Ballet

The music of Broadway will be the backdrop for the Garri Dance Studio’s 50th anniversary recital at the Alex Theatre next weekend. A Broadway-style show has been a tradition for Garri dance recitals, artistic director/owner Megan Baade said. “Garri usually had one recital every couple of years, and it was held in a school auditorium in Burbank,” Baade said. “This is our first time at the Alex.” The studio has outgrown the school, she said, so they are moving the show to the Glendale theater.

A local ballet company will give its audience a rare opportunity to see a repertoire of Russian ballet companies that brought the classical dance style to American audiences in the early 1900s. Dancers from Burbank-based Media City Ballet will perform selections of famous Russian ballets on April 27 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The program, “Ballet Russe Remembered,” is a tribute to the classical ballets, said Natasha Middleton, artistic director of the Media City Ballet.

Adults and youngsters are combining the art of dance with acting in the California Theatrical Youth Ballet’s annual performance of “The Snow Queen.” Artistic director and choreographer Erin Holt received training in the Martha Graham modern dance technique, and she perpetuates the practice in her 10th annual production scheduled for Dec. 21 to 23 at the Glendale Community College auditorium. “It’s extremely dramatic, and I think I get my dramatic intuition as a choreographer from my studies in the Graham method,” she said.

Mary O?Keefe/Valley Sun     M artha Graham said, "Dance is the hidden language of the soul." That is true — it is an art form that has been used to express the feelings of hope, despair and love since the beginning of civilization. But the fact is that dance is also very hard work that requires dedication and, as in most art forms, sacrifice. "I lost a lot of my social life," said 19-year-old La Cañada dancer Ryan Morrison.

Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” is returning to the Alex Theatre, but this year, theatergoers can see three productions of the classic holiday ballet. Dancers from Burbank’s Media City Ballet, The Red Chair Children’s Production Co. and the Los Angeles Ballet are rehearsing their own versions of the famous ballet. About 60 dancers from the Los Angeles Ballet will perform their full-length production on Nov. 29 and 30. “We are constantly making little changes and modifications in the ballet,” said Thordal Christensen, co-artistic director of Los Angeles Ballet.

Dancers from the Media City Ballet Company and guest artists will take the stage Saturday at the Alex Theatre for a night of ballet with a Spanish twist, complete with bold costumes, scorching choreography and dramatic music. The program for the ?Noche de Sabor? (?Night of Flavor?) performance will include a smorgasbord of ballet, flamenco, salsa and tango sets arranged to music from the likes of Astor Piazzolla, the master of tango, to ballet composer Ludwig Minkus. Natasha Middleton, the artistic director and founder of the company, decided a Spanish theme would make sense for a performance in August because of its associations with heat and passion.

Astrid Voss, former prima ballerina with the Royal Danish Ballet, taught the master class for Revolution Dance Center's first annual Summer Ballet Intensive. Eager intermediate/advanced and advanced ballet students found the class to be challenging and inspirational as Voss worked them through rigorous barre work, adagio, petite and grande allegro combinations and then discussed her professional ballet career and her current teaching position with The Colburn School. "We were very lucky to have Astrid spend time with our dancers," said RDC's ballet director Rebecca Thorne.

Global Ballet Workshops, a division of California Dance Arts located in La Cañada, has announced plans to send their students to the world famous Ostrava Ballet Workshop in Ostrava, Czech Republic from July 23 to August 19. While there, the students, led by directors and choreographers Erin Holt and Yehuda Maor will continue their intensive workshop and end their visit with a sole night performance of their production "Blind Journey" at the...

Ballet Petit Performing Arts Center will present a double bill on June 23 and 24 at the historic Alex Theatre. The world premiere of "Johnnie Appleseed," written and directed by Tracy Vonder Haar, will be performed by the tap company, and the senior, junior and ballet companies in residence at the Performing Arts Center. The cast will be rounded out by students from the tap, jazz and hip-hop departments. It is an adorable, toe-tapping tale of John Chapman, or in this case the female "Johnnie," sure to please audiences of all ages.

Media City Ballet Company rolled out the red carpet Saturday for a black-tie tribute to former dancers of the Ballet Russes at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. Five of the six former dancers being honored attended the gala titled "Men of the Ballet Russes," recognizing their contributions to the Ballet Russe founded in 1909 in Europe and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which toured the United States from 1938 to 1962. The event was choreographed and produced by Media City Ballet Company artistic director Natasha Middleton.