Minnesota Ballet

The Minnesota Ballet is a ballet company and school located in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1965 by Donna Harkins and Jan Gibson as the Duluth Civic Ballet, the company has since expanded into a touring company with sixteen professional artists. From 1992–2007 the Artistic Executive Director of the Minnesota Ballet was Allen Fields, who retired to become Artistic Director Emirtus. Fields acquired rights to works by master choreographer's like Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, and George Balanchine. He was succeeded by current Artistic Director Robert Gardner.

History


Before the Minnesota Ballet existed, Donna Harkin was a ballet teacher with a studio in Duluth. In spring 1965 she choreographed and produced the first all-ballet performance featuring area amateur dancers. The show proved so popular that Northlanders wanted to encourage the young dancers. In December 1965, twenty ballet supporters in the Duluth area formed a board of directors, with Jan Gibson as the first president, establishing the Duluth Civic Ballet with the intention of providing excellent instruction in ballet and using the area’s advanced students to form an amateur performing company. The first budget was $1,000.

Nearly fifty years later, the Ballet celebrates its growth into a professional touring company with significant artistic assets and a growing national reputation. Those years have seen exciting milestones attained as well as disappointments overcome. Every artistic director, with particular vision and strength, has shaped the Ballet’s growth, preparing the way for the next director. And always the community has supported and encouraged this gem of the Northland’s arts scene.

The Minnesota Ballet expanded into an internationally touring company in 1995 with a performance in San Salvador, El Salvador. Since then the Ballet regularly performs their Nutcracker production in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Minnesota Ballet also brings it's productions to other cities in Minnesota and the surrounding region.

School of The Minnesota Ballet

The School of the Minnesota Ballet is the premier ballet school in the area, with a faculty of current and former professional dancers skilled in many forms of dance; from classical ballet, to modern and tap. Classes range from Pre-Ballet through Ballet VII and pre-professional training; pointe, jazz, modern and tap are also offered. Additionally the School offers creative movement classes to accommodate those with special needs. The School offers annual opportunities for students to audition and perform in The Nutcracker with the professional company. The ballet company has a community outreach program designed to introduce the world of ballet to children throughout the region.

Company

Robert Gardner: The artistic director of the Minnesota Ballet.
In his early years, Gardner received scholarships to the North Carolina School of the Arts and the School of American Ballet in New York. He later joined the Joffrey II dancers and while touring America performed several ballets by Antony Tudor, Sir Frederick Ashton, Robert Joffrey, and Choo San Goh. Before he was granted the role of the artistic director of the Minnesota Ballet, Gardner danced in the company in roles including Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake Act II.

Jack Bowman: The director of the Festival Orchestra.
Bowman is also the Dean of the UMD School of Fine Arts. In addition he serves as music director/organist at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth. Jack Bowman is a British stage actor, who has appeared on stage in Britain for about fourteen years.

Kenneth Pogin: Production Manager and lighting design.
Pogin began his career with the Minnesota Ballet in 1997. He has worked with many celebrities, not just the Minnesota Ballet, like Toby Keith, Poison, and David Copperfield. He also helps out with the Duluth Festival Opera.

Sandra Ehle: Wardrobe designer.
Ehle joined the Minnesota Ballet team in 1998. Ehle attributes some of her talent to working under Betty Madden, the costume designer for Walt Disney Productions. She is well known for her historic costumes and tutus.

Cheryl Vander Heyden: Stage manager.
Heyden has been a part of the Minnesota Ballet Company for about four years now (2009). She has completed two technical degrees from two different Universities. Heyden has also traveled around internationally with other companies.

Choreographers

George Balanchine is a leading contemporary choreographer, is responsible for the choreography in the show "Who Cares?”, a show in the Minnesota Ballet repertoire. George Balanchine was born in St.Petersburg, Russia in 1904. At the young age of 29, he came to the United States, where he co-founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 with an American arts patron, Lincoln Kirstein. On October 11, 1948, The New York City Ballet was founded, and Balanchine became the principal choreographer and ballet master from 1948 until his death in 1983. Balanchine revolutionized classical ballet, by Americanizing his Russian influences. The two styles blended together, and created an upbeat dance.

Antony Tudor, originally named William John Cook, was born in London, England on April 4, 1908. Antony Tudor changed his name after becoming Dame Marie Rambert's general assistant. In 1939 he moved from London to New York City to help Lucia Chase and Agnes de Mille establish the Ballet Theatre (the American Ballet Theatre). He was resident choreographer of American Ballet Theater for ten years. Tudor choreographed with emotion of the whole body, not just with facial expressions. He also created works that were attentive to detail.

Penelope Freeh is a guest choreographer at the Minnesota ballet. Freeh has been a member of the James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis for fifteen years. In 1998 Freeh received a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship and also won a McKnight Fellowship for Dancers in 2003 she received a Jerome Foundation Travel Grant.

Repertoire

The company's repertoire includes performances from 1965 to the present, including:

2014-15 Company Dancers

Performance Season: 2014–2015

Special Events

Annual fundraising galas for the Minnesota Ballet and associated school:

Black and White Ball (September 26th, 2014)
Sugar Plum Fair (November 2nd, 2014)
Student presentations
Silent Auctions
Celebrity Dance Challenge (February 5th, 2015)
Northland Celebrities paired with Ballet Company dancers
All types of ballroom dances performed
Winners picked in different categories such as most elegant, most enthusiastic, best stage performance and many more.
Wine and Cheese (April 23rd, 2015)
Sample dozens of wines and micro-brewed beers
Sample food provided by local restaurants
Silent and live auctions


References

External links