Yes, the Golden State Warriors had an amazing season, and their playoff run ended tonight.  However, this blog is about Ballet West, and this post is about a good season soon coming to an end.  I know, I’ve been super lame with the blog lately (or lack of blog), but I’ve been pretty busy … dancing – yes, Summer Wilson, that is a good thing.  So, tonight was our final dress rehearsal which means tomorrow is opening night of Innovations 2013.  The show is far from customary as each ballet explores new ways to present dance to an audience.  I experience walking through an audience, partnering using only ropes and being boxed in (literally) all in one night … woo hoo!  You’ll know exactly what I’m talking about when you see the show.  Anyway, I took a few pictures (as usual) from studio rehearsals a week ago.

Arolyn Williams rehearsing Adrin Fry’s SPUN

Trevor Naumann & Katlyn Addison rehearsing Adrin Fry’s SPUN

Christiana Bennett, Arolyn Williams & Katlyn Addison rehearsing Adrin Fry’s SPUN

Arolyn Williams & Alex MacFarlan rehearsing Adrin Fry’s SPUN

Lindsay Duerfeldt rehearsing Christopher Ruud’s TRAPPED

Amy Potter, Tyler Gum & Joshua Whitehead rehearsing Christopher Ruud’s TRAPPED

Arolyn Williams & Alex MacFarlan rehearsing Adrian Fry’s SPUN

Lindsay Duerfeldt rehearsing Christopher Ruud’s TRAPPED

-Beau

The atmosphere in the studios this time of season is always different than the rest of the year at Ballet West.  In some ways everybody is more relaxed, not worrying so much about technique and enjoying different movement qualities since the ballets in Innovations tend to be contemporary.  A few others may be freaking out because they only have a few hours to choreograph a new ballet (I don’t blame them).  Innovations rehearsals also tend to make our bodies extremely sore because we work our tails off.  For the most part, Innovations is a really nice time us dancers get to express ourselves with our bodies in our own way.  The weather change probably adds to people being a little bit more happy too.

This season’s picked choreographers are first time choreographer, Adrian Fry; second time choreographer, Christopher Anderson; and second time choreographer, Easton Smith.  The evening’s bookend ballets will be Christopher Ruud’s Trapped and a new work by Jodie Gates.  I think this program is always a real treat for the audience since we perform at the Rose Wagner Theater; patrons get a chance to be up close and personal with us no matter where they are sitting.

My days have been full so I haven’t been able to click my camera as much as I’d like, though I got a few pics while I took breathers from rehearsals.

Emily Adams & Trevor Naumann working on Christopher Ruud’s TRAPPED

Christopher Ruud working with Joshua Whitehead

Christopher Ruud working with Emily Adams & Trevor Naumann

Christiana Bennet & Chase O’Connell in Christopher Anderson’s rehearsal

Christopher Anderson working with Emily Adams, Christiana Bennett & Chase O’Connell

Jacqueline Straughan & Adrian Fry working on Jodie Gates’ new ballet

-Beau

Yesterday morning Ballet West II and the Ballet West Academy performed Aladdin for the last time this season.  The tag team duo of Pamela Robinson Harris and Peggy Dolkas proved themselves as top notch choreographers for the second year in a row.  I’m always impressed by how well Pamela and Peggy are able to incorporate so many dancers into their ballets, creating very full and lively stages.  The stories are well portrayed and there is never a dull moment.  I also really love how there is a diverse cast of characters in Robinson Harris and Dolkas’ ballets, not only for entertainment purposes but because there are many opportunities for the dancers.  Aladdin entertained and impressed me this year, just as The Little Mermaid did last year.  An anonymous patron said that they had never seen a room full of children so quiet (except when something was funny).  I would say that’s a huge compliment to the choreographers!  Below are photos I took in the wings during the Tuesday evening show.

Emily Liu as an Odalisque

Logan Martin as The Snake Charmer

Logan Martin as The Snake Charmer with his snake, Cobra, danced by Scout Sutton

Mercedes Rice as an Odalisque

Jordan Veit as Aladdin with his monkey, Malik, danced by Kennedy Stapley

Matthew Cunningham as a Guard

Jordan Veit as Aladdin, Lauren Zaharis as Aladdin’s Mother & Kennedy Stapley as Malik

Paige Adams as an Odalisque

Ian Tanzer as The Sorcerer

Kennedy Stapley

Lauren Zaharis, Kennedy Stapley & Jordan Veit

Kazlyn Nielsen as Princess Kalila & Jordan Veit as Aladdin

Kazlyn Nielsen

Ian Tanzer

Kazlyn Nielsen & Jordan Veit

Zachary Prentice as The Sultan

Ian Tanzer & company

Jordan Veit with Bronwyn Marshall as The Little Genie & Chase O’Connell as The Big Genie

Deanna Karlheim & Alex Cambie as Hajar, The Sorcerer’s camel

Kazlyn Nielsen, Jordan Veit & Ian Tanzer

-Beau

The first week of Balanchine’s Jewels was a blast to perform.  Dancing Diamonds is such a privilege and Emeralds feels like second nature.  I don’t get to dance in Rubies but I really enjoy watching the company perform the sassy ballet.  Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds compliment each other so well as an evening of dance (somewhere Balanchine is saying, “duh”).  This program has definitely been one of my favorites I’ve performed with Ballet West.

A patron, who goes by the name Beth attends all of Ballet West’s programs and always leaves a comment about the shows here on the blog.  Recently she wrote: “I’m fresh from opening night of Jewels, and it was spectacular!  Once again, Emeralds was lovely, but it was the other two sections that particularly caught my attention.  I find myself at a loss over which pair of partners to praise higher, Tom and Beckanne in Rubies, or Beau and Christiana in Diamonds.  While Rubies overall was a thrill ride from beginning to end, utterly entertaining, it was Tom and Beckanne who owned that portion of the show.  They were electrifying.  But I have to say that it was Diamonds that stole my heart. I’ve never seen so many dancers on the stage at one time, and that was fascinating and beautiful.  And not only were the two leads amazing *throughout* the performance, but Christiana’s and your dance alone together on stage, Beau, was one of the most mesmerizing things I’ve ever seen in a ballet.  It was absolutely stunning.  I count myself lucky to have seen this performance tonight.”

First of all, Beth, I really appreciate your praise as always; your support is never less than amazing.  You said you count yourself lucky to have seen the performance.  Well, I wanted to tell you that I feel lucky to be able to dance this program and share it with everyone.  Jewels, especially Diamonds, fulfills my passion for dance and I feel so fortunate I am able to do what I love on that stage.  Beth, I’m not very good at expressing my joy for this art form with words on the blog, but I hope you can see my love for ballet when I’m dancing on stage; I hang it all out under those lights.

Heather Hayes of the Deseret News came to the Saturday evening performance and wrote a nice review that can be read here.

Below are some pictures of Rubies I took during my down time from a dress rehearsal and performance.

Jacqueline Straughan & Christopher Sellars

Joshua Whitehead

Jacqueline Straughan & Christopher Sellars

Elizabeth McGrath

Jacqueline Straughan & Christopher Sellars

Beckanne Sisk, Sarah Hochman, Arolyn Williams & Katie Critchlow

Jacqueline Straughan

Elizabeth McGrath with Alexander MacFarlan, Owen Gaj, Joshua Whitehead & Jordan Veit

OH!  By the way, I went to this evenings performance of the family series Aladdin.  I was really impressed and entertained.  If I had a hat on, I would tip it off to Pamela Robinson Harris and Peggy Dolkas.  Nice job!

-Beau

Sandy Jennings was back in Salt Lake these last two weeks staging Rubies (Balanchine) and overseeing Emeralds (Balanchine).  Since Maria Calegari already taught the company Diamonds (Balanchine) in the fall, Pamela Robinson Harris (one of our ballet mistresses) worked with us, putting the ballet back together.  This upcoming week will be spent perfecting Jewels (Balanchine) before we go into the theater the following week.

Jewels (Balanchine) rehearsals consume most of the studio time, however, Jodie Gates was here on Tuesday and Wednesday to spend a bit of time playing around with steps on the company.  Jodie choreographed a ballet two years ago on Ballet West II and will be choreographing on the main company this year for our Innovations program.  On top of all of that, Pamela Robinson Harris and Peggy Dolkas have been busy rehearsing Aladdin whenever time permits.  So, a lot is happening in the world of Ballet West, as usual.  I took a few photos of Jewels rehearsals from the last two weeks.

Arolyn Williams, Sayaka Ohtaki & Thomas Mattingly rehearsing EMERALDS by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Katherine Lawrence & Christopher Anderson rehearsing EMERALDS by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Jordan Richardson rehearsing EMERALDS by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Emily Adams, Haley Hendersen Smith & Elizabeth McGrath rehearsing RUBIES by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Katie Critchlow rehearsing RUBIES by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Jacqueline Straughan & Christopher Sellars rehearsing the RUBIES pas de deux by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Arolyn Williams rehearsing EMERALDS by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

By they way, this is how ballerinas sleep …

Beckanne Sisk

-Beau

The main company had last week off, so Ballet West II and the Ballet West Academy utilized the empty studios to put together Aladdin (Pamela Robinson-Harris/Peggy Dolkas).  Last year, ballet mistress Pamela Robinson-Harris and Peggy Dolkas choreographed The Little Mermaid for the season’s family series.  The Little Mermaid was received really well by the audience and proved to be a great show for kids and their parents.  This year, Pamela and Peggy are tag teaming together again to choreograph Aladdin, featuring the artists of Ballet West II.  Tickets can be purchased for the world premiere for April 6th, 8th and 9th.  I stopped by the studio last week to see how things were going and to snap a few shots of the rehearsals.

Zachary Prentice, Paige Adams & Ian Tanzer

Ian Tanzer & Jordan Veit

Pamela Robinson-Harris working with Ian Tanzer & Zachary Prentic

Logan Martin & Kaya Aman

-Beau

We performed for a packed house last night for the closing of Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella.  The long days of rehearsal paid off; Cinderella (Ashton) was extremely successful.  The patrons that filled the Capitol Theater for every show ended up on their feet during the curtain call.

I feel badly that I’ve been too busy with the shows to blog these last two weeks.  I whipped out my camera in between entrances as a Cavalier this last Friday night to take a few shots of the show.  I also got a few nice pictures down in the basement along the run.  Christopher Sellars had a great idea to record a time lapse video of the make-up process the Ugly Step Sisters undertook before each show.  So, I set up my camera of Alex MacFarlan and myself being glamafied (or the opposite, depends on how you look at it).  Sellars also created a video of himself and Adrian’s transformation that can be viewed here.

I want to thank everyone who came to see the show.  There is nothing better than being able to perform for such huge crowds.  Anyone who didn’t see the show, click here to read Cathy Adams’ review.  If you don’t want to read Cathy’s review then you can read an anonymous writer’s review: Cinderella good.  Ballet West awesome.  Beau Pearson my favorite.

Look Mom!  I made it on the blog!

Katie Critchlow, Allison DeBona, Emily Adams, Beckanne Sisk, Jenna Herrera & Thomas Mattingly as the Autumn Fairy, Winter Fairy, Fairy Godmother, Summer Fairy, Spring Fairy & Dance Master

Christiana Bennett as Cinderella

Adrian Fry as the big Ugly Step Sister

Rex Tilton as the Prince

Christiana Bennett as Cinderella

Emily Adams & Adrian Fry as the Summer Fairy and her Cavalier

-Beau

Valentine’s day is just around the corner which means roses will be overpriced, See’s Candies lines will be way too long and Ballet West opens Cinderella (Sir Frederick Ashton).  During the next few days we will be in the theater spending as much time as possible readying ourselves for Thursday.  This production of Cinderella (Sir Frederick Ashton) has big sets and many props to work with, especially for the Ugly Stepsisters.  One of the challenging, yet gratifying parts of transitioning from the studios to the stage is dancing with the orchestra instead of the usual piano accompaniment.  A live orchestra can be difficult to adjust to because certain notes are heard more clearly coming from the solo piano.  However, the sound of all the instruments together (especially in Prokofiev’s score) brings ballets to life and feels so good to dance along side.  There is a lot of history behind Sir Frederick Ashton’s version of Cinderella, which we are very lucky to be able to share with the community.

Arolyn Williams making fun of the Ugly Stepsisters as Cinderella

Once a ballerina, always a ballerina (those are Malin Thoors’ rehearsal shoes)

Christiana Bennett rehearsing Cinderella

Arolyn Williams rehearsing Cinderella

-Beau

Everything is running smoothly as we head into our last week rehearsing Cinderella (Sir Frederick Ashton) in the studios.  Below are more pictures from rehearsals for your viewing pleasure.  By the way, everyone thank Breaking Pointe for the blue walls.

Christiana Bennett & Rex Tilton

Malin Thoors

Easton Smith, Rex Tilton & Kaya Aman rehearing the first act of CINDERELLA

Malin Thoors working on the Jester with Tyler Gum & Thomas Mattingly

Christopher Ruud & Easton Smith rehearsing the Ugly Stepsisters

Wendy Ellis Somes coaching Christiana Bennett

-Beau … GO NINERS!

I’ve been busy rehearsing Cinderella, but I still whip out my camera to snap some shots when I get a chance.  The pictures below were taken during last weeks rehearsals.

Malin Thoors teaching the women of Ballet West the role of the “Star Faries”

Malin Thoors & Chase O’Connell in a “Court Couples” rehearsal

Paige Adams & Chase O’Connell

Wendy Ellis Somes working with the “Season Faries”

Wendy Ellis Somes working with the “Season Faries”

-Beau