Boston Ballet

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The Boston Ballet is a professional ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy (1980-1984), Bruce Marks (1985-1997), and Anna-Marie Holmes (1997-2000), the Ballet's national and international reputation has grown. The Company is now one of the major ballet companies in North America and among the top companies in the world. Boston Ballet was the first American ballet company to tour China in 1980. The current artistic director, Mikko Nissinen, took over the company in 2001.

Current Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen was selected to lead Boston Ballet in September 2001. Under his exceptional artistic direction, Boston Ballet presents choreography of the highest caliber and offers great variety in repertoire, allowing dancers to grow in new directions. In 2002, Valerie Wilder was appointed the Company's new executive director, establishing an outstanding leadership team with Nissinen to carry the Company into the future.

Boston Ballet's primary performing venue is the 3,600-seat Wang Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, where the Company performs six programs each season. Boston Ballet's month-long production of The Nutcracker attracts an annual attendance of more than 120,000 people. It is the most widely attended ballet production in the world. In 2005, Boston Ballet performed The Nutcracker in the refurbished Boston Opera House. In 2006, the Nutcracker included 3 casts of children who train at the Boston Ballet School. Famous Bostonians such as Cedric Maxwell and more recently Sam Yoon have been featured in the production by being cast in the role of the Chestnut Seller. Several choral groups from the Greater Boston community, including "Boston Jazz Voices", "Merrimack Valley Chorus", and "The Boston Community Choir", perform in the lobby of The Opera House before many Nutcracker performances.

The Company's headquarters in Boston's historical South End neighborhood is one of the largest and best-equipped dance studios in the country. Designed by renowned architect Graham Gund, this five-story, 60,000-square-foot building is among the most important locations for dance in the United States.

Boston Ballet dancers rehearse about 30 hours a week. Principal dancers include Romi Beppu, Erica Cornejo, Lorna Feijoo, Tai Jimenez, Nelson Madrigal, Carlos Molina, Larissa Ponomarenko, Rayneris Reyes, Roman Rykine, Karine Seneca, and Yury Yanowski. Soloists include Rie Ichikawa, Sabi Varga, Misa Kuranaga, amongst others.

The Company does much more than just offer performances. Boston Ballet operates an affiliate school with more than 2,000 students ranging in dance classes for ages 3 through 21.

[edit] Community Outreach

The Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education offers numerous educational and outreach activities for the community. A lecture series called DanceTalks teaches the audience about the Boston Ballet organization and ballet as a whole. Pre-Curtain talks are also available to all ticket holders before the show and they teach background information about the production and history of the seasons shows.

The Boston Ballet also holds community classes appealing to a variety of groups. CityDance is a scholarship program available to elementary school students to teach them the basics of ballet. On the other hand, Taking Steps is a free program offered to young girls as a basic education for all art forms. Finally, Adaptive Dance is a result of a partnership with Children's Hospital Boston and is focused on children with Down Syndrome.

For more information on these programs, visit the Boston Ballet website