Tag Archives: Karen Bassett

Nutcracker and New Pieces are part of 2015-16 Ballet Arkansas season

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BA_Visions_PromoImageWhile it is only the start of July, cultural institutions are already focused on their 2015-2016 seasons.  This is especially true for Ballet Arkansas, which has its first event on August 22nd.

Ballet Arkansas starts off with the second annual Visions Choreographic Competition to be held in the Center for Performing Arts at UALR on August 22nd at 7:00pm. Thirty-one emerging choreographers from around the country competed for five spots in this competition of which the winner will receive a commission to create a complete new work on Ballet Arkansas’s company dancers for their 2016 spring show. Selected choreographers include Boston Ballet’s Boyko Dossev, former Houston Ballet’s and current University of Oklahoma dance faculty member Ilya Kozadayev, former Ballet West and Visceral Dance Chicago’s Tom Mattingly, former Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Barry Kerollis and Post: Ballet’s Aidan DeYoung.  The guest judge for Visions is Glenn Edgerton, Artistic Director for Hubbard Street Dance in Chicago. Tickets for Visions will go on sale July 1st on the Ballet Arkansas website.

BA_Nutcracker_PromoImage 2In December, Ballet Arkansas joins forces with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to present the  annual holiday ballet, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center.  With music provided by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, a cast of 200+ youth and adult dancers from the central Arkansas area, professional guest artists and featuring Ballet Arkansas professional company members, The Nutcracker will continue its tradition as a holiday must-see. The Nutcracker performance week includes student matinees for statewide school groups on December 10 & 11, along with the four public performances on December 11, 12 and 13th.  Tickets for The Nutcracker will go on sale in early September on the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s website.

BA_UndertheLights_PromoImageOn May 20-22, 2016 Ballet Arkansas will present its annual spring mixed-repertory show,  Under the Lights at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. This year’s show contains an eclectic group of works of various dance styles including Nashville Ballet dancer Chris Stuarts’ Under the Lights set to Johnny Cash songs including “Walk the Line” and “Jackson”.  This show also features a world premier of a Kiyon Gaines work and Group Therapy, a comedy ballet created for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago by Harrison McEldowney and the expanded Visions winning choreography. Ballet Arkansas is also delighted to announce that itwill again be performing a George Balanchine work, Glinka Pas de Trois. Tickets will go on sale in early fall on the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s website.

Ballet Arkansas also announced that it has engaged Kiyon Gaines, recently retired Pacific Northwest Ballet soloist, to a 3-year Resident Choreographer Contract.  He choreographed Bolero for the 2013-2014 season.  In addition, Laura Hood Babcock has been named the new ballet mistress.  She worked with Ballet Arkansas last season on the Balanchine Who Cares?  Michael Bearden is the Artistic Director and Karen Bassett is the Executive Director.

Ballet Arkansas headlines spring show with historic performance of Balanchine-Gershwin WHO CARES? this weekend

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WhoCares-220x300Ballet Arkansas’ annual spring mixed repertory show will be performed April 17-19 at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. “This mixed repertory format gives us the ability to entertain and educate our audience with different styles of dance, from classical ballet to contemporary dance to ballet-meets-Broadway” says Karen Bassett, Executive Director.  “There is truly something for everyone in this show”.

The headlining piece, Who Cares?, was choreographed by the father of American ballet George Balanchine and is set to music of the incomparable George Gershwin.  “This will mark the first time an Arkansas based dance company has been licensed to perform a work choreographed by Mr. Balanchine. We at Ballet Arkansas are honored to be able to bring such a wonderful work to our state. This accomplishment speaks volumes for artistic and technical abilities of our twelve professional dancers” says Artistic Director Michael Bearden. This piece was chosen for its fun, high-energy choreography and audience catching tunes that will delight fans of all dance styles.

The show also includes Hilary Wolfley’s expanded piece, Façade. Hilary, from Orem Utah, was the winner of our August 2014 Visions Choreographic Competition. Excerpts from the tragic tale and classical ballet Raymonda, choreographed by the Marius Petipa which was premiered January 19th, 1898, Maryinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg will be performed as well as the pas de deux from Lady of the Camellias by Val Caniparoli. Lady of the Camellias is set to the music of Chopin and is based on the 19th century French novel by Alexander Dumas. Former Hubbard Street Dance company member Greg Sample has choreographed a contemporary piece titled Rerouting which will round out the show’s line-up.

Tickets to the public shows of Who Cares? are available on the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s website at therep.org or by calling (501) 378-0405.

Ballet Arkansas is supported in part by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

On Their Toes – Ballet Arkansas announces 2015-2016 season

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BalletArkOn April 17 through 19, Ballet Arkansas will conclude the 2014-2015 season with Who Cares? featuring choreography by George Balanchine and music by George Gershwin.

Not content to rest on their laurels, they have announced their 2015-2016 season.

The season will kick off on August 22 with the second Visions Choreographic Competition.  Several choreographers will be invited to create dance pieces which will be performed that night.  A panel of experts and the audience will select a winner. The winner will be developed further and performed in the spring of 2016.
The annual Nutcracker will take place December 11, 12 and 13 at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center.  (It will return to the re-opened Robinson Center Music Hall in December 2016).
The spring show will be titled Under the Lights and will be at The Rep on May 20-22. Under the Lights is the show’s headline piece set to Johnny Cash music. It was premiered in Nashville recently and now comes full circle to the state of Cash’s birth and boyhood.  Also on the bill for that evening is Glinka Pas de Trois by George Balanchine and Group Therapy by Harrison McEldowney which is a very funny piece.  In addition there will be two new pieces being performed.  Kiyon Gaines, who choreographed a new version of Bolero performed by Ballet Arkansas recently will be back in his first year as the company’s resident choreographer. He will create a new work for a world premiere. The other new piece will be the Visions winner.
Michael Bearden is the Artistic Director of Ballet Arkansas; Karen Bassett serves as Executive Director; Marla Edwards is the Ballet Mistress and Ballet Arkansas Youth Division Director; and Erin Anson is Company & Production Manager.

Ballet Arkansas gala tonight features music, dance and honors David Knight

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Tonight Ballet Arkansas presents Turning Pointe, a gala with ballet performances and also jazz.  

The festivities will commence at 6pm with a cocktail hour, buffet dining and shopping at the silent auction.  Tickets will be available at the door.

Attendees will then be entertained with performances by the Ballet Arkansas Youth Division and the Ballet Arkansas company members in the beautiful Albert Pike Memorial Temple Theatre.

DAVID KNIGHT is the 2015 ABOVE THE BARRE AWARD recipient. Among his many accomplishments in support of the arts, he has published a book of photographs celebrating Ballet Arkansas.

The performances will include a new piece by Brandon Ragland, company members Justin Metcalf-Burton and Amanda Sewell performing an excerpt from Giselle, and members of the Ballet Arkansas Youth Division will perform a piece choreographed by company member Deanna Karlheim

The evening will be topped off with dessert and coffee bars and dancing to the music of Dizzy 7!

Michael Bearden is the Artistic Director of Ballet Arkansas; Karen Bassett is the Executive Director.

New Works and Old Favorites are part of the Ballet Arkansas 2014-2015 season

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BalletArkWhile most people know Ballet Arkansas for its long tradition of The Nutcracker, the organization is so much more and this season’s line up truly demonstrates that.” Artistic Director Michael Bearden, a former Principal Dancer with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, is delighted to announce that, for the first time, an Arkansas dance company has been authorized by the George Balanchine Trust to perform a piece from his extensive, world renown collection of works. “By authorizing Ballet Arkansas to perform one of its works, the George Balanchine Trust has put a stamp of approval on the growth our company has made. This is a huge honor and accomplishment!”

Ballet Arkansas will present three productions this season, starting off with their first annual Visions  Choreographic Competition to be held in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in the River Market on August 23rd at 7:00 pm. Thirty-six emerging choreographers from around the country competed for five spots in this competition. The winner will receive a commission to create a complete new work on Ballet Arkansas’s company dancers for their 2015 spring show. The five choreographers  selected for the competition are: Sayoko Knode,  former principal dancer with Idaho Dance Theatre; Jerry Opdenaker, former principal dancer for ballet companies such as Milwaukee Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and Ballet Florida; Brandon Ragland, dancer with the Louisville Ballet; Christopher Stuart dancer with Nashville Ballet; and Hilary Fullmer Wolfley who graduated in 2013 from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in Ballet. The five pieces will be judged by Adam Sklute, Artistic Director of Ballet West, Rhythm McCarthy with UALR’s Theatre and Dance Program, former Ballet Arkansas Principal Dancer Michael Tidwell with the Tidwell Project and the audience will be the fourth judge.

“I am very pleased with the talent level of our five guest choreographers” said Artistic Director, Michael Bearden “Their abilities in collaboration with our beautiful dancers will make for an evening you won’t want to miss.”

In December, Ballet Arkansas joins forces with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to present the annual holiday ballet, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center.  With music provided by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, a cast of 200+ youth and adult dancers from the central Arkansas area, professional guest artists, Ballet Arkansas company members and Youth Division, The Nutcracker will continue its tradition as a holiday must-see. The Nutcracker performance week includes student matinees for statewide school groups on December 11 & 12, along with the four public performances on December 12, 13 and 14th.  The Nutcracker Tea at the Capital Hotel provides a wonderful complement to the performances.

In April, Ballet Arkansas will present its mixed rep show  titled Who Cares? after the production’s finale piece. Dancers will be performing the concert version of Balanchine’s Who Cares? set to music by George Gershwin on the stage of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre in downtown Little Rock April 17-19, 2015, with student matinees scheduled for April 16 and 17 for statewide school  groups.  The concert will also feature the expanded winning choreography from the Visions competition, an excerpt from Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, Raymonda, and a new piece by former Hubbard Street dancer Greg Sample, who will be expanding one of his existing works.

Ballet Arkansas’ performances in the 2014-2015 Season will also include an appearance at the ACANSA Arts Festival on September 28th at Wildwood Performing Arts Center, a joint collaboration with the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra and Ballet Arkansas’s Youth Division at the Albert Pike Scottish Rite Temple November 14 & 15, a Master Class Series featuring Ballet Arkansas’ guest artists offering classes which can be attended by the general public, a gala in the spring of 2015, a  state-wide touring program and a Student Matinee program, including student matinees at tour sites  around the state.