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