Two students are receiving the MFA degree and twenty –eight students will receive the BFA. This is the largest BFA graduating class in recent memory.  Even more impressive is that half of them have either a double-major (8) or a minor (6). The double majors include: Mass Communication, Exercise and Sports Science, Political Science, Economics, English, Computer Science, and Marketing. The Minors include: Nutrition, Psychology, Entrepreneurship, and Human Development.

A number of our graduates have already received professional dance contract offers from organizations such as, Montgomery Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Charlottesville Ballet, and San Antonino Ballet..  Their success is a testament to their hard work and to the quality of the Ballet program.

Well done!

Congratulations  Rachel Osterman

Congratulations to Ballet BFA student Rachel Osterman
on receiving the Student Mentor of the Year Award
of the 2013 U of U Student Leadership Awards!

More

March 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 – Tickets @ kingtix.com, 801.581.7100

The Character Dance Ensemble is a group of dedicated ballet majors from the Department of Ballet at the University of Utah, who are also completing a specialized emphasis in the art of character dance.

 Character dance is stylized folk or ethnic dance for the ballet stage.

The Ensembles mandate is varied. Our mission is to first provide dancers with academic and performance-related opportunities in different dance styles from around the world. This is important for the development of versatile dance technique. Another important aspect is to enrich the student experience through travel and cross cultural interaction.

The Character Dance Ensemble also fulfills the Ballet Department’s mission of Community Outreach, and has provided over 250 performances locally since its inception in 1995.

CDE also meets the U’s new Internationalization initiative, with recent visits to the Beijing Dance Academy, Beijing, China, the Royal Ballet School, London, England, Vaganova Society workshop, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Eibar, Spain, Tokyo, Japan, Athens, Greece, Vancouver, Canada and San Juan, Costa Rica.

The Department of Ballet was pleased to welcome back Gerard Cuesta, Basque and Spanish dance master, to work with CDE. This was his second visit to share his knowledge and expertise with the Character Dance Ensemble (see photos below).

The Character Dance Ensemble travelled to Kiev, Ukraine – May 6-16, 2012 (photos below).  They participated in classes at the Kiev National M.P. Dragomanov University with ballet masters Voronov and Tarasov. Classes included character dance, ballet, and historical dance. They learned choreographic etudes from Poland, Ukraine, Gypsy Romani, Spain, Cuba and Egypt. They also attended performances of the Kyiv Opera and Ballet, the State Honored Virksy Ukrainian Dance Company, and the Veriovka Folk Choir and Dance Ensemble. The Department of Ballet students were privileged to interact with Ukrainian students, and visited various historical and liturgical sites around Kiev.  In addition CDE participated and performed at a live simulcast performance, organized to raise funds for orphaned children.  CDE hopes to continue its international exploration initiative.

If you would like to Donate for Character Dance Ensemble to help fund their international exploration, Click Here

ANNOUNCING THE 2013 CDE CHARACTER BALLET WORKSHOP

Saturday, March 2nd / 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Marriott Center for Dance (University Campus)

330 S 1500 E, Salt Lake City, UT

ALL Proceeds benefit CDE’s 2013 trip to Korea

Download the 2013 CDE Workshop Application

Continuing students are considered for scholarships based on their accomplishments within the university, within the department and upon consideration of their Scholarship Application.  Scholarship Applications by continuing students are due February 18, 2013. Continuing students should also complete FAFSA information by February 15 in order that financial need can be taken into account as appropriate.

Initial scholarship awards are made during March, 2013.

Kelly Boal Master Class – February 9, 2013

Kelly Boal trained with Olga Kostritsky in her home town of Buffalo, New York and at the School of American Ballet under Suki Schorer, Alexandra Danilova and Stanley Williams among others. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1984 and received a promotion to the rank of soloist in 1989. During her career with NYCB she performed numerous works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins and created original roles in works by Twyla Tharp. In 1991 she left NYCB to pursue freelance opportunities which included national and international touring with Heather Watts and Darci Kistler, guest appearances with the Dutch National Ballet and France’s Ballet du Nord, and regular appearances in the Montreal Gala des Etoiles.

Ms. Boal has served as a faculty member for the Stamford City Ballet school in Connecticut and for the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, where she currently teaches advanced students technique and variations.

Kelly Boal Master Class Application

SCHEDULE:

SATURDAY, FEB. 9TH – COMMUNITY MASTER CLASS (intermediate/advanced) – $25

Community Master Class check-in @ 8:30am – Class from 9:00 am-10:30 am

SATURDAY, FEB. 9TH – COMMUNITY MASTER CLASS (advanced) + AUDITION MASTER CLASS (for students auditioning for UofU) – $25

Auditioning Student Master Class check-in @ 10:30am (unless you are auditioning) – Class from 11:00 am-12:30 am

SATURDAY, FEB. 9TH – TEACHER CLASS OBSERVATION & SEMINAR – $15

Saturday Teacher’s Observation – 9:00am-1:00pm

Thursday, January 31st at 5:30pm
Friday, February 1st at 7:30pm
Saturday, February 2nd at 7:30pm

Purchase tickets HERE.

 Prof. Tesch received permission from the Fokine Estate-Archive to research and stage Michel Fokine’s one-act Les Sylphides. Students from the Repertory class studied and learned the corps de ballet from this romantic masterpiece. The soloists were auditioned and two casts and four performances later, our dancers received the invaluable opportunity to perform this masterwork and not simply study it in ballet history books.

The Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey Foundation was similarly generous in affording our dancers the opportunity to learn and perform Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations. With five female solo variations as well as a pas de deux, students were able to learn and be coached in a work from The Joffrey Ballet’s repertory by Prof. Calvin Kitten, a repetiteur of the estate.

The third work on the program for the 2012-13 year was Poetic Motion, a world premier set on our dancers by Heather Colledge-Gray, winner of high Honors in choreography at the Regional Dance America Festivals in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and outstanding choreographer at Youth America Grand Prix in 2009 and 2010.

All students who auditioned for the 2012-13 performances were given the opportunity to learn and perform one of the works on the Ballet Ensemble program.

As the resident ballet company of the University of Utah, Utah Ballet presents sixteen performances in two series each academic year in the Marriott Center for Dance, Hayes Christensen Theatre. Performances include classic and full length ballets restaged by the faculty, works choreographed by the faculty, and works set or choreographed by world-renowned choreographers.

Utah Ballet Performs Swan Lake to Sold-Out Theatre

Congratulations Utah Ballet!  On November 7-10 and 14-17, 2012, Utah Ballet, directed by Jay Kim and Victoria Stocki, performed the full-length classical ballet Swan Lake featuring Acts II, III, and IV.  Dancers spent eleven weeks enthusiastically

immersing themselves in their roles showing great integrity and professionalism in their work.  The performances were received with great reviews from the audience resulting in the theatre being filled to capacity with 30 more waiting in line for tickets.  The Daily Utah Chronicle favorably reviewed the performances:

·       “The Department of Ballet created a world of believable serenity and beauty through set, scenery and stunning costumes.”

·       “There were magical moments when . . . [Odette] and the company would mesh, creating a beautiful and continuous movement. The number in which Odet

te languishes in sorrow at the lake in Act IV is both beautiful and breathtaking.”

·       “The dance company put on a fabulous show, one that is sure to leave you mesmerized and fully invested in the love story of Odette and Siegfried.” Lynette Randall, Staff Writer, Utah Daily Chronicle

Utah Ballet Outreach Program

On November 7 and 16, 2012, Utah Ballet held two special performances of Swan Lake as part of its Outreach Program, sponsored by a generous grant from the Sorensen Legacy Foundation.  One performance was for a full house of invited local dance students and their chaperones. The other performance hosted students from a Title I charter school. The performances were enthusiastically received by very well behaved students. Sorenson  Scholar Meredith Jones hosted a question and answer session with dancers in costume following the performance.  These performances provided an educational enrichment opportunity for students to experience ballet, some for the very first time.  Utah Ballet’s Outreach Program will provide two more performances to students as part of its spring contemporary series of, ‘Choreographers of the Far East’.  The department is grateful and honored to receive the Sorensen Grant and hopes to be able to continue providing this service to the community.

Private Performance for Our Donors

On November 14, 2012, Utah Ballet, under the direction of Professors Jay Kim and Victoria Stocki, staged a private performance of Swan Lake Act III for ‘The Dean’s List,’  substantial donors to College of Fine Arts. Guests not only viewed the performance, but had a chance to come on stage to chat with the dancers in costume.  Afterwards they enjoyed light refreshments in the lobby together.  Comments from those who attended include, “The Act III was a great act to feature since it showcased so many different dancers and had those wonderful and beautiful sets… The production was so professional, I thought the dancers just shined….  We loved going on stage and having the experience of seeing the dancers, and their costumes, up close…  The students couldn’t have been more charming…  The dancers were coached and prepared wonderfully.  It was perfect!”

On November 14, 2012, the Utah Ballet, under the direction of Jay Kim and Victoria Stocki, performed Swan Lake Act III for donors who contribute to the College of Fine Arts at ‘The Dean’s List Fall 2012 Event’ held by Raymond Tymas-Jones, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and hosted by Heidi Makowski, Director of Development of the College of Fine Arts. Guests watched the performance, had a chance to come on stage to chat with the dancers in costume, and together enjoyed light refreshments in the lobby.  Comments from those who attended include, “The Act III was a great act to feature since it showcased so many different dancers and had those wonderful and beautiful sets… The production was so professional, I thought the dancers just shined….  We loved going on stage and having the experience of seeing the dancers, and their costumes, up close…  The students couldn’t have been more charming…  The dancers were coached and prepared wonderfully.  It was perfect!“