- Dayton Ballet
-
Dayton Ballet 
General Information Name Dayton Ballet Previous Names - Experimental Group for Young Dancers
- Dayton Theatre Dance Group
- Dayton Civic Ballet
Year Founded 1937 Founders - Josephine Schwarz
- Hermene Schwarz
Principal venue Victoria Theatre
Dayton, Ohio
USA
Website www.daytonballet.org Senior Staff Director Dermot Burke Artistic Staff Ballet Mistress Karen Russo Other Associate Schools - Dayton Ballet School
- Wright State University Dance Department-Dayton Ballet II Scholarship Program
Formation Company Dancer
Apprentice
TraineeThe Dayton Ballet is a professional ballet company located in Dayton, Ohio.[1]
It was founded in 1937, making it the second oldest regional ballet company in the United States. It is also called the "Company of Premieres" as it is committed to presenting new works, including a new full-length ballet every two years.[2] Dayton Ballet hosts a season of four performances that includes familiar traditional ballets, the classic family-friendly holiday staple The Nutcracker, as well as new and innovative works. Dayton Ballet's mission is "…to educate, enlighten and entertain the widest audience possible…with the very best in performance, outreach and community service."
The Dayton Ballet performs in two venues, the Victoria Theatre and the Schuster Center. The two venues host over 40 performances during the season.[3]
Operating under the leadership of Director Dermot Burke, Dayton Ballet has an artistic, educational, technical and administrative staff of 2 full-time and several part-time employees. Mr. Burke is supported by the Dayton Ballet Association Board of Trustees, composed of the Dayton area's most dedicated business leaders and community volunteers. This active 30-member Board of Trustees hosts several fundraising activities, including the annual Nutcracker Ball. In 2005 an Associate Board was established to introduce young professionals to the art of ballet.
Contents
History
The Early Years (1927–1980)
Dayton Ballet had its beginning when Josephine Schwarz and her sister Hermene opened The Schwarz School of Dance in 1927. "Miss Jo" later studied ballet and danced in Chicago, in New York at the School of American Ballet, and in Europe. She danced on broadway, but was forced to return home to Dayton after receiving an injury while performing. In May 1938, Miss Jo and Miss Hermene gathered together the school's finest dancers, named the troupe "The Experimental Group for Young Dancers," and staged a performance at the Dayton Art Institute. This was the first performance of what is now Dayton Ballet.
Miss Jo was a pioneer of the American regional ballet movement of the mid-20th century. Through years of persistence, she made Dayton a center of dance. In 1958, the company restructured as the Dayton Civic Ballet, with a board of directors, and federal tax-exempt status. In 1959, the Dayton Civic Ballet became a chartered member of the Northeast Regional Ballet Association. The Schwarz sisters trained and developed many professional dancers who went on to dance in New York, among many other places. The Schwarz sisters also organized many regional dance festivals and choreography conferences.[4] In 1978, the company dropped the "Civic" designation and became the fully professional Dayton Ballet.
1980–1990
Stuart Sebastian, a student of Josephine and Hermene Schwarz, assumed directorship of the company in 1980 at the invitation of Josephine Schwarz. He had danced professionally for the Dayton Ballet and the National Ballet of Washington before assuming the role. He had also choreographed in New York,Germany and England.[5] Sebastian led the Dayton Ballet for 10 years, in which time the company rose in stature and status. After watching the company in 1981, dance critic Walter Terry wrote in Dance Magazine:
"In just one year the Dayton Ballet has moved from first-rate amateur rank into the category of professional ballet. Of particular importance is the stature of the new choreography on view in Dayton. Good dancers are now numerous; gifted choreographers remain a rare species. Stuart Sebastian is one of this special breed."
Sebastian brought in new dancers and created the company's first full-length ballet, "the Sleeping Beauty." He choreographed over 25 new works. Of those, six were full-length ballets, including Swan Lake and Dracula. Under Sebastian, the Dayton Ballet toured more than 75 cities and took its first international tour to Jerash, Jordan. In 1988, the company appeared on national television while performing in the opening ceremonies of the Pan American Games.[6]
Transition: 1991-1993
Following the departure of Stuart Sebastian in 1990 and his subsequent death in January 1991 after a lengthy battly with AIDS, the company entered a period of transition. James Clouser, former artistic director of the Houston Ballet, was brought in on a three year contract. It was a bumpy and tumultuous time for the company, and a time of considerable change. Clouser was the first outside, non-Daytonian director the Dayton Ballet had ever seen, a considerable break from the company's past. Many dancers and staff from the previous era left, and many new dancers and staff were hired. According to Dayton Daily News articles written during the transition, the board of trustees was looking for change and that is why they brought in someone from the outside. After three years of "war" internally (as the Dayton Daily News stated), an executive director was brought in for the very first time in the company's history in the Fall of 1992, Dermot Burke. Despite all the change and transition of the time, the Dayton Ballet was on its way up, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Recent History: 1993–present
Dermot Burke was a star principle dancer with the Joffrey Ballet in New York, and had been artistic director of the American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey for 10 years. He knew and choreographed for Sebastian and the Dayton Ballet back in 1984. That association, in addition to his track record of success leading the company in New Jersey made him the right person to move the company forward. Clouser's contract was not renewed in the Fall of 1993, and Dermot assumed the dual role of executive and artistic director of the company. Board trustees at the time were quoted in the Dayton Daily News regarding the decision, stating "the transition from Stuart Sebastian to a total outsider has proven to be very difficult." The trustees felt Dermot was the right person to move the company forward after the tumultuous change of the previous three years. Burke said he wanted to be respectful of what was in place at Dayton Ballet, and to reach out to those who had been associated with the company in the past. Many former staff and dancers from Dayton Ballet's past re-affiliated with the company at this time.
Under Dermot Burke, the company has taken on a more American flavor in the tradition of the Joffrey Ballet, embracing distinctly American dance literature, dancers and choreographers. Burke's "Nutcracker" has a local theme and is set in the early 1900s in Dayton. It pays tribute to Dayton Ballet founders Josephine and Hermene as central characters as well as Virginia Kettering, a generous supporter of the Dayton Ballet. There was also a shift to a "repertory company with lots of choreographic voices" as Burke stated. This repertory includes and has held onto the work of Sebastian and the company's past, while at the same time including the work of outside choreographers.
Dancers
The dancers of the Dayton Ballet, as of January 2011:[7]
- Case Bodamer
- Erika Cole
- Grant Dettling
- Will Hoppe
- Daniel Karasik
- Katie Keith
- Justin Michael Koertgen
- Erica Lehman-Downey
- Halliet Slack
- Annalise Woller
- Jessie Cooper (apprentice)
- Christian Delery (apprentice)
- Marcia Hetrick (trainee)
- Abby Phillips (trainee)
- Gabrielle Sharp (trainee)
Dayton Ballet School
The company's dependent dance school, Dayton Ballet School, is the oldest dance school in Dayton and one of the oldest in the US. It is the only school in the Miami Valley that is linked to a professional dance company. The mission of the Dayton Ballet School is " to provide the very finest dance training to any child or adult who seeks to experience the wonder and the fun of dance."
The goal of the School is to serve the community by not only strengthening legs and arms, but also by introducing accomplishments and discipline to the spirit of all participants.[8]
Alumni
- Aaron Berenson, dancer with Dayton Ballet.
- Geraldine Blunden, former director of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.
- Rachel Carmazzi, dancer with Dayton Ballet.
- Rebecca Carmazzi, dancer with Dayton Ballet, BalletMet, and now the North Carolina Dance Theatre.
- Dan Duell, dancer with the New York City Ballet and artistic director of Ballet Chicago.
- Joseph Duell, dancer with the New York City Ballet.
- Robert Eberly III, dancer with Dayton Ballet, Ballet West, and Boston Ballet.
- Penny Freeh, choreographer for the James Sewell Ballet.
- Jeff Gribler, dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet.
- Carol Jean Heller, Dayton Ballet School Director and dancer with Ballet Repertory in New York.
- Peter Means, dancer with Milwaukee Ballet, Washington Ballet and Ballet Met.
- Peter LeBreton Merz, dancer with Louisville Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet, now Assistant Professor of Dance and Head of Ballet at Point Park University (Pittsburgh).
- Cheryl Mrozowski, director of the Dance Company at Wheaton College (Massachusetts).
- Bonnie Pickard, dancer with Suzanne Farrell Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre.
- Jennifer Schildknecht, dancer with Dayton Ballet and Ballet West.
- Stuart Sebastian, former Dayton Ballet Artistic Director and dancer with National Ballet of Washington.
- Dustin Shane, dancer with San Francisco Ballet.
- Gabrielle Sharp, dancer with the Dayton Ballet.
- Jennifer Sydor, dancer with Kim Robards Dance.
- Jonothan Tabbert, dancer with the Charleston Ballet.
- Donna Wood, dancer with Alvin Ailey.
- Rebecca Wright, dancer with American Ballet Theatre, on Broadway in Merlin, and with the Joffrey Ballet.
See also
References
- ^ "The Dayton Ballet". http://www.daytonballet.org/about.php. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ "Company Information". http://www.daytonballet.org/about.php. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ "About Dayton Ballet". http://www.daytonballet.org/about.php. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ Anderson, Jack (2004-03-02). "Josephine Schwarz, 95, Leader In Growth of Regional Ballets". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E6DB173FF931A35750C0A9629C8B63. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
- ^ "Stuart Sebastian, Choreographer 40". The New York Times. 1991-01-19. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEED8123DF93AA25752C0A967958260. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
- ^ profiles of Ohio women 1803-2003. http://books.google.com/books?id=tV3CKGuGoRkC&pg=PT243&lpg=PT243&dq=dayton+ballet+pan+american+games&source=bl&ots=c-EPKDXr3O&sig=4keiRS62DiKjfFgexl5Qtr1Eqhc&hl=en&ei=wAEgTfX8Hoep8Aas4umODg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=dayton%20ballet%20pan%20american%20games&f=false. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
- ^ "Dancers". Dayton Ballet. http://www.daytonballet.org/dancers.php. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ "Dayton Ballet School". http://www.daytonballet.org/school.php. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
External links
- Dayton Ballet, official website
- Dayton Ballet Company Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University, Dayton, OH
Dance companies in the United States Ballet Alonzo King's LINES · American Ballet Theatre · Aspen Santa Fe Ballet · Ballet Arizona · Ballet Austin · Ballet Quad Cities · Ballet West · Boston Ballet · Cedar Lake · Complexions · Dayton Ballet · Eugene Ballet · Houston Ballet · Joffrey Ballet · Miami City Ballet · Mystic Ballet · Morphoses · New York City Ballet · Oregon Ballet Theatre · Pacific Northwest Ballet · Pennsylvania Ballet · San Francisco Ballet · Suzanne Farrell Ballet · Texas Ballet Theater · Washington Ballet
Contemporary Alvin Ailey · Ballet Nouveau · Hubbard Street · Lar Lubovitch · Martha Graham · Momix · Mystic Ballet · Paul Taylor · Pilobolus · Ririe-Woodbury · Urban Bush Women
Other Categories:- Ballet companies in the United States
- Dance schools in the United States
- Culture of Dayton, Ohio
- Companies based in Dayton, Ohio
- 1937 establishments in the United States
- Visitor attractions in Dayton, Ohio
- Performing groups established in 1937
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
