. Now close your eyes and take it all in…

Now open your eyes! What rockstar are you?

I performed this exercise and the vision was clear. I am Christina Aguilera. I suppose she's more of a diva-singer-songwriter-pop-icon-extraordinaire, but that falls under the “rockstar” category, right? Christina's Jeanie in a Bottle was my first CD (in the fifth grade!) and ever since “Reflection” from Mulan, I was sold on her for life.

Wouldn’t it be great to live the rockstar life? (Even if only for one night!) BalletMet has a fantastic opportunity for you. We like to say it’s comparable to a Grammy’s after party because all the big stars will be there, hopefully including you!

This Saturday night, Feb. 27 is BalletMet's DANCE WITH THE DANCERS TOUR 2010 at the Lifestyles Community Pavilian. It's a night of amazing food, drinks, auctions, BalletMet's dancers, surprises, and most importantly we’re rolling out the red carpet for you: Lady GaGa, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, or whoever you may be.

“This might just be the best people watching experience of the year,” Barbara Markus, BalletMet's Assistant Development Director and party-planning-mastermind said. She's heard rumors that Beyonce, Jay-Z, Cher, and a few Madonnas will be in attendance.

A special feature of the night is the DJ, Mark Dantzer from Mix 107.9. Despite changing the location of the event every year, which Barbara said is a big party-planning no-no, Mark has always been there to be “the voice of the event.”

Only having a minimal budget, BalletMet relies on dedicated co-chairs, including Stacy Lily, Ashley Curl, and Elisa McCurdy to do the planning. Many businesses also make this sixth annual dance party both possible and successful.

More than $15 thousand in food was donated by local good-eats including: Made From Scratch, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, Old Bag of Nails, Jeni's Ice Cream, Eggfast, Rusty Bucket, Bakery Gringham, and Spinelli's Deli.

To top that, the valued $50 thousand of auction items, ranging from dream vacations, gift cards, behind-the-scenes tours, tickets, and more, are 100 percent donated. Bid online now.

BalletMet expects 350 star guests and the funds raised support us in a variety of ways, from paying the water bill, to paying staff and dancers, and to supporting outreach and educational programs, Barbara said.

“It’s not sexy, but it’s what we have to do,” Barbara said. “What’s great is that it’s an opportunity for individuals to really make a difference.”

BalletMet is very grateful for our donors and party-goers that are willing to step up for a good cause, Barbara said.

Click here to order your event tickets.

Our sponsors for the event include: Hamilton Capital Management, AEP, Chaddock and Associates, Columbus Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, Ernst & Young, and State Auto.

Thoughts on Temporal and Midsummer

2010-02-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

Temporal defined: not eternal; of or relating to the physical world.

The title Temporal matches the piece of work perfectly. Temporal opens with drums like heartbeats permeating through my veins and beating on my soul. My eyes pull toward the glowing moon hovering over the gold, glistening natives, who don’t know I’m watching from above the clouds. The sky and the earth meet right before my eyes.

One word: hot. A mix of sizzling red, orange, and yellow light glows from the ground. Beads of sweat drip from their faces and sleek bodies. Their fiery stares and sensual partnering leaves you wanting more.

They swivel like praying mantises waiting to strike. They lunge like primates pressing into the earth. They circle like aborigines in a ritual, tribal dance celebrating life. They intertwine like lovers, passionate for one another.

Their sizzling vigor, impeccable technique, and incredible extensions leave me in awe. The 30-minute piece shifts from place to place. I can’t tell if I’m in Africa, Asia, or the Middle-East, which reflects the multi-cultural dance training of Ma Cong, the choreographer, who somehow merges it all together. It amazes me that they’re wearing pointe shoes with their shifting of weight and off balance moves.

In-tune with physicality and the earthy world, the night takes a sharp transition into a polar-opposite work, Midsummer, which lives in the realm of fantasy.

Unlike Temporal which is very contemporary, Midsummer is the epitome of a classical ballet. Strict gender roles, theatrical elements, and storyline with specific characters make the pieces very different. (It definitely shows off the versatility of our dancers!)

I’m very drawn into the storyline, which is surprising because of my lacking knowledge of Shakespeare. (Sorry British literature enthusiasts and my high school English teacher!)

Puck is making me laugh somewhat embarrassingly loud. His veracity and unrelenting energy reminds me of a 5-year-old boy who drank a gallon of mountain dew. The two couples’ struggles are quite complicated and entertaining. Titiana really shines along with her crew of beautiful fairies in shimmering attire. Oberon's attitude gives me a real sense of his personality.

Overall, the piece was magnificent and brilliantly done and even my date, a non-dancer, wanted to go and see it again. I would highly recommend braving the snow to come see this show. You won’t regret it! I ensure your valentine will enjoy it as well! ;)

Click here to purchase tickets.

Happy Valentine's Day from BalletMet!

Midsummer for Dummies 101

2010-02-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

I’m going to start this post off by sharing a little secret… (Drum Roll) I didn’t pay any attention to Shakespeare whatsoever in high school.

If this sounds like you, definitely keep reading. We’re in the same boat.

If you were a teacher’s pet and absolutely adored Shakespeare then also keep reading to laugh at my expense and to give you a little refresher on the barebones of the story. (Although I’m sure you don’t need it…)

So back to me: My experience with Shakespeare went a little like this…

Interaction 1:
In middle school, theatre was what all the cool kids did and I wasn’t a “cool” kid (apparently). They did A Midsummer Night’s Dream and they were intolerably proud of themselves, so I went to the show with high expectations. It certainly was a comedy, but not in the way it was intended. Do I remember the funny story? No. Do I remember everyone in tights and fairy costumes blabbering in bad English accents? Yes. I wish I’d taken pictures so I could put them up on Facebook.

Interaction 2:
I didn’t come back in contact with Shakespeare until high school. By then, I’d realized that sparknotes.com was my friend, so reading it really wasn’t a requirement, but more like a suggestion. My thoughts about Macbeth obviously had no impression on me whatsoever.

Interaction 3:
During the next year of high school I realized that sonnets are actually pretty cool. Even if half of the words are no longer or never were in the English language, I still appreciated it.

Interaction 4:
Now senior year is what really left a bad taste in my mouth with Shakespeare. My closest experience to Shakespeare was “acting out” Julius Caesar in my theatre class. Mind you, I didn’t sign up for this class and I was severely intimidated by my teacher. I got in trouble for stumbling over words. I got in trouble for pausing too long. I got in trouble for pretty much about everything in that class, especially being late, but that’s not really Shakespeare related. Anyway, one day, my character had to stab Caesar. I’m not a really “stab Caesar” kind of person and of course, I wasn’t doing it right. After failing to stab Caesar properly, I kind of gave up on Shakespeare.

BUT – I’m making an exception for Midsummer and if you’re not the biggest Shakespeare fan, so should you!

The Story:
Here’s a short intro to the story in 21st century layman’s terms.

The main plot follows two sets of couples (Hermia & Lysander and Helena & Demetrius), who have difficult love affairs. Their romances are further complicated after entering the enchanted forest where Oberon, King of the Fairies and his Queen, Titania live among the fairies. Oberon’s servant named Puck is an ornery kid playing tricks on everyone and he’s a main character in the story. Other visitors to the forest include Bottom and some of his friends who want to rehearse their play Pyramus and Thisbe.

It’s a complex story of love where reality crosses into the out-of-control world of fantasy. In the end, true love triumphs…

To learn more, you’ll have to come see the show. Now that you have this basis, you shouldn’t be too lost in following the story.

Midsummer Fun Facts:
-A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written and performed between the years 1595 and 1600.

-The setting for the comedy is in Athens, Greece.

-Midsummer in England was June 24, which was the feast of John the Baptist. It was alleged
that on Midsummer night all the fairies and witches held their festival.

-The number of spoken words in the play is 17,200. (Luckily, remember, this is a dance show, so we don’t have to hear all those!)

In Elizabethan times, boys and men played all the parts in Shakespeare’s plays.

Food for Thought:
(Or more like quotes for thought)

“The course of true love never did run smooth”
–Lysander tells Hermia that true love is never perfect and that all lovers have troubles.

“I’ll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes.”
-Puck tells how fast he went to fetch the magical flower.

“My heart is true as steel”
-Helena explains her feelings for Demetrious.

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!"
-Puck comments on the trials and tribulations of Helena, Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius.

“My Oberon! What visions have I seen! Methought I was enamoured of an ass.”
-Titania’s first words after she awakes from her love-charm.

I'm seeing the show tonight! I hope to see you there.

A Time to Dance

2010-02-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

BalletMet collaborated with Ministry in Motion Ohio Worship Arts, a Columbus community-based worship and performing arts organization to host a liturgical dance workshop and showcase open to the community this past weekend.

The 51 participants were a diverse group with different levels of dance experience with varying denominations. There was a melting-pot of ethnicities and ages with dancers as young as 13 and as old as in their 70s. (It’s definitely my new aspiration in life to be still dancing when I’m in my 70s!)

The day began for participants with a morning devotion and prayer. Following this was a variety of dance classes: modern taught by BalletMet instructor Maria Glimcher, ballet taught by BalletMet’s Katy Tombaugh Henn, jazz taught by Mariah Layne French from XClaim Dance, a local faith-based dance company, flag worship taught by Rochelle Pitts from God’s Glory Dance Ministry, and finally a choreography class taught by BalletMet’s Director of Education, Ambre Emory-Maier.

Ambre, who coordinated the event, described the workshop atmosphere as “uplifting and positive.” The participants were eager to learn and to be in the company of other like-minded people who love to dance, she said.

After the day’s work, the participants prepared for their time to take the stage in the evening’s showcase in the BalletMet performance space, where Ambre was stage and production manager.

The proceeds from the showcase, which totaled to $277, were “love donations” from the audience. These funds were donated to the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus for Haiti aid.

In all there were 9 dances with varied music from contemporary rock, gospel, classical, Latin-inspired, and even a live, original song. The costumes were of simple, conservative dress with an emphasis on the color, which hold important religious and spiritual meanings.

A special feature of the performance was a pas de deux performed by BalletMet trainees Monica Giragosian and Emelio Lugo. The piece entitled Bach Cantata #10 was choreographed by Michael Uthoff, Artistic and Executive Director of Dance St. Louis.

This is BalletMet’s third year hosting this event and it’s an event that Ambre looks forward to every year because of the community outreach. Often, liturgical dancers never get the opportunity to dance in a large space with mirrors and perform on a stage, she said.

“We see a need within the community that we’re trying to meet,” she said. “By offering our facility and dance expertise participants begin to know BalletMet. By doing this type of program we’re not making a statement about religion, but rather building a partnership for which all can learn.”

Ministry in Motion’s founder Lorii Williams Wallace describes the workshop as a “wonderful partnership” that fosters both personal growth and fellowship with others. It’s a great opportunity for members of the community to get dance training from professional dancers, she said.

After dancing for many years Lorii started Ministry in Motion to use dance as a means to “unite people, to heal, to develop others, and to create wonderful visions by bringing the words in the Bible to life.” Since then, the organization has worked with over 100 churches, dance companies, and organizations.

Click here to learn more about Ministry in Motion's upcoming events and how to get involved.

A Tutu for Me Too?! Thanks!

2010-01-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

Today is day three as BalletMet’s new marketing intern. Day one I showed off my superior sorting skills in the box office. Day two I practiced my rockin’ bundling abilities with flyers, sat in on an awesome Columbus Dispatch photo shoot, and got a tour of this amazing facility. Today has been deemed “start our fantastic blog again day” and I’m elated to be taking the reins!

A little bit about me… My name is Nicole and I’m a junior at The Ohio State University. I’m a strategic communication major with a minor in dance. At the age of three, my mom put me in my first dance class. Seventeen years later, I still haven’t left and I never plan on leaving. I know that dance will always hold an important place in my life, whether it’s through teaching, performing, creating, promoting, or viewing.

Growing up in the Columbus area, I’ve been a lifer of The Nutcracker. The holiday season isn’t complete without the annual escapade downtown to the Ohio Theatre. I’m so excited to learn more about what BalletMet’s academy and company does in the community, behind the scenes, and on the stage. I hope you are too!

This blog will keep you up to date on BalletMet events, while also providing a special sneak peak of everything that goes into them! I’ll be interviewing our celebrities, aka our dancers. I’ll be posting tons of pictures, videos, and backstage info about how the magic happens here at BalletMet.

I look forward to taking this journey with you! Check back frequently!

That being said – the 2009-2010 BalletMet season continues on Friday, Feb. 5 with the enchanted A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Capitol Theatre.

(Hint: This might be a fantastic Valentine’s Day date idea! Midsummer will surely put the love in the air!)

Get your tickets here: http://www.balletmet.org/tickets.php

Stay tuned...

2009-12-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

First, let's congratulate our wonderful intern Courtney on graduating! We will miss her, and her great blog posts. We plan to continue the blog- we have so much we want to share! We just need to figure out a few things first, so please check back with us soon!

In the meantime- what are you dying to know about BalletMet, or dance in general? Send us your questions to balletmet@gmail.com

THE WRAP-UP!

2009-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

So this is it, the end of my amazing internship with BalletMet! I have truly enjoyed writing this blog and being a part of this organization; I am sad that my internship has come to an end.

Dance has always been a huge part of my life, so when I was given the chance to intern for BalletMet and be involved in the world of dance, I could not have been more excited! It was during my initial interview for the position that I was told what my main task of this internship would be; launch a blog for BalletMet Columbus.

Each week I have been able to experience and share with you a behind-the-scenes look at BalletMet! From interviewing the costume, education and production departments, to dressing up as the Nutcracker and standing on High Street, I've enjoyed it all!

Thank you to everyone who has kept up with the blog every week--I really enjoyed writing it!

I am truly grateful for being given the opportunity to be a part of BalletMet and this has been an experience I will never forget!

Bye! : )

DON'T FORGET!
**The Nutcracker begins this weekend at the Ohio Theatre and runs through December 23rd!

**And tickets are on sale now for the rest of the season!

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Carmina Burana, and American Legends!

Become swept up in the Christmas spirit with BalletMet's holiday classic The Nutcracker!

Photo by Will Shively

Happy Holidays!!