This July marks Sierra Nevada Ballet’s 19th year of being a part of Reno’s Artown Festival. Thanks to Artown Executive Director Beth MacMillan and her dedication to the art form, every Tuesday night for the month of July dance has traditionally lit up the stage at Wingfield Park, and for 18 years SNB has performed on one of those Tuesday nights for over 2,000 people. SNB’s Dancing By The River program has become very popular with some visitors from other states planning their vacations around SNB’s Wingfield date.
This free SNB program is always different and features many styles of dance, top professional dance artists from all over the world, live music and song. This program costs SNB between $15,000 to $25,000 to produce. The funding generally comes from the E.L. Cord Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Nevada Arts Council, the City of Reno, the Carol Franc Buck Foundation and donations from individuals in the community.
This year due to COVID 19 things are very different. There are no large live performances at Wingfield Park, and there is no funding for performances. But there will be a virtual Artown Festival and SNB will be a part of it (online) presenting Dancing By The River – (Still Dancing!)
Artists are very special people, and I reached out to some of them, explaining our lack of funding. The response was amazing. Due to the generosity of many of our loyal artists, SNB will present an exciting, brand new virtual program featuring the very popular international tap star, Sam Weber; composer/musicians Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith; the wonderful international conductor/composer/musician/singer, Milton Williams; former Joffrey principal dancer, Domingo Rubio; SNB principal dancers: Ananda Bena-Weber, Erica Chipp, Oliver Adams, Karina Gonzalez (Houston Ballet), Alejandro Gonzales (Oklahoma City Ballet); SNB soloist, Carson Ford, and the full SNB company of professional dancers.
I never expected to actually enjoy creating a ballet online, but it has been both a challenge and a new creative experience. I have the honor of choreographing to the original music of African-American composer Milton Williams which begins with his beautiful song” I COULD DO ANYTHING” and goes into a moving pas de deux. Williams wrote this music over 30 years ago, but the subject matter is very appropriate for this time with social distancing, job loss, fear, isolation and social injustice. Milton explained: “Throughout my life fellow African-Americans would ask: ‘aren’t you angry at how you are treated in the world?’ My answer was a mantra which I kept repeating to myself : ‘I can do this.’ This song is my personal message.” After choreographing for almost 50 years, I am very excited to present my first original virtual ballet choreography to Milton’s music.
Another original piece on the program is by SNB’s Carson Ford to Ben Howard’s song, Keep Your Head Up. To prepare this piece, the SNB company met together (live) at various out door locations around the City, keeping social distancing and (at times) wearing masks. SNB had been meeting virtually on Zoom since mid March and the first time we all met in person was on June 17, 2020 at 11 AM at the McKinley Arts Center parking lot (thanks to Alexis Hill and the City of Reno). It was an amazingly moving experience. As I began to give the first warm up exercise to the group, we were filled with a joy that is impossible to describe. There was not a dry eye at McKinley that morning. The SNB company has enjoyed working on this piece together, and their spirit really translates through Ford’s choreography. He said: “I want to do something uplifting that helps all of us to (as the song says) keep our heads up during this time.”
This program has been a real act of love by all of the artists involved and will be presented in that spirit to our wonderful Reno community in a free virtual program. In addition SNB will present the 2012 production of Giselle that was part of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. Both SNB productions will be shown on the Artown website on July 14 through July 31 st .
These are very frightening times for all of us in the arts, and we can not help but ask ourselves: “will we survive this?” Each time those fears pop up, I find myself remembering the beautiful song of Milton Williams: “I could do anything ….I shall endure for I know that I can.”
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.