MESSENGER
Ballet Academy Of Texas updated their business hours.
Ballet Ensemble of Texas’ (BET) presents CINDERELLA, “The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.” BET, one of Dallas’ best-reviewed pre-professional ballet companies, will present this classic folk tale in four sold out performances, on December 4-6, 2020, at the Irving Arts Center. Visit balletensembleoftexas.org to purchase tickets for live streamed performances on Saturday, December 5 at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm.
“CINDERELLA is a timeless ballet full of romance, comedy and intrigue,” said Thom Clower, BET Artistic Director. “Whether you are laughing at the silly stepsisters, feeling your heart swell with the building of a magical romance, or simply enjoying the beautiful dancing, there’s something in this production for everyone!”
Clower adapted and re-choreographed this version after that of Anne Burton and has staged it many times across the country. Both he and BET Executive Director Lisa Slagle have performed as guest artists in Burton’s version during their careers.
Prince Charming will be danced by Gabriel Speiller from Bruce Wood Dance. BET company member Pearl Smith will dance the role of Cinderella after receiving rave reviews for her performance as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the 2018 production of THE NUTCRACKER. BET NUTCRACKER REVIEW. Ninety young dancers from the Ballet Academy of Texas will join Ballet Ensemble of Texas in this production.
BET is the official performing company of the Ballet Academy of Texas and trains dancers who are recognized by prestigious pre-professional training programs across the country, with more than half of BET’s 33 company members placed in such programs last year. Professional alumni also dance with companies around the country, including four former BET dancers currently performing with American Ballet Theatre, America’s National Ballet Company.
As a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, the company is funded largely by donations, and is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Coppell, Irving Arts Center, and the City of Irving through the Irving Arts Board. Please visit the company website at www.balletensembleoftexas.org or on Facebook and Instagram @balletensembleoftexas.
Watch the sold out performances of Cinderella via Live Stream! http://www.balletensembleoftexas.org/
The studio will be closed Wednesday, November 25 through
Saturday, November 28 for Thanksgiving Break. Classes will resume on Monday, November 30. Please enjoy the time with family!
Thank you, Ms. Slagle!
Lisa Slagle
December 9 at 9:29 AM ·
I am feeling very proud of my students and staff, who created 4 beautiful performances last weekend of Thom Clower's "Cinderella", and wanted to share some photos. Thom's creativity, dedication, and adaptability (not to mention a very comical performance as the Stepmother) gave these young dancers just the experience they needed in these challenging times. If you look closely you can see the clear masks they had to wear for safety reasons, but they were barely noticeable. What was noticeable was how much they grew as artists and performers and gave us all inspiration that we will survive 2020!!! Next up this Spring...."Swan Lake Act II", "Firebird", and Gerald Arpino's "Confetti"!
The studio will be closed from Monday, December 21 to Saturday, January 2. Classes resume Monday, January 4. Enjoy your break!
Merry Christmas from Ballet Academy of Texas!
Happy New Year! Best wishes for 2021!
Welcome back to class!
Dancers and Staff from the Ballet Academy of Texas in Coppell received top honors at the recent Youth America Grand Prix competition in Dallas. This international competition included over 800 dancers from throughout the United States. The top honor of “Outstanding School” was shared between the Ballet Academy and a school in North Dallas after a stellar weekend of performances. The school also had 2 Ensemble entries that tied for 3rd place. Several individual students of the Academy’s Director, Lisa Slagle, and her staff were also recognized. Pictured here are Isabella Desabrais, (16) and Trevin Ralphs (15), winners of 1st place in the Pas de Deux category. Mr. Ralphs also received 2nd place in the Senior Men’s Classical division, and Ms. Desabrais finished in the top 24 of her division. Other winners included Joseph Dang, 2nd place in the Men’s Contemporary division, Pearl Smith, top 12 in Women’s classical division, and Eden Lim, top 24 of her division. Two other gentlemen were recognized in the top six Men’s division: Ben Nemmers (16) and Adrian Fite (16). All of these dancers will be performing in April as part of the Ballet Ensemble of Texas’ annual Spring performances at the Irving Arts Center , as well as several times in the upcoming months at the beautiful new Coppell Arts Center. For more information go to www.balletacademyoftexas.com or www.balletensembleoftexas.org
Photos by: Cathy Vanover
Ballet Academy of Texas will be open for all classes on Saturday, February 20.
The side walk in front of the building has had the bulk of the snow and ice removed, but please walk with caution (on the sidewalks and in the parking lot) as not all of the the snow and ice has melted and been removed.
We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!
ALL classes (morning and afternoon/evening) will be cancelled for Friday, February 19.
We hope you are all well and miss seeing you in the studio!
All classes in-studio and via Zoom for Tuesday and Wednesday (February 16/17) are cancelled. Due to blackouts the Zoom classes are not possible
All in-studio classes for tomorrow, Tuesday, February 16 are cancelled.
Check back here by noon tomorrow regarding Zoom classes. We are watching power outages to determine if they will be possible.
BALLET ENSEMBLE OF TEXAS PRESENTS
A CELEBRATION OF DANCE 2021
Ballet Ensemble of Texas celebrates ballet history with American Ballet Theatre guest artists and vintage Paris Opera/Harkness Ballet costumes, and exclusive performances of Confetti
COPPELL, Texas – (March 9, 2021) – Ballet Ensemble of Texas (BET), one of Dallas’ best-reviewed
pre-professional ballet companies, will present its annual A Celebration of Dance on Friday, April 9 and Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 North MacArthur Blvd in Irving, Texas. The mixed repertoire program includes George Skibine’s FIREBIRD; Swan Lake, Act 2, featuring American Ballet Theatre (ABT) guest artists; Gerald Arpino’s Confetti; and two premieres by resident choreographers Jenny Johnston and Tammie Reinsch.
“With choreography styles spanning more than 200 years, this mixed repertoire is purposefully designed to captivate a broad audience,” said BET Artistic Director Thom Clower. “The spectrum of dance genres we’re presenting touch on pure classical, neo-classical, contemporary, comedy and virtuosity—all in one energetic program.”
George Skibine’s FIREBIRD, based on Russian folk tales of the mythical creature, has been a Dallas audience favorite for more than 50 years. This is the third staging of the ballet for BET by Clower, the repetiteur of the Skibine estate. Skibine re-choreographed the ballet for the Paris Opera from the original 1910 version by Michel Fokine set to Igor Stravinsky’s famous score for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe. Many of the costumes in the BET production are from Skibine’s Paris Opera Ballet production and the Harkness Ballet where he was subsequently artistic director. Skibine arrived in Dallas in 1969 as artistic director of Dallas Civic Ballet, and in 1975 founded professional dance in North Texas. The silk of the princess dresses and the leather of the creatures are literally “dancing history.”
Swan Lake, Act 2 showcases the proficiency and talent of BET-trained dancers and features current ABT dancers and BET alumni Breanne Granlund and Nathan Vendt in the soloist roles. Ms. Granlund’s final performance as a BET company member was the lead in Skibine’s FIREBIRD. These guest artists are exclusively coached by ABT Regisseur Susan Jones for their roles, and the corps de ballet is coached by Anna Donovan, Principal Rehearsal Director of Texas Ballet Theatre. Based on the Petipa/Ivanov version, this classic ballet uses beautiful swans to tell a magical and intriguing story of doomed love.
BET is proud to present Gerald Arpino's Confetti, created on Joffrey Ballet in 1970. Like its title, the brightly colored ballet is light and fluttery, and is a piece performed many times by BET Founding Director Lisa Slagle during her career with Joffrey Ballet. BET is the only pre-professional company granted permission to perform this work. “Confetti has been performed by regional professional companies, but not by pre-professional companies," said Charthel Arthur, Executive Director of The Gerald Arpino Foundation. "The BET dancers are indeed very special, and the Arpino Foundation is pleased to allow the performance of the piece."
According to the Chicago Tribune, Joffrey Ballet’s original presentation is “set to one of those deathless, breathless Rossini overtures, Arpino's simple yet stylish sextet runs the entire gamut of fits, starts, halts, climax upon climax and extraordinarily grand, grand finale that constitutes any well brought up Rossini overture. Rossini is too much. Arpino notices this and is consequently even more too much. It is fun!”
BET continues to add to its own repertoire history with two premiere pieces by resident choreographers Jenny Johnston and Tammie Reinsch. Ms. Johnston challenges BET dancers with contemporary movement in Spatial Percussion, set to a strong percussive beat by John Mackey. Ms. Reinsch’s duet In a Nutshell is a concentrated, fast-paced homage to The Nutcracker that takes Clara on a whirlwind journey to the familiar Land of Sweets where all the dreamlike treats come to life in less than four minutes.
Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 for students/seniors and are available online through the Irving Arts Center box office or 972-252-2787 (ARTS).
Artistic Director Thom Clower joined BET in August 2018. His career spans more than 40 years as a professional dancer and master teacher, including 10 seasons as company member and ballet master with Dallas Ballet, followed by eight seasons as artistic director of Ballet Dallas. Subsequently, he was ballet master for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and artistic director of Arizona’s Yuma Ballet Theatre. Since 2001, Clower has worked around the world as a master teacher and choreographer, including 16 summer seasons with the Young! Tanzommer annual dance festival in Austria.
BET is the resident ballet company of Ballet Academy of Texas (BAT) in Coppell, Texas. Under the direction of Lisa Slagle BAT has produced some of the country’s best trained dancers who have danced professionally with leading companies such as American Ballet Theater, Ballet West, Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, as well as many international companies. BAT was named “Outstanding School” for the second year in a row at the regional Youth America Grand Prix.
A Celebration of Dance 2021 is supported by National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Coppell, and City of Irving through the Irving Arts Board. For more information, please visit www.balletensembleoftexas.org, or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
All photo credit: Cathy Vanover