- Atlanta Ballet
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The Atlanta Ballet 
General Information Name The Atlanta Ballet Year Founded 1929 Founders Dorothy Alexander Founding Artistic Director Dorothy Alexander, Robert Barnett Principal venue Atlanta, GA, USA 
Website www.atlantaballet.com Artistic Staff Artistic Director John McFall Ballet Mistress Rosemary Miles, Dale Shields, Sharon Story Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the nation’s longest continuously performing ballet company[1] and the State Ballet of Georgia.
Contents
History
Atlanta Ballet was founded in 1929 by Dorothy Alexander as the Dorothy Alexander Concert Group[2]. During the 1940s, the organization was known as the Atlanta Civic Ballet[3], with Dorothy Alexander acting as Director. It was the nation's first regional ballet company. In 1946 the Company became the first in the nation to help fund a symphony by donating the season's annual proceeds to the Atlanta Youth Symphony, which later developed into the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
In the 1950s Robertt Barnett joined the Company from New York City Ballet as a Principal Dancer and Associate Director. Barnett received exclusive permission from George Balanchine to use his choreography for The Nutcracker as well as other signature works, making Atlanta Civic Ballet the only company in the country to perform works by Balanchine outside of New York City Ballet for several decades. Alexander guided her dance company for more than three decades before hand picking her successor, Robert Barnett, who was named Artistic Director in 1961. In 1967, the Company gained professional status as Atlanta Ballet.
In 1994 Robert Barnett retired from his role as Artistic Director and current artistic director, John McFall, took the lead. Under the direction of McFall, Atlanta Ballet has grown and developed. The focus of the company has shifted to include education as a key point in addition to providing innovative and entertaining performances to the Atlanta community.
Atlanta Ballet today
The Company Dancers - Jacob Bush
- Peng-Yu Chen
- Christian Clark
- Pedro Gamino
- Anne Tyler Harshbarger
- Jonah Hooper
- Yoomi Kim
- Tara Lee
- Nadia Mara
- Kristine Necessary
- Tommy Panto
- Alessa Rogers
- Abigail Tan
- Jared Tan
- Jesse Tyler
- Rachel Van Buskirk
- Brian Wallenberg
- Heather Waymack
- John Welker
- Christine Winkler
Apprentices - Courtney Funk
- Drew Grant
- Heath Gill
- Yoko Kanomata
- Jackie Nash
- Melissa Mitchell
The Company now employs twenty professional dancers and six apprentices. Unlike many professional ballet companies, Atlanta Ballet does not divide its dancers into specifically designated ranks such as Principal, Soloist, or Corps de Ballet. Instead, company members all have an equal chance at being cast in leading roles for each ballet. The regular season runs from October to May with performances at both the Fabulous Fox Theatre and the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Spring 2011 will mark the Companies debut on the Alliance Stage at the Woodruff Performing Arts Center for their performance of Ignition.
In addition to a vast collection of story ballets, ranging from Swan Lake to The Great Gatsby, The Atlanta Ballet has taken part in two collaborations with Grammy Award winning artists. In 2004, The Indigo Girls joined them for the World Premiere of Shed Your Skin choreographed by Margo Sappington, and in 2008, they joined forces with Antwan "Big Boi" Patton from Outkast for the World Premiere of big choreographed by Lauri Stallings.
Atlanta Ballet celebrated its 80th anniversary in the 2009-2010 season. The Company also celebrated its 50th year of the Nutcracker, as well as Artistic Director, John McFall’s 15th season. The Ballet also welcomed new Executive Director Arthur Jacobus to the Company. For the 2010-2011 season, the Atlanta Ballet will be performing Moulin Rouge: The Ballet, Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker, Nutty Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Fusion: Lambarena and a World Premier, and Ignition: New Choreographic Voices.
Education
In 1996, Atlanta Ballet opened the Centre for Dance Education[4], under the direction of John McFall and Sharon Story as Dean with locations in Cobb, Buckhead, and Midtown Atlanta.One of the largest fully accreddited dance schools in the country, the Centre educates students ages two through adult in various disciplines such as ballet, jazz, modern, tap, hip hop, Pilates, and flamenco. The Centre for Dance Education is dedicated to nurturing young dancers while providing an outlet for adults to express their creativity. It not only trains future professional dancers, many of whom have later entered the Company, but also provides outreach and educational activities to thousands of children in the metro Atlanta area. The Open Adult Division allows anyone over the age of 16 to take a vairety of classes at different levels, regardless of experience or previous training.
With diverse class offerings and student population, the Centre serves over 150,000 people in metro Atlanta each year. Atlanta Ballet’s roots remain firmly grounded in the Atlanta community and continue to play a vital role in the city’s cultural growth and revitalization.
Choreographing Our Future
In April 2009, the Robert W. Woodruff foundation made a $1 million commitment toward the Atlanta Ballet’s $14.8 million Choreographing Our Future campaign, the largest fundraising effort in the Companies history. The campaign not only funded the renovation and relocation to the new headquarters in Midtown West, it also went towards expanding the marketing and development for the Ballet.[5] The ballet also received the single largest gift in its 79-year history - $3 million from the Michael C. and Thalia N. Carlos Foundation. The donations were part of a campaign to purchase and renovate the new headquarters on Marietta Boulevard west of downtown. The $3 million from the Carlos Foundation, to be paid over four years, is a naming gift: The new headquarters, which opened in May 2010, is named the Michael C. Carlos Dance Centre. The funds from the $14.8 million campaign will also be channeled into boosting the ballet’s endowment, marketing and audience development, and toward long-term financial and artistic stability. Integral to the package is the inclusion of the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra in performances.[6]
The new Atlanta Ballet headquarters was built in a 5,000 foot renovated warehouse that was converted into an LEED certified and environmentally friendly new home for the Company. The building utilizes all recycled carpeting and contains areas dedicated for recycling used materials. The materials chosen for the construction all contained high recycled content and were purchased from local and regional distributers.
Notes
- ^ (Encyclopædia Britannica 2009); article describes it as nation's oldest civic ballet company.
- ^ (Encyclopædia Britannica 2009)
- ^ (Encyclopædia Britannica 2009) paragraph 1
- ^ http://www.atlantaballet.com/centre/about.php
- ^ Saporta, Maria (April 10, 2009), "Woodruff donation helps to lift Atlanta Ballet", Atlanta Business Chronicle, http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/04/13/newscolumn6.html?page=1
- ^ Ruhe, Pierre (January 14, 2009), "$3 million from Carlos Foundation boosts Atlanta Ballet", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2009/01/14/ballet_fundraising.html
References
- "Dorothy Alexander", Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 (Encyclopædia Britannica Online), 10 June 2009, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/13978/Dorothy-Alexander
External links
- Atlanta Ballet website
- Centre for Dance Education website
- Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
- The Dancer's Lounge - Atlanta Ballet Offstage
Categories:- Ballet companies in the United States
- Culture of Atlanta, Georgia
- 1929 establishments in the United States
- Performing groups established in 1929
- Visitor attractions in Atlanta, Georgia
- Jacob Bush
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