The Emeralds (George Balanchine) program lived up to its expectations.  By the end of the program, Friday night, I was reminded why I am so lucky to do what I do.  I took Christiana’s hand at the very end of Petite Mort (Jiri Kylian) and simply walked upstage as the curtain lowered.  Immediately I felt a rush of energy shoot from the house as the patrons rose to their feet and cheered.  Fellow dancer, Aidan DeYoung, gave me a hug after the show and said that we can check off doing Petite Mort (Jiri Kylian) from our list of things to do in life.  I agreed … this ballet is what dancers around the world dream of performing.

Click the link below to read Kathy Adams’ review.

Salt Lake Tribune Emeralds Program Review

Allison Debona with Adrian Fry in PETITE MORT (Jiri Kylian)

-Beau

Tonight was the final dress rehearsal and tomorrow is opening night of the Emeralds (George Balanchine) program!  Also, The Little Mermaid (Pamela Robinson-Harris and Peggy Dolkas) opens this Saturday.  Showtimes are 11:00 am and 2:00 pm this Saturday, April 14th and 7:00 pm Monday night, April 16th.

Below are pictures I took from the dress rehearsal last night.

Allison Debona in EMERALDS by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Emily Adams and Adrian Fry in EMERALDS by George Balanchine (c) The George Balanchine Trust

Emily Adams and Alex MacFarlan in PETITE MORT by Jiri Kylian

Katlyn Addison and Christopher Sellars in PETITE MORT by Jiri Kylian

Michael Bearden and Katherine Lawrence in PETITE MORT by Jiri Kylian

Allison DeBona and Adrian Fry in PETITE MORT by Jiri Kylian

Elizabeth McGrath and Rex Tilton in PETITE MORT by Jiri Kylian

-Beau

This week Sandra Jennings has been back in the studios finishing staging and cleaning Emeralds (Balanchine).  Roslyn Anderson has also been here getting Petite Mort (Jiri Kylian) ready for the stage.  Elena Kunikova will join us next week to make sure Paquita looks amazing on stage before opening night.  Talk about a powerhouse group of women helping us look our best!

I’m extremely excited to get this program on the stage.  Our schedule has been so demanding, I’ve hardly had any time to take pictures (sad face).  Today I was able to snap some shots of Petite Mort (Jiri Kylian).

Dancers of Ballet West

Emily Adams and Alexander MacFarlan

Allison DeBona and Adrian Fry

Elizabeth McGrath and Rex Tilton

Elizabeth McGrath, Allison DeBona and Emily Adams

-Beau

Another post from Development Manager, Alison Hayes:

Spring at Ballet West means preparing for an incredible repertory program, rehearsing for The Little Mermaid, and the annual performance of I CAN DO.  Ballet West offers a variety of free outreach programs to students to teach the importance of ballet because every child deserves an education inclusive of dance.  I CAN DO is one of our most innovative programs that consists of weekly dance classes for 5th graders and each spring, about 1,000 I CAN DO dancers perform for a standing-room-only crowd at West High.  This year’s performances were Tuesday March 27 and Wednesday the 28 of March at 7:30 pm.  Our intent is that with an active presence in Salt Lake City communities and statewide that we will be able to cultivate and inspire new generations of artists and arts advocates.

Drawing by Allee Parkside

I CAN DO kids

-Beau