Dracula

Yesterday we finally put all the parts of Dracula together and it was exciting to see...I play one of the "Ghost Brides" of Dracula and didn't really know a lot about the ballet (I've never seen Ron's version before).  It was great to see all the different characters and their various stories in the ballet.  It's a somewhat creepy story, something we don't normally get to do, so it's fun to see everyone acting as vampires or ghosts or as Dracula himself...such a fun piece to do at this time of year. :)

-Ava

Little more than 3 weeks!!

Three weeks from today we'll be in the theater getting ready for opening night!!!  I can't tell you how excited I am.... we are dancing 3 amazing pieces that are so different and so special in their own way, the audience is in for such a treat!  One of the reasons that I'm particularly excited about this rep is that my younger brother will be flying all the way from Massachussets to see me dance!  I moved away from home before I graduated from high school so that I could pursue a career in ballet.  It was hard to leave my family at such a young age, but it was something I felt I had to do in order to make this happen.  I wasn't lucky enough to grow up in an area that had a professional company like Sacramento Ballet nearby to learn from, so I had to travel elsewhere to get the best training I could.  I lived in New York, Florida and Virginia before moving out here last year, all while my family was back home in Connecticut.  And while they have always been very supportive, I always felt a little bad being the big sister of a younger brother and sister while being so far away.  And yet now they're both wonderful successful adults and big sis couldn't be more proud :) !!  Performing is always an amazing experience, but having someone important to you in the audience always makes it even more inspiring.  So if you see me smiling extra big on the 23rd you'll know why!!!  Everyday the pieces are looking better and better, and I can't wait to see the final product!  Its not to be missed!!!

-Lauren Breen

The Sacramento Ballet Blogspot for daily updated frustrations, pleasures, pains, and thoughts!

This SAC BALLET BLOG, written by the dancers of The Sacramento Ballet, is a fantastic way to get to know us and also to understand more about the incredible profession of a professional ballet dancer.
We're just about religious in our habits to keep our bodies at the same high standard of performance - taking daily class, intense stretching, eating well, and cross training which includes anything from running, yoga and pilates, to tai chi and ball games in the park. Each Monday morning since the start of season 2011-2012 I've been guiding a chill, 45min IM=X Pilates session before our daily technique class and participants have informed me how much more grounded they are throughout the day.
Let's not forget of course the hours we can spend in the hot tub, sauna, or steam room to relax our muscles and calm our spirits.

You can read about Chloe's dance bag, Roberto's repeat experience with Second Before the Ground, and watch our Blood Source video or my own summer adventures and Katie's work in video editing.What's fun about this is you not only get the inspiring personal accounts of different ballets from the dancers, the history of famous ballet pieces and choreographers and repertoirs but also the pain and struggles that accompany any company working towards a production - information you're not suppose to know by just coming to our shows.



With a profession that requires us to only present the ease and love of a performance, our audiences don't see the sometimes frustrating process that gets us there; whether that frustration means ever-present blisters on our toes from constantly wearing pointe shoes, massive bruises, sliced fingers, falls, partners not in-sync, muscle injuries, tendon injuries requiring surgery, dead pointe shoes, sprained ankles..  the list of frustrations go on and on...all of which did in fact happen in the first two weeks of work at The Sacramento Ballet.
KEEP CHECKING The Sacramento Ballet Blogspot for daily updated frustrations, pleasures, pain, and thoughts!

Have you bought your tickets for our first performances??

Trey McIntyre's "SECOND BEFORE THE GROUND"
George Balanchine's "SERENADE"
Ron Cunningham's "DRACULA"

October 22nd @7:30, 23rd @2, 27th @7:30 & 28th @7:30
Individual Tickets on sale now:
Call: 916-808-5181 (mon-sat, 10am-6pm)
OR: http://www.Tickets.com
http://www.sacballet.org/tickets

~Isha

My Dance Bag

I usually carry three bags around the studio. One is a huge yellow crocheted bag that holds sometimes up to ten pairs of pointe shoes and various stinky toe pad thingies. The other is a small department store bag with shoes I am currently sewing and my sewing kit. The third bag is the one I'm showing you here:

In this bag I keep my journal, where I write thoughts I have throughout the day and notes I get in rehearsals, a book that I might read if I get a long break somewhere, gum to spare my partner of bad tuna breath, antibiotics I'm taking for a lovely infected corn I got within the first week of work, 3 homeopathic supplements, electrolyte powder and Emergen-c, lipstick(sometimes this will help your dancing like nothing else!), Jet glue(we put it in the tips of our pointe shoes to make them last longer), extra tape and padding thingies(I'm always trying new ways to make my feet just a bit more comfortable), a "Black Swan" case(the whole company got these cases for free which holds things only ladies use), Neosporin and Band-Aids for bloody blisters, a roll of toilet paper(for you-know-what when they don't let us leave the studio...just kidding it's for runny noses and padding my toes), and a green toe separator...to separate my toes. That's all the stuff I usually have but somehow it seems I pack around much more. It's been a long process of trying to get my dance bag organized, but I think I'm getting pretty close.

Chloe Horne

Second Before the Ground ... Second Time Around

     This past week The Sacramento Ballet invited Jim Payne back to the studios in order to re-stage Trey McIntyre's contemporary ballet "Second Before the Ground".  I was lucky enough to be apart of this ballet when it made it's premier in Sacramento two years ago - I am reviving my previous role as one of the five men, who almost seem to act as the "Greek Chorus", creating the overall tone throughout the ballet.  I love this ballet, because of the unique choreographic structure and the technical demand it requires from the men of the Sacramento Ballet - comparable to how George Balanchine's "Serenade" (also presented in the same program) showcases the beauty and strength of the women in the company.

    
     The dancers of the Sacramento ballet are very special, because they are not only friends and coworkers, but are also amazing teachers and motivators.  I am very happy to be dancing with fellow company member, Lauren Breen, and although this is her first time learning this ballet she is so wonderful at helping me master some of the more difficult lifts and partnering sections in the 1st and 4th movements. (Lauren and I are also huge Lady Gaga fans and enjoy spending some of our down time talking about how awesome she is!)  All the dancers seem to grow closer while learning a new ballet, especially when the men and women are partnered with others they haven't had the opportunity to work with.

     I am very excited for our upcoming performances and all the great events that The Sacramento Ballet are hosting!  Tell a friend... or two...or more and help spread the word about this amazing company!

-Roberto Cisneros

Sunday - Alexandra

I've just returned from a show in Roseville by Kunst-Stoff, the San Francisco based dance company directed by Yannis Adinou (one of the choreographers for the Sacramento Ballet's Capital Choreography Competition last year).  I was wonderful to catch up with Yannis and his artisits and to sit in the audience for once!  It's always interesting to view dance from a different perspective and it's not often that I get to enjoy a performance of another company since we are normally rehearsing or performing ourselves.  Tonight's show gave me some good food for thought as we prepare for our own performances of Serenade, Second Before the Ground and Dracula.

Although it's late on Sunday night as I type this, I am not worried because we have a day off tomorrow was well!  It's been such a busy week that having two and half days off is a real treat.  I've managed to get a good chunk of chores done (including starting to move into my new place which I'm very excited about!) and have some fun with friends.

Below is a video that we did a couple of weeks ago as part of a promotion for Dracula and the Bloodsource. I get a kick out of being in things like this.  Enjoy and have a wonderful week!

Thinking Happy Thoughts

It has been a very long week but we finished learning Second Before The Ground!  This is the first time I have had an opportunity to dance in a Trey McIntyre piece and it has been such a fun experience.  Sacramento Ballet has performed Second Before the Ground a couple times before so a few of us had to play a little bit of catch-up.

Yesterday was the first day we ran through Second Before The Ground and let me tell you it was no piece of cake!!  Before we started dancing, Jim Payne (our stager for Second Before The Ground), explained to us the meaning of the ballet’s title, he said to imagine if you were freefalling, all the love, happiness, and joy you experienced in your life flashes through your mind that last second before you hit the ground.  Not the greatest thought but extremely inspiring; the ballet is so much fun but by the end we were all dripping sweat! I know that’s not exactly what anyone wants to hear, but it’s true!  Today we ran through the ballet again, twice! The dancers made a list of happy thoughts to help us with the feeling of the piece which included everything from sunshine to popular television shows.  We have four weeks before our show at the Community Center and from now until then I am going to try and let the ballet guide and inspire me. 

Starting Tuesday, we will start preparing and piecing together all of our upcoming show!  That means we have a long four weeks ahead of us but I know we will manage to make it fun!

Lauryn Winterhalder

After a week of rehearsing Serenade and other pieces by Balanchine, we've switched gears and started learning a ballet by Trey McIntyre called Second Before the Ground.  The quirky, contemporary movement was certainly a big change from Serenade, but it's been just as much of a joy to learn.  As an Apprentice with the company I'm cast as an understudy for Nicole, one of the Company Members, which means that I won't perform this ballet, but I still have to learn her part and attend all the rehearsals in case she gets injured or sick.  Nicole's part includes a lot of partnering, so fellow Apprentice Alex Stewart and I have been enjoying the opportunity to work on our partnering skills and solve whatever problems we run into.  It's really satisfying for us to find solutions to our issues on our own!  The company also has an "open door" policy when it comes to understudying, so the other day Roberto and I stepped into a rehearsal for one of the main pas de deuxs in the ballet even though we weren't required to be there.  Partnering is a skill both of us wanted to work on, and it was really fun to learn something new, even if there's no chance we'll perform it.  There's a bit less pressure when you're just learning something for fun, so just working on the choreography is very gratifying.  I'm excited to keep learning the ballet for the rest of the week and see how it develops!  We'll be performing Second Before the Ground in October along with Serenade and Dracula; don't forget to get your tickets!

~Tess

Because professional ballet dancers do have normal lives outside of the studios and theatres...

The best summer of my life - Adventures in 2011

Besides being able to be a part of a best friend's wedding in Belize, early January 2011, I was very lucky enough to begin an adventure this summer that began as a childhood dream  - to travel and explore new places and cultures. Traveling within Europe was cheaper than I had anticipated but my time was limited.  Beginning in London, fellow dancer Oliver, showed me the ropes! From phenomenal musicals, the London Eye, the Tower of London, London Bridge, The National Gallery, The Tate, The Royal Opera House, to famous spaces like The Borough Market, Shakespeare's Globe, Piccadilly Square, Buckingham Palace, finding famous Street Art - Banksy and Space Invader, and getting last minute tickets to see The Royal Ballet do one of my all-time favorite ballets, Glen Tetley's "Voluntaries" I was like a little girl at her first carnival. (Oh did I forget to mention real fish & chips with mushy peas?)
I attended the famous Wireless Music Festival 2011, taught Pilates and Ballet classes in Stoke-On-Trent and visited beautiful Chester.
From there I made my way via RyanAir to Bratislava, Slovakia enjoying the culture and relatively cheap living for a couple days, before training it to Vienna, Austria, the music & art capital of the world. Here, I was just stunned by the immense but detailed, regal architecture and exquisite sculptures.

Next, a week in magnificent Italy. Italians are so kind on the Mediterranean, or at least in Alghero, Sardinia, the largest island off the west coast of Italy. Highlights here include simply being with amazing people in a gorgeous place but also, jogging alongside the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, riding atop the bluest of blue seas, the best damned gelato the world can offer and lets not forget the most amazing carbohydrate-loading deliciousness that is their pizzas and pastas.

Then back home to Montana for a month of dancing, Pilate certifications, shooting with Dad, cooking with Mom and relaxation.
To top it off, a last minute trip to Japan across the sea in the other direction, to see family, which was in itself the most important trip of all. I fell in love with the country all over again...
Growing up in the US, I only read about some of these far off places and drooled over photos with promises to someday Be There, and I finally just decided to...do it.
Cheers! Nostrovia! Prost! or かんぱい！   

~Isha

A FABULOUS Oct rep, right here in downtown Sacramento at your Community Center Theatre.
 Dracula - Serenade - & - Second Before the Ground
Do not miss the great combination of 'ballet and vampires' in Ron Cunningham's "Dracula", nor the absolute intoxicating beauty of Balanchine's "Serenade",  and the heartwarming magic of Trey McIntyre's "Second Before the Ground". More info at SACBallet - tickets starting at $17!

Don't forget to check out fellow dancer Katie, video #1, and her weekly video compilations (SacBallet channel) of just some of what is going on in The Sacramento Ballet studios!

An inside look...

Have you ever wondered what goes on at the ballet studios during all the weeks leading up to the shows? Well, here is your chance to have an inside look! Each week, I will be posting a video that shows what we were up to in rehearsals throughout the week. It will be a great way for you to follow our progress and catch some sneak peeks of what the upcoming show will look like. The videos will be posted on the ballet's YouTube channel, and the Sacramento Ballet website under "Upcoming Events".

Below is a link to check out the first video! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=286XbEFLsP8

Be sure to check back next week to see how Week 2 went!
Happy Monday!

~Katie Miller

Sunday Funday....Nicole Haskins

Well, we made it through our first full week back. In a record 6 days we learned 5 different Balanchine pas de deuxs and Serenade which we will perform with Dracula, (and is also one of my top two Balanchine ballets). There aren’t many companies in the world who could have pulled this off, and I think we all passed out after rehearsals on Saturday, or at least I did. It’s such an amazing feeling to be so tired and exhilarated at the same time, and that’s exactly how Saturday’s “half day” (which really meant we shoved a whole day’s worth of dancing into a shorter time slot) left me. So Sunday you would think I would just lay around all day recovering, or more aptly I would think I would do that, but instead I spent the day running errands, cleaning, doing laundry, catching up on emails, and even going to the gym....sometimes my “day off” feels more like working than my job does, which in hindsight might just be a good thing. At the end of the day, Tess Lane and Alexandra Cunningham came over to help me make some enchiladas for our dinner night tomorrow to discuss our upcoming Maquerade Party. I’m super excited to start going out into the city to rally up donations for the party, whether it be make-up artists to help transform our guests into vampires and ghosts, or gift certificates for people to win in the drawing, or costume shops offering discounts to people attending the event. I love how generous the business of Sacramento have been towards the dancers and our events and it’s always fun to meet people who are just as passionate as us about protecting, preserving, and helping to prosper the arts in this city. Which reminds me if YOU would like to help us out you can email us at SacBalletDancers@gmail.com. We are organizing so many cool events this year (check out Chris’s Thriller Flashmob, or our monthly happy hours for a start), and this is on top of all the amazing dancing we are doing throughout the season. So come and support your local ballet company, you might be surprised how much fun you’ve been missing!!

THRILLER!

So yesterday was the last day of a very long and difficult week for all the dancers of the Sacramento Ballet.  It has been said that a dancer becomes a "Balanchine dancer" by learning and dancing the repetoire that has been choreographed and handed down from one dancer to the next.  I believe that this tradition of learning the choreography of this great master, George Balanchine, from one of his pupils - such as the incomparable, John Clifford, is an invaluable experience that can not be duplicated by any other means.  While our world is constantly developing technologically, it is a special feeling to just stand in a large, stark room with another individual and learn dance steps the same way as has been for decades.  To dance and learn one of these ballets is special, because you are dancing a piece of a legacy - honoring the choreography and all the amazing dancers who have successfully executed the difficult and demanding steps.  When learning "Stars and Stripes" or "Tarantella" from Mr. Clifford you are given a glimpse into history, while watching Mr. Clifford recall an anecdote of Mr. Balanchine's or as he sings the music aloud; trying to remember the movements he once performed.  We are very lucky that The Sacramento Ballet continues to preserve this ballet tradition.

At the end of the day on Saturday - I was joined by a group of eager parents and students from the School of The Sacramento Ballet, to start preparing our THRILLER FLASHMOB.  Although the week's activities had exhausted my brain and muscles I was immedietly rejuvenated by this great group of people.  If you haven't already heard - The Sacramento Ballet is going to perform a Flashmob in Midtown, performing Michael Jackson's iconic "Thriller" dance!  With the guidance of Ron & Carrine I have more or less taken the reigns of this project - spending time learning and formatting how this is all going to work.  If yesterday was just an example of how this is all going to turn out....then I am really pumped.  Yesterday I along with my group of volunteers learned the main dance portion of the mob, and we were joined by our videographer, Glen, who is going to help us make a viral video, so that people can learn the dance at home as well!!!  I also want to invite you all to come and learn the dance on Saturday, October 8 from 6-6:30pm at the Sacramento Ballet studios and then again during our "Dracula's Passions of the Heart" in-studio previews!  Although the time and place of the THRILLER FLASHMOB are being kept a secret, you can learn exact details in the upcoming weeks by tracking the Sacramento Ballet on Facebook & Twitter.  So come on all you ghouls - dust off your moonwalking skills and help us MOB MIDTOWN!

Always, Christopher

     So I've been back to work for about a week now, and as you can probably tell by the huge bruise on my leg it hasn't been easy!!  Getting used to being back to work while learning two new ballets has been lots of hard work, but also so much fun!  In Dracula I'm understudying a dance for 3 vampire women, which is the first dance from Dracula that I've learned.  In the dance the girls crawl on the floor, jump up on a table and try to attack one of the other characters.  So when we were in rehearsal last week I tried to execute all of the vampire's moves, which are not necessarily steps already in a dancers vocabulary.  I ran over to the table, jumped up, and jumped into the table instead of onto it! I don't think I looked much like a vampire, but at least I ended up with a great bruise to show for my efforts!  Luckily we have a few more weeks until the shows, and when you come to the performances we'll all have it down!

    Next we changed gears and started dancing Serenade.  This is a gorgeous ballet with some of my favorite music and choreography.  Tonight was our first Inside the Director's Studio and we all had a great time!  The flowing, luxurious choreography feels amazing to dance, almost like it comes second nature.  We were lucky enough to have John Clifford, a representative from the Balanchine Trust, here to speak to the audience and give them a behind the scenes look at Serenade, with stories about its history and well-known ballerinas who danced the ballet before us.  Since these Inside the Director's Studio performances happen right in our rehearsal space, the audience gets a very up close and personal view of the dancers as we showed excerpts of the ballet.  Its a wonderful experience for dancers and audience members alike, so I hope you all come and check out our next in-studio preview next month!

-Lauren B. 

Serenade...done!

We finally finished learning the last few bits of Serenade today!  Now we have all the pieces of the ballet in place and will start the long process of cleaning the ballet...clarifying steps and counts, making sure formations are right, and working on the actual technique of this challenging ballet.  Serenade is hard but such a rewarding piece to do, especially for the girls...it seems to bring us all closer together as we continue to do it.  This is the second time I've done this ballet, and I can't wait to see how it is dancing it with a new group of people.  Right now I've got a bit of a break before I change gears to go into Dracula rehearsals and then end my day...earlier me, Katie, Alysia, and Alex Stewart all did a bit of a work out together in Studio 2 and now we're just hanging around until our next rehearsals start.

Don't forget about our Inside the Director's Studio tomorrow (Friday) from 6-7 pm @ the Sac Ballet Studios...it's going to be a great one!

-Ava

Serenade Rehearsals! Photos by Alexander Biber

Inside the Directors Studio

America's First Masterpiece: Serenade 

In 1935, George Balanchine created Serenade, the Master's first work on American soil. John Clifford, Ballet Master from the Balanchine Trust, gives an inside look at this timeless masterpiece.

September 16, 2011
When: 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Where: Sacramento Ballet Studios – 1631K Street, Sacramento CA
Tickets: $15
Call: (916) 552-5800 x2 

Seventy-seven years of "Serenade"

     While some of the company started the season last week learning sections of Ron Cunningham’s Dracula and several pas de deux from the George Balanchine repertory, most of the women you’ll see on stage on October 22, 23, 27, and 28 at the Community Center Theater began their contracts Monday, the first day of learning Balanchine’s Serenade.  As one of the extra-company dancers in town for just this ballet, cast for twenty women and six men, I have been thinking about not only the significance of dancing the ballet, but also the long history of Serenade, choreographed in 1934.

     The first original ballet Balanchine created in America, Serenade was made for students at the choreographer’s School of American Ballet, which he had opened with financial and administrative enabler Lincoln Kirstein in New York City earlier that year.  Balanchine had left the Soviet Union via Europe and hoped to start an American professional ballet company distinguished by his impressions of the country, his aesthetic values, and his innovations within ballet technique, all of which would impact Western concert dance for the rest of the twentieth century and beyond.  Having already made his name as a choreographer with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and other ballet companies as well as in musical revues and operettas in London and Paris, Balanchine built the foundation for his American legacy through his school. Serenade counts as a monumental dance from this formative era of American ballet.

     Consider the context in which Balanchine was creating Serenade: The world was suffering in the middle of the Great Depression. Fascism was rising in Europe. Economic and political uncertainty haunted the consciousness of many Americans. How might audiences have responded to the serene and vivacious moments of Serenade?  How might we see it differently, or connect with it similarly, today, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and this country’s sharp political divide?

     Serenade is an abstract ballet. Though many have read into it romantic narratives and thematic love and loss, Balanchine created a body of work far removed from the singular meanings expressed in socialist realist propaganda ballets of the Soviet Union he left, or from any prescribed political agenda.  Balanchine’s ballets are characterized by crystalline form and finely detailed musicality.  When watching the ballet as an audience member, I sometimes let the music wash over me as my eyes rest upon sweeping patterns across the stage, blurred by flourishes of tulle from the women’s romantic-styled long skirts; other times, I read my own meaning into the gentle suggestions of interpersonal drama, symbolic images, and alternately hopeful and dark worldviews, letting my imagination color the structures Balanchine built with only music, dancing, and simple costumes.   

     John Clifford, repetiteur with The George Balanchine Trust, not only teaches us the choreography of Serenade, but also relays anecdotes and ideas Balanchine communicated to the dancers of the New York City Ballet during the time Clifford was a leading dancer and a choreographer there, from 1966 through 1974, and then, after forming his own company in Los Angeles, as a guest artist until 1980. 

     On Monday, we started at the beginning of the ballet: Opening chords of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade in C for string orchestra, Op. 48 descend before a closed curtain.  Powerful music is coupled with the utmost simplicity choreographically—a choice as descriptive of Balanchine’s musicality as any of his complex designs.  Clifford told us that Balanchine used seventeen women for the opening, and other numbers for the various sections, because in his early days working in the United States, dancers rehearsed in the evenings, unpaid, and he could never be sure how many would show up on any given day.  Balanchine spaced the women on stage like orange groves he’d seen in California.  On his drive up to Sacramento last week from his home in Los Angeles, Clifford was reminded of this formation when passing fledgling trees: Light passes through the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines. Clifford told us that Balanchine had said that had he had the more easily divisible number of sixteen, he would have placed the dancers in equal lines, a common classical ballet formation. 

     Balanchine left us an inheritance of his ballets, his artistic style, and his innovations in ballet technique. He also taught through the example of his own ingenuity, working with the materials he had.  Whether adapting to a changing number of dancers in the rehearsal room, accommodating a limited budget for costumes, or creating for an audience that did not have its own ballet tradition, Balanchine worked within his means and still created ballets that have stayed relevant for more than seventy-five years. The opening of Serenade could remind us to make the most of what we have, however seemingly limited, and to take time to listen, be still, and stand together.

--Emily Hite

Serenade makes me cry

We all have significant moments in our life where we are aware of something deeper and more vivid than what we usually experience. I feel like Serenade shows us this sublime beauty that is contained in a moment. Waking up next to the one you love, smiling at a stranger on the street, sitting at countless stop lights. These moments we pass through every day are much more exquisite than I ever notice. Serenade stretches and widens time, gets us past the filters of normal that we are used to and gives us a 32 minute glimpse of the light and miracle in which we live.

And.. it is going to get my butt in shape!!


We can do it girls!
Chloe

Happy Hour tomorrow night at Lucca 5-6 Don't miss out

Some of the beautiful dancers of The Sacramento Ballet 

Now Happy Hour with the Sacramento Ballet!
Don't miss out on the fun or your first chance to meet some of the new dancers.
5:00-6:00pm at Lucca Restaurant & Bar

Photos By Alexander Biber

Join the dancers this Wednesday at Lucca's from 5pm-6pm for the first "Happy Hour with the Dancers."  The event is free and it's your chance to get the inside scoop on the start of the season.  We just started rehearsing Serenade today and there are a lot of new dancers joining the company for this repertory.  A bunch of us went to the Spaghetti Factory tonight to celebrate several dancers birthdays - I had such a blast relaxing over pasta dishes and catching up with everyone.  So join the fun and come meet us all on Wednesday!

A Dancer's Weekend

Two days off are always fun - and much needed after the first week back to rehearsing full time!  (My toes needed a rest from pointe shoes!).  Yesterday, Saturday, dancers Lauren Breen, Nicole Haskins and Isha Llyod and I attend the Guac Fest at the Urban Hive.  We taste tested 16 different guacamole's while mingling with other Sacramento food and art adventurists.  My personal favorites had pesto, blue cheese or cilantro bases - who knew that there are some many different ways to prepare mashed avocados!?  Later in the evening we performed "living sculptures" at the Kennedy Art Gallery on 20th and K Street as part of the 2nd Saturday Art Walk.  We ended the evening with a crew of SacBallet dancers to celebrate Lauren Winterhaulder's 21st birthday - friends and water guns always make for good times.  Today, Sunday, I had a chance to catch up on chores (you know the usual grocery run, laundry and cleaning that has to be done) but my favorite part of the day came this evening.  Fellow dancer Alex Stewart and his brother Tim Stewart (producers and directors for the hit show At the Ballet I and II) joined Stefan Calka, Lauren Breen, Michael Vester and I at my apartment to brainstorm ideas for a new video series about the Ballet Company.  Stay tuned for more information about this hilarious mockumenary debuting on Facebook, the blog and youtube soon.  Like the new Sacramento Ballet Dancers page on Facebook to get all the updates.

I am excited to start rehearsing again tomorrow because we will be learning one of my all time favorite ballets - Serenade.  Choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine, this piece is truly special to dance, spiritual even.  This will be my third time dancing this piece with the Sacramento Ballet, but it never gets old because it is simply gorgeous and incredibly fulfilling to dance.  It is a piece made for 17 women and 6 men and I can't wait to experience it with this talented and invested company of dancers.  I am also looking forward to soaking up as much knowledge as I can from John Clifford (the man who will teach and coach us through Serenade).  One of Balanchine's original dancers, John Clifford contains a wealth of information and a vast collection of stories from his time dancing with Ballet's choreographic genius, George Balanchine. 

I'd love to write more but I must get some rest.  I'll see you Wednesday at Lucca's for the first "Happy Hour with the Dancers" (5pm-6pm) and fill you in on more then!  

~ Alexandra

Saturday!

Hi I am Chloe Horne. I officially started my 4th season with this fantastic company on Thursday. In the first two days of work we learned 4 pas de deuxs (dances between a man and a woman) choreographed by Balanchine, plus some good and vicious vampire action as well.
 I wish every person, not just dancers could experience dancing Balanchine's work. I learned 3 of of the 4 pas including "Stars and Stripes", "Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux" and "La Sonnambula". Each is a masterpiece and an absolute gift to be able to work on. This crash course in Balanchine's work reminds me of attending the Sacramento Ballet summer program from the age of 10 to 15 or so. Carinne (the co-dirictor of Sac ballet) would stuff our heads with as many variations as possible each week. I relished it. I loved it! The past few days felt like a grown up version of that.  Inspiration and excitement have been waking me up at night. Aspects of choreography pop into my head that I can't wait to tell my husband about or want to do right then - at 3 in the morning.  I am very happy and grateful to have this job. 

During the course of our day we get to be immersed in elegant and beautiful movement for an hour and then work on being evil, sensual, full of blood-lust vampires the next, then back to a completely different dance that calls for spunk and playfulness. We hear stories of the legendary men and women that left legacies through dancing the very choreography we are learning. We laugh a whole lot and us ladies whine about the state of our toes. It is so good to be back. I hope you join us often to read our blog updates and see our performances. One of my most favorite parts of my job is that I get to watch incredible dancers all day! You should come be inspired by it too!

Photos from yesterday's video shoot at The Blood Source Photos By Alexander Biber

Cinderella arriving at Blood Source 

Followed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and Lucy from Dracula   

The Nutcracker waiting to get his blood drawn 

Don't forget the pointe shoes 

The Camera Crew 

Do you think this Blood Source employee is really going to let Dracula into the blood bank?  

Finding out the facts 

The Sugar Plum waits to get her blood drawn 

Interested in what is going to happen next? Keep following the blog to find out!

4 Days in - Alexandra Cunningham

Wow, what a day!  Last week at this time, I had only been back in Sacramento for 24 hours after traveling to the east coast to visit family over summer vacation - yes I did experience the earthquake and hurricane Irene.  Fast forward to present, and I'm lying on my living room floor, feet up, dinner in belly and reflecting on the day's events.  We've only been rehearsing for a couple of days now, but I've already learned the majority of my role as Mina in Ron Cunningham's Dracula.  After two full run throughs, Stefan, Isha, Amanda, Alex Stewart and I carpooled over to the Bloodsource to shoot a video promo for Dracula and all the events that are planned this Fall.  Later, Lauren Breen and I met with the organizers of Sacramento's Artober to discuss plans for the Dancer's Fund raising event - Count Dracula's Masquerade.  So, when I say, "what a day" I really mean - I can't believe how exciting it is to be back at work!

While I've never been a huge Vampire fan - well, besides my obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I am absolutely loving playing the good girl gone vampire bad in Dracula.  The pas de deux that I dance with Dracula, played by either Chris or Stefan, is utterly transcending to dance - no doubt because both Chris and Stefan, although they play the character slightly different, are very attentive and "in the moment" partners.  They are fully engaged both physically and in character so telling the story with them feels like second nature.  I can't wait to see how we evolve our roles over the coming weeks of rehearsals.

Well, although there is so much more to share - I must sew pointe shoes for tomorrow, ice my feet (they are very sore!) and prepare a few more things for the Masquerade Party.  Stay tuned for more insights on the making of Dracula.  And don't forget to check in with us often - September and October are jam packed with amazing events leading up to our performances.  It all concludes with the ultimate celebration - just in time for Halloween Weekend -(http://www.sacballet.org/index.php/upcoming_events/more_info/count_draculas_masquerade_party_like_the_undead/).

Check out everything we are doing here: http://sacballet.org/index.php/upcoming_events/  It all starts next Wednesday, September 14th at 5pm:  Join us for the first "Happy Hour with the Dancers" at Lucca's Restaurant and Bar - it's free (well besides your drink ;D) and we are looking forward to filling you in on the start of our Season!

Alexandra Cunningham

First Bite of the New Season

     So today marks the official beginning of the 2011-2012 Sacramento Ballet season and I already have a feeling that this is going to be a pretty incredible year.  Coming back to the studios after a long summer is comparable to the first day back at school – there is a sense of excitement for the new opportunities and challenges that lie ahead and an irrefutable fear of those same aches, pains and emotional currents that plague every dancer’s life.  However it is with confidence that we don our dance attire and head into “Studio One” for our morning ballet class with Ms. Carrine Binda. 

     The first few classes of a new season are my very favorite, because there is an overwhelming sense of camaraderie among the dancers that is unique to any other time of the year – we greet each other with the biggest smiles in the mornings, exchange hugs and summer stories between combinations and support one another through the universal understanding that we are all sore!   Although we each attempt to “stay in shape” as much as possible throughout our summer’s off, very little can prepare you for the advanced body control and extreme technicality that our artistic directors demand from us … which is what makes our company dancers so wonderful to watch on the stage and in the studio.

     With the season getting into full swing we are so excited about all of the MANY events we have going on!  This season The Sacramento Ballet is truly going to be a driving force in the community and we hope that you take every opportunity to celebrate the Ballet (even if that means dressing up in your deadly best to perform with the company in a special flash mob…it’ll be a scream – pun intended). Already the dancers have been out this Labor Day weekend at “Chalk It Up!” where a local artist Ashton Bohm, created an awesome and whimsical piece of sidewalk art for the ballet and fellow dancer Roberto Cisneros joined in the fun to promote the Sacramento Ballet fundraiser: “Count Dracula’s Masquerade Party” .  Make sure to regularly check The Sacramento Ballet website for all our upcoming events ( http://www.sacballet.org/ ).  So long for now Sacramento Ballet fans!



Ashton Bohm's sidewalk art celebrating the collaboration of horror and
ballet in anticipation of Sacramento Ballet's production of "Dracula"



Company Dancer's Roberto Cisneros joining in the fun at "Chalk It Up"
by helping to promote our "Count Dracula's Masquerade" Party!

Dracula Bits & Bites!

Fantastic, Spectacular, Amazing, Awesome...Hyperbole, absolutely!

     It’s how we feel about our 2011-2012 season and our incredible roster of talented artists.  It’s great to be back in the studio after a long summer organizing the myriad details of planning a season.  Even after 24 years at the helm, we never get over the thrill of the first day back to work.  Electricity is in the air with creativity at its heart.

Why is this season so special?  More than ever, the Sacramento Ballet lives up to its reputation of innovative ideas by thinking outside-the-box and off-the-charts. 

Get connected!  Join our dancers as they storm Sacramento with flash mobs, happy hours, pub crawls, masquerade parties, and more.  Collaborate! Our dancers team up with the Sacramento Firefighter’s Burn Institute for a Season calendar.  Watch for us at Artober events, Second Saturday Living Sculptures, Dancer Events, and more.  Look for us as we join forces with Blood Source for their Fall blood drive, and partner with community organizations throughout the region. 

It all begins with Dracula!  Thank you Western Health Advantage for your support in helping us stay true to our mission to entertain, educate, and engage through the powerful vehicle of dance.

Ron Cunningham & Carinne Binda, Artistic Directors