This is an exciting time for our arts community and I am grateful and honored to be able to share it through the wonderful new collaboration we have established with PBS Reno.
The popular and well-known national dance organization, Regional Dance America, is headed to northern Nevada for the first time. RDA is holding its inaugural 2022 Pacific Festival at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino on April 1 and 2 and is inviting dancers from all over the Pacific Region to come to Reno.
I first attended an RDA (then called the National Association of Regional Ballet) Festival when I was still a student dancer and it had such a great impact on me that I can still remember it after having a 28-year professional ballet career, performing throughout the United States and Europe, and teaching ballet for more than 50 years. RDA taught me about professional ballet life and about the joy of sharing the art of dance with others.
I have had the honor of both teaching and adjudicating for RDA since 2004, and I find that I continue to be inspired by this fine organization and the amazing work that they do.
Regional Dance America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit national organization that provides performance and educational opportunities for pre-professional dancers (ages 12 to 18) and audiences throughout all American communities. RDA brings together member dance companies in diverse geographic regions for on-site and virtual events, master classes, workshops, and high-caliber performances.
Each year, RDA member companies gather in their regions for non-competitive dance festivals. More than 1,500 dancers from 60 regional companies, 300 parents, 100 artistic directors, and staff members, and nearly 100 faculty members and musicians attend the annual festivals.
RDA’s inaugural 2022 Pacific Festival will offer young dancers the opportunity to experience master classes led by world-renowned teachers, to take part in dance-complimentary seminars and workshops, and to attend evening performances by companies and schools from throughout the Pacific area. Dancer participants are seen by college and professional training program recruiters and may audition for awards and scholarships, including the 2022 SNB Summer Traineeship Award.
Participating performing groups have been invited to present a piece in the April 1st performance. The April 2nd performance has been pre-adjudicated by one of RDA’s world-class adjudicators, and it will showcase the non-profit performing companies of the new RDA/Pacific Region.
Broadway dancer and master teacher Adam Cates, who serves on the RDA Festival teaching staff, is very excited about this opportunity for our community and feels that dancers, teachers, and audiences are fortunate to have this opportunity.
“RDA Festivals are celebrations of dance in ways that today’s typical dance events are not,” said Cates. “The vibe is collaborative, friendly, and more about art creation than about profit from entry fees. At RDA, I am introduced to some exceptional choreographers and surrounded by leaders of midsize regional dance companies from across the United States who value the opportunities RDA festivals provide students as well as the networking that benefits their companies,” said Cates. “I’m so inspired by RDA and excited that they chose Reno as the site of their new Pacific Festival. Our community should not miss this opportunity offered in our own backyard.”
We at Sierra Nevada Ballet agree! SNB is a professional company of dancers, most of whom are over 18 years of age. While SNB is not eligible to be part of RDA, several of the dancers have volunteered to assist at the festival and a number of students from the SNB Academy will attend the masterclasses and seminars, and see the wonderful performances in the evenings. SNB company pianist, Jayson Weir, will accompany some of the Festival Masterclasses, along with SNB Academy students Dafne D’Olympio and Annika Johnson.
“I played for RDA many years ago, and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work with this fine organization again,” said Weir.
“I am excited to represent the SNBA at this festival,” said D’Olympio.
“This is such a great opportunity for all of us and I love the fact that I get to go,” said Johnson.
SNB Associate Artistic Director, Ananda Bena-Weber, will be one of the master teachers at the RDA Festival. “RDA is a quality arts organization and I am honored to have been invited to be part of the teaching staff,” said Bena-Weber. “RDA nurtures and provides opportunities for emerging dancers and choreographers as well as for seasoned directors, master teachers and choreographers. I am looking forward to this brand new RDA Festival in Ren.”
The fabulous PBS Reno program ARTEFFECTS will feature the RDA Pacific Festival on Sunday, May 22, 2022, at 6:30 pm on PBS Reno Channel 5.1 and Spectrum channel 785.
For more information about the RDA Festival visit, regionaldanceamerica.org/pacific
For more information about Sierra Nevada Ballet and Sierra Nevada Ballet Academy, visit www.sierranevadaballet.org or call 775-360-8663.
This article was originally published on April 1, 2022 by PBS Reno.
Alexander Cain Biber (Principal Dancer/ Ballet Master/ Choreographer in Residence/Teacher) grew up in a performing arts family and has loved theater and performing from an early age. He began his ballet training, at the age of 14, with Rosine Bena at Western Nevada Performing Arts Center – studying ballet, jazz, tap, and musical theater. In 2003, Alexander became an apprentice with Sierra Nevada Ballet and was promoted to the first company in 2006, to soloist in 2008, and to Principal in 2012.
Jennifer Lightfoot-Johnson (Grant Writer and Development Consultant) comes to SNB with 16 years of experience, both professionally and as a volunteer, in grant writing and working in the nonprofit sector.
Jennifer Boyle August (Guest Teacher/Choreographer) discovered her love of dance in Reno, Nev. During her time at Reno High School, Jennifer took a Modern class at TMCC, with instruction in Graham, Luigi, and Horton dance technique. While Jennifer was educated in other areas of dance, she felt these styles spoke to her more than anything else. After graduating from Reno High School, she moved to Boston to study dance with Joan Palladino at Dean College where she received her Associate’s Degree in Dance. She was then hand-selected by Judith Jamison to study at Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Intensive program in New York City.
Sara Weir (Demi Soloist) was born in Provo, Utah, and started ballet at age three. She trained in dance with Trisha Wilstead at Rocky Mountain Dance and then trained with Brittany Squires and Heather Gray at Jaquiline’s School of Ballet. She performed professionally with Showcase and Theater Ballet at Brigham Young University, Utah Regional Ballet, and Sacramento Ballet.
Carlee Bertero (Soloist/ Teacher) was born in northern Nevada and began studying dance at an early age at Fascinating Rhythm School of Performing Arts in Reno. Carlee was invited to join the Sierra Nevada Ballet Apprentice program in 2012; was raised to the first company in 2013; to featured corps member in 2016, to Demi-Soloist in 2017, and to Soloist in 2021. She has performed in many SNB story ballets such as Peanutcracker-The Story In A Nutshell, Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty-A Fairy’s Tale, A Midsummer Nights Dream- A Steam Punk Ballet, and Twelfth Night-A Ballet Noir. She has performed as a featured dancer with SNB annually in Dancing By The River as part of Reno’s Artown Festival and in SNB’s annual Brew Brats and Ballet in Reno and Carson City.
Domingo Rubio (Second Permanent Guest Artist/Guest Teacher) is SNB’s second Permanent Guest Artist as of May 2005. He has danced professionally for some 30 years. Domingo has danced with the Joffrey Ballet and Ballet Hispanico and was featured in the Robert Altman film, The Company. Rubio danced the role of Maxfield Parrish in SNB’s, A Painter’s Love Story and is a featured artist in SNB’s Dancing By the River and annual ballet classics.
Sam Weber (First Permanent Guest Artist/ Guest Teacher) is SNB’s first Permanent Guest Artist and is a founding member of the Company. He was one of the first permanent guest artists of The Reno Ballet under the direction of Rosine Bena. Weber danced with the Joffery Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, and The Jazz Tap Ensemble. Besides being a fine ballet dancer, Weber is considered one of the greatest tap dancers in the world. He is known as “the fastest feet in tap.”
Gina Nelson (SNB Company Coordinator for Carson City and SNB Board Member) is originally from Napa Valley, Calif., and a long-time supporter of the arts and arts education. Gina worked as a crisis prevention specialist in a day treatment elementary school and was a counselor/teacher in a non-public school for at-risk boys.
Steven M. Porter (SNB Board President/SNB CEO) is a long-time devotee of the arts. Originally from the East Coast, Steve was raised with love and devotion to all the arts.
Cathy Mercer (SNB Company Coordinator for Reno/Managing Director/Board Member) grew up in Carson City and is a former dancer with a long-time devotion to the art form.
Ananda Bena-Weber (Associate Director, Dance Artist/ Ballerina/Principal/Teacher) is a principal dancer and NY award-winning artist and the Associate Director of the Sierra Nevada Ballet and a founding member. She has danced professionally as a soloist with the Reno Ballet when it was formed in 1994/95 and 1996. She danced with Perspectives Dance Theatre and Fascinating Rhythm Productions. She has appeared as a featured soloist with Sam Weber performing in Morton Gould’s “Concerto for Tap Dancer and Orchestra” throughout the SF Bay Area. She has appeared in principal roles in several original dance works such as Take Me To The River and Blue Rondo, and classics such as Les Sylphides, Romeo and Juliet, and Paquita.
Rosine Bena (Founder and Artistic Director/Master Teacher)
Sophia Riella (Trainee) was born in Truckee, Calif. She started ballet at the age of two with Sherrie Petersen, Sierra Ballet School and continued there for six years while also studying Irish and Scottish Dance with Lindsey Marccaci in Lake Tahoe and at Truckee Dance Factory doing competition dance. She has also studied classical music, composing, and piano with Elaine Courtney and has studied voice with Stephanie McMoy.
Erin Garman (First Year Company) began dancing at the age of 12 at Scene Stealers Theatre Arts where she trained in jazz, tap, lyrical, musical theatre, and ballet. She later began training with Fascinating Rhythm School of Performing Arts where she continued training in many styles and at Sierra Nevada Ballet Academy where she first met Rosine Bena, and started getting more serious about ballet, also dancing with Spiral Ballet.
Maya Macias (Trainee) was born in Houston, Texas into a military family. While her family was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, at age two and a half years old, Maya began studying dance at the Children’s Ballet Theater because she wanted to go to “ballerina school. “ Maya continued her ballet training at Space Coast Ballet and when she was six years old, she began performing with Space Coast Ballet in the Nutcracker.
Olivia Mann (SNB Summer Demi Soloist) began studying at the age of four at Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, and the Dallas Ballet Center and later trained at Booker T. Washington for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Heather Rodriguez (Trainee) started dancing at nine years old in Corpus Christi, Texas. She continued studying Ballet, Contemporary, and Jazz throughout her childhood with Corpus Christi Concert Ballet.