Industry | Performance dance, Education |
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Founded | 2000 |
Headquarters | Eugene, Oregon |
Area served | Pacific Northwest |
Key people | Donna and Hannah Bontrager |
Website | www.balletfantastique.org |
Ballet Fantastique is a 501(c)3 nonprofit chamber ballet company based in Eugene, Oregon, and co-directed by mother-daughter team Donna and Hannah Bontrager. Ballet Fantastique was founded in October 2000 and currently has three components: A professional chamber ballet company, a pre-professional academy in the Russian Vaganova method of training, and a busy outreach wing (bringing dance to a range of audiences both in-school and in-theater).
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The Ballet Fantastique Chamber Company is composed of 7-12 professional artists and attracts dancers from across the country.[1] The company performs a number of concerts every year at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts and other Northwest theaters. Ballet Fantastique also tours, and has performed with Ballet Rogue in Medford, Oregon[2], at the internationally-recognized Oregon Shakespeare Festival[3] in Ashland, Oregon, and for the Eugene Celebration[4], to name just a few.
Ballet Fantastique concerts often feature collaborations with live artists and musicians[5]. Projections of local gallery paintings were used as backdrops for the performance Danse en Rouge: Variations in Red at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, which also included the Trio Voronezh and classical guitarist John Jarvie[6]. In 2009, Ballet Fantastique collaborated with composer Jeremy Schropp and a 25-part orchestra in Visions d’Amour: 10 Ballets in Paris for the world premiere of his ballet inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, “Night at the Café Terrace." Other notable collaborations include the Oregon Mozart Players[7], the Karin Clarke Gallery[8], and the Eugene Symphony[9]. As a “chamber” ballet company, Ballet Fantastique produces its concerts in the smaller, more intimate Soreng Theater at the Hult Center.
The Academy of Ballet Fantastique teaches ballet classes for dancers ages 4–24, and also offers a separate Adult Ballet Program. The academy admits students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin.
In the Professional Training Division, dancers age 9 and up study the Vaganova Method of training in limited class sizes of six students or fewer. Artistic Director Donna Marisa Bontrager works directly with every Professional Division student in his or her training.
The Young Dancer Program at The Academy of Ballet Fantastique is for dancers age 4-8, and follows a progressive training approach as well, while introducing young children to creative movement, music education, and fundamentals of ballet.
Students participate in professional performances with the company, and may audition for company positions and apprenticeships upon graduation. Academy of Ballet Fantastique coaches are experienced in the Vaganova method of training as well as in pedagogy and professional performance.
Ballet Fantastique’s busy outreach programming includes scholarships for dancers in financial need, free tickets for youth to attend concerts, and in-school integrated arts residencies and school assembly performances.
Ballet Fantastique became an Oregon non-profit in 2003 and earned 501(c)(3) non-profit status in 2004. The organization was established to bring dance training, performance opportunities and performances to the Lane County area. The company’s first performance at the Hult Center was Danse Renaissance in June 2003. On October 30, 2010, Ballet Fantastique opened its City Center for Dance at 960 Oak Street, funded largely by a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust.
Classical ballets:
Selected list of new works created and choreographed by Donna and Hannah Bontrager for Ballet Fantastique:
Title | Music | Premiere |
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Tango Para Abel, St. Margaret's Tears, Illumination, Misterioso, Magie Noire, Viheula, and Jaco y Paco | Incendio, the Latin world guitar fusion band from L.A. | October 22, 2011 |
As You Like It: A Wild West Ballet (full-length ballet; two acts with prologue) | Aaron Copland, Hershy Kay, George Gershwin, Jacques Offenbach, Leroy Anderson, John Philip Sousa, Ferde Grofé, traditional saloon music, and original compositions for honkytonk piano by Jeremy DeKyle Schropp | April 16, 2011 |
Tango Forte | Dublex Inc. | January 29, 2011 |
Sunday Table | Pink Martini | January 29, 2011 |
Libertango | Astor Piazzolla | January 29, 2011 |
Gaucho, De Ushuaia a la Quiaca, Pampa | Gustavo Santaolalla | January 29, 2011 |
Juan Loco | Rodrigo y Gabriela | January 29, 2011 |
Jongo--No. 3 Suite Brasileira | Lorenzo Fernandez | January 29, 2011 |
Cinquenta Anos de Soledad | Original score Charles Gurke | January 29, 2011 |
Dime Amor | Enrique Cardenas, arranged and sung by Jessie Marquez | January 29, 2011 |
Mi Confesion | Gotan Project | January 29, 2011 |
Girl from Ipanema | Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto | January 29, 2011 |
Folk Suite | Traditional Irish and Celtic folk medleys | November 20, 2010 |
Desperation, Obsession, and Passion | John Corigliano, music from The Red Violin, with art by Adam Grosowsky from the Karin Clarke Gallery, suite of variations | November 20, 2010 |
Orion | Metallica, played by the Scorched Earth Orchestra | November 20, 2010 |
Bulgarska Tantsova Suita | Original score Jeremy DeKyle Schropp, suite of variations | November 20, 2010 |
Christmas Adagio | Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op. 6, No. 8, Arcangelo Corelli | November 20, 2010 |
Tales of Beatrix Potter (one-act ballet) | John Lanchbery | April 30, 2010 |
Love at the Cafe Terrace (25-minute ballet) | An original score (world premiere) by Eugene-based composer Jeremy DeKyle Schropp, with art by Rob Adams | 2009 |
Pourquoi me Reveiller, Je Crois Entendre Encore, Song to the Moon, Apres un Reve | Jules Massenet, from the opera Werther; Georges Bizet, from the opera The Pearl Fishers; Antonín Dvořák, from the opera Rusalka; Gabriel Fauré | 2009 |
La Vie en Rose, Je Suis une Enfant, Milord, Ma Jeunesse, Ta Tienne | Edith Piaf; Carla Bruni | 2009 |
Lagrima and Adelita | Guitar meditations with classical guitarist John Jarvie | 2009 |
Argentinian Dance and Besame Mucho | Trio Voronezh | 2009 |
Russian Ragtime, Waltz for Nicky and Strauss Polka | Trio Voronezh, suite of variations | 2009 |
New York Tango | Trio Voronezh | 2009 |
Breakfast at Tiffany's | Henry Mancini, Suite of variations | 2008 |
Carnival of the Animals | Commissioned by Eugene Symphony | 2008 |
Four Novelettes | Commissioned by and performed with the Oregon Mozart Players | 2008 |
Daphnis and Chloe | Commissioned by Eugene Symphony | 2008 |
La Soledad | Pink Martini, with art by Adam Grosowsky from the Karin Clarke Gallery | 2007 |
La Musica Notturna Delle Strade Di Madrid No. 6, Op. 30 | Luigi Boccherini | 2007 and 2010 |
Brazil | Pink Martini | 2005 |
Goldilocks & the Three Bears | Hérold-Lanchbery, La Fille Mal Gardee | 2005 |
Puss in Boots, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf | Tchaikovsky, Petipa, The Sleeping Beauty | 2005 |
Madama Butterfly | Giacomo Puccini | 2004 |
The Cakewalk Ballet | Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Kay | 2005 |
Casta Diva | Vincenzo Bellini (from the opera Norma) | 2003 |
Handel's Water Music | George Frideric Handel | 2003 |
Chopin Waltzes | Frederic Chopin | 2003 |
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