What a Month! ~ Alexandra Cunningham

On a cold morning, I am happily snuggled in front of a fireplace, relaxing on our day off and reflecting back on last months flurry of events.  October was a busy time for the ballet.  Between the Thriller Flash Mob; the Vampire Pub Crawl; Passions of the Heart in-studio events; Happy Hour with the Dancers the Masquerade Party and of course our performances at the Community Center Theater of Second Before the Ground, Serenade and Dracula - it was practically impossible to not get involved!

Although all of that is now over ... and Sacramento Ballet has switched gears and is now hard at work in preparation for The Nutcracker ... here are some highlights from our fang-tastic October:

Dancers outfitted and ready to dance the Thiller Flash Mob for the October Second Saturday

Getting into the groove dancing the Thiller Flash Mob on Second Saturday

Performing living sculptures on Second Saturday

Lovely ladies of the Sacramento Ballet at our first "Happy Hour with the Dancers" at Lucca's Resturant and Bar

Dancers on a fire truck with one the fireman from the "Dance of Fire Calendar" photo shoot

Chris teaching a room full of students the Thiller Flash Mob

An in-studio performance of Dracula as part of Artober

Chris leading the Thriller Flash Mob at the Midtown Arts Festival

Performing "Ballet du Murphy" at the Midtown Arts Festival

Natalya Whaba, head chef and owner of Cafe Americain, and myself during a photo shoot for the Masquerade Party

Isha and Stefan durning a dress rehearsal of Dracula

Rick and I during the dress rehearsal of Second Before the Ground

My two great friends Brik and Chloe with me after a performance of Serenade - we've danced this piece together 3 times now and each time is more special!

The cast of Dracula on set after the last show

Guests at the Masquerade Party

More guests at the Masquerade Party

Costumed guests at the "Count Dracula's Masquerade Party"

Dancers at the Photo Shoot Area durning the Masquerade Party

Lauryn and her boyfriend Robbie at the Masquerade Party

Six Disney Princess at the annual Dancer Halloween Party

Thank you for all our support, interest and involvement.  Sacramento Ballet thrives because our of our amazing community.  We love to perform for you and hope that you will continue to get to know us by coming to performances, in-studio lectures or our next Happy Hour with the Dancers this Wednesday at Cafeteria 15L: 

http://www.sacballet.org/index.php/upcoming_events/more_info/dancer_happy_hour/ 

In a few hours our run of Serenade will be over.  We have one performance left to experience the beauty of our incredible dancers in this great masterpiece.  It is my hope that every dancer will take away new inspiration in their chosen careers as professional artists.

I was privileged to dance Serenade often during my performing career with the Boston Ballet. I began in the corps, as all dancers do, and worked my way through the ranks. Sometime during the third or forth staging of Serenade I was cast in a Principal role. It takes many years to process the great imagery and musicality of this seminal work of art.

With a flash of happy nostalgia, I am posting two photos of myself dancing Serenade from the late 1970’s in both the Elegy and Waltz principal roles.  For a dancer, performing in Serenade is complete bliss, and these moments remain among my greatest memories.  

As an artistic director, what I most will take away from this joyous rehearsal period of Serenade is the bonding created among the dancers during the process.  I spent many hours with the women in the company discussing what it means to be a creative artist, how art reflects life, and shared meaningful personal experiences.  The special relationship we forged together brought a unity of purpose.  The result is magic on stage.

Carinne Binda 

A Season Sampler

Hello!

After an exciting weekend of performances and a day off, the dancers were back in the studio today.  The rehearsals today were more Nutcracker based, but don't worry we aren't quite done with the Dracula show just yet. There are still 2 more chances to see it! Actually, I was just thinking today about how this mixed show of Dracula is a good sampler of what is to come in the season. Plus, the three completely different pieces can help you decide which upcoming performances you will enjoy most. For example, if Trey McIntyre's fun and exciting Second Before the Ground was your favorite, be sure to check out the Modern Masters show in March. If George Balanchine's beautiful and breathtaking Serenade was your favorite, then the Genius Series in April is for you. And if you loved the thrilling storyline of Ron Cunningham's Draucla, don't miss The Nutcracker or Cinderella. If you loved them all....well, you know what to do!

The final two shows are this week Thursday and Friday at 7:30! Also, the dancers are really looking forward to Count Dracula's Masquerade Party on Saturday evening...See you there!!

~Katie Miller

Opening Night!!

     Greetings from Dressing Room 3!  It is just about 6:00pm, an hour and a half before the curtain rises on Sacramento Ballet's premier production of the 2011-2012 dance season.  The backstage area of the Community Center Theater is busy as dancers begin to filter out of their dressing rooms and towards the stage for a brief warm up class.  Earlier today we gave a free preview performance of Trey McIntyre's Second Before the Ground and Ron Cunningham's Dracula to an enthusiastic audience of high school students.  This abridged preview performance was an awesome way for the dancers to prepare for our main run of shows and for the Ballet to introduce artistic performance to the next generation - keeping the tradition of the arts alive and prosperous for our future!

     The few hours before opening night are filled with many different emotions.  In performance we must retain all that we have rehearsed throughout the prior weeks, while also expanding our artistry to another level.  These past few days in the theater I have been able to see my fellow dancers transform into beings of higher power, reminding me of the famous quote by Mr. Einstein: "Dancers are the athletes of God".  While on stage, staring into the dark void of the auditorium, there is a sense of inhibition and abadonment from one's self... it is an incomparable feeling that I cherish and can hardly explain in words.

     I have spent most of the late afternoon sitting in my dressing room, which I share with fellow dancers and friends: Stefan Calka & Oliver Adams.  I have kinda been laying low and preparing myself mentally for the evening.  In my dressing room I have hung some pictures to inspire me.  In February 2010, before performing Second Before the Ground, both myself and Darwin Black (a past company member) lost our Grandmothers.  Our performance that year was dedicated to them - and so to keep the tradition alive I have included pictures of all my matriarchs and patriarchs.  My Grandmother, Grandfather, Nana, Mother, Father and a picture of Darwin's Grandma: Bunny.  I also have a note hanging high on my mirror from my departed Grandparents that explains how proud they are of me and how special my gift of dance was to them.  Although none of my Grandparents ever had the opportunity to see me perform in a professional atmosphere I know that they are always watching me and know that they would be proud of me.  In my room I aslo have a small green box, given to me by an old friend - it's a "box of happiness" that includes items like: movie tickets, fortunes, merde or "good luck" cards, notes, comics, buttons, etc... things that remind me of pure joy.

      Here are some pictures of my dressing room and particularly my spot in the middle of it all - please excuse the mess - and hope you enjoy the glimpse into where I reside when not onstage.  HAPPY OPENING NIGHT!!!




Dressing Room 3: Stefan's spot on left, Oliver to the right and me in the middle.  Notice the shoes on the floor - I once heard that it was bad luck to have your performance shoes on your dressing table...so I always make sure to keep them by my feet!




A close up of my inspiration pictures: far left is my mother & father on their wedding day, above that is me playing my Garndma's piano as a little boy, below is my Nana, then a picture of my Grandma & Grandpa, and below that: Darwin's Grandmother "Bunny" sits atop my happy box.

You might also notice my McDonald's Monopoly game pieces, my ever present razor (being Italian = shaving a LOT!), a notebook to jot down corrections, some chocolate for energy and plenty of band-aids - I am kind of accient prone.

     

    

The process is almost done, it's theatre time!

Yesterday we had our last in-studio rehearsal and I believe everyone is quite excited to transition to the theatre and begin performing.  For me, it was an anxious night as I left the studio. It is my job to be sure every dancer feels on top of their game by the time we reach the theatre.  I often feel like a coach for the Olympics, responsible for that one perfect performance. But of course we dance all year long from Sept to May.  I hope to motivate my dancers to make each performance that one perfect performance. I have a reputation of being a hard task master, but I am always hardest on myself.  Today I ask myself if I have uncovered every self conscious moment of doubt a dancer struggles with in their quest for perfection. 

Earlier today, I threw away at least 100 pages of notes from various run through's.  Those notes were no longer valid because our journey of transitioning from studio to stage is a completely different experience.  It is both exciting and challenging.  If I have prepared the dancers well, it should go smoothly.  I won't know, however, until opening night if I have I taught them everything they need to know to feel the same incredible exaltation I felt as a dancer in Serenade?  I will share my personal experience of dancing Serenade with the Boston Ballet in my next entry.

Carinne Binda

Fun in the Sun

Yesterday was our day off and since it was such a beautiful day, a group of us dancers decided to do something fun.  We went to Negro Bar, a state park in Folsom that has lots of trails and places to swim.  We spent the afternoon jumping off a giant rock into the lake.  It was sunny and super hot, but the water was freezing and it felt great.  It was so nice to spend time with friends outside of the studio, doing something outdoors and feeling like you're revisiting summer one last time...it was a great, relaxing thing to do before we start all the craziness of moving into the theater this week.  Here are some pictures from the day...you'll see we even managed to fit in a little Serenade rehearsal :)

See you all at the shows this weekend!

--Ava

She's Down!

Hello,

On Saturday I danced "Russian Girl" in Serenade, one of the 3 soloist parts.  It is an absolute dream to be able to work on this part.  It is a dream to dance any part in Serenade, corps or soloist. Anyway, I had been taking care of an injury so Saturday was the first time I had run Russian in more then a week!  I felt pretty nervous.  The directors and dancers plus my parents and husband were watching and I wanted to do the part right. Here is how my first entrance went.......

Somehow it didn't hurt at all. It was like I landed on a foam mat or something that bounced me right back up into fourth position, and on the beat too! 

Til soon,

Chloe Horne