In this time of confinement, distancing and many health safety precautions it is difficult to know what the future of Ballet will be. Ballet is an art form that is passed down in person from generation to generation.
I reached out to a few of my friends in the professional ballet world from around the country to get their opinions and learn their plans for recovery.
AD of ABT, Kevin McKenzie teaching pas de deux-ABT William J.Gillespie School
I started with American Ballet Theatre (the national company for the US) and their official school, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York. My long time friend Kevin McKenzie (Director of ABT) has had to cancel ABT performances for an unknown length of time. Cynthia Harvey (the JKO School Director) told me that the school and NY University –Steinheardt Program changed to Zoom classes in mid-March and enlisted their National Training Curriculum experts to teach the ABT Company dancers the tools they need to become teachers. They plan to continue virtual classes until Phase Four of the Recovery Plan. Cynthia views this time with optimism: “ We know that uncertainty can lead us to new ways of creativity and will help us to better approach new challenges in the future.”
Alaine Haubert (Director ABT William J. Gillespie School in CA and Cynthia Harvey ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in NY
My good friend, Alaine Haubert, is the Director of the ABT William J. Gillespie School in Costa Mesa, California. That school is preparing for their end of the year recital on Zoom and will then close for the summer. Her feelings are similar to Cynthia’s regarding creativity and reopening in Phase Four. However Aliane’s school is housed in the Segerstrom Center For The Arts and therefore may not be allowed to open until the actual venue is able to open. Alaine said: “ I will be happy to be able to start classes again in the Fall in any form, virtual or live. “
Virginia Johnson, the Director of the Dance Theater of Harlem (and my best friend of over 50 years) like Alaine plans to open the DTH School when the NY public schools open in Phase Four. The DTH company had to cancel their NY season and have no firm date as to when they will be able to reschedule. The company dancers meet through Zoom and are helping to teach the DTH school online classes. Virginia said: “ I like to think that ballet connects us. It is one of those human experiences that lifts the spirit and makes you believe and gives you lightness in a dark world.”
The Washington School of Ballet is the school where I trained and the home of the Washington Ballet. The company postponed performances of Swan Lake until May of 2021. Their school classes are being held online, and they will hold their summer Ballet Intensives in June and July online. They do not have a definite date to reopen the school or the company.
The Yvonne Chouteau School is the school of the Oklahoma City Ballet. SNB has a collaborative relationship with the company through their Director, Robert Mills. OCB has had to cancel performances due to COVID 19, and the school is presenting classes online including two of their three summer ballet intensives in June and July. They are hopeful that they will be in Phase Four and able to reopen by the end of July.
My friend Lisa Slagle owns and directs one of the top ballet schools in the country in Coppell, Texas. They have been doing Zoom classes since mid March and plan to re-open in June in phases starting with the older students. They will begin with hybrid classes (some students attending in the studio and some attending online.) Parents will not be allowed inside, and strict rules will be in place regarding wearing masks in the lobby/bathroom areas and staying 6 feet apart at all times. Lisa told me: “ This year I celebrated being a studio owner for 20 years. I would say it has been the most challenging time I have ever experienced!”
Pas De Deux class-ABT William J. Gillespie School
I have been in ballet since birth and have taught ballet for 48 years. I have to agree that this has been a life changing experience. We have had to postpone all SNB (Spring and Summer) performances, and the SNB Academy has been presenting Zoom classes since mid March. The Company is meeting regularly for classes and rehearsals and will present a virtual performance in July for Artown, and the Academy will continue Zoom classes and present a virtual Summer Ballet Intensive and Ballet Summer Camp for young ones in July. Like most of the top ballet schools in the country (for safety reasons), the SNB Academy plans to survive this time and re-open in Phase Four of the Recovery Plan when the public schools in the area reopen.
Upper Level 1-ABT William J. Gillespie School
As my dear friend, Virginia Johnson, put it: “We WILL be back. We MUST!”
For information on the SNB Company and Academy visit www.sierranevadaballet.org.
Photos courtesy of ABT William J. Gillespie School
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.