Come see what we’ve been up to this summer!
State Street Ballet’s Summer Intensive Program is in full swing. Now in our 15th year of offering an intensive dance workshop over the summer -- we have grown into a noteworthy and prominent program that is recognized across the country.
This year we are hosting a very talented group of 67 dancers from California, Colorado, New Mexico, New York and more. Several of them are hoping to gain one of the coveted apprenticeships for our 2010-11 season. At the end of our intensive program, we select a few of the best students to stay on for the year as apprentices to our professional company.
Summer Intensive Program Performance
State Street Ballet's Summer Intensive students will participate in a fully staged performance on Friday, July 16, 2010, at 6 PM at the Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall, University of California Santa Barbara. Performances include Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Modern, and Jazz.
Tickets can be purchased at the door an hour before the performance:
Adults $20; Children/Students $15 (under 12 yrs old)
State Street Ballet's Summer Intensive Program stands out from among other comparable summer dance programs because its final production takes participants onto a professional stage with full lights and costumes. You won’t be disappointed when you come to see what we’ve been up to this summer.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Not Your Grandmother’s Ballet!
Things are quieting down at the State Street Ballet studios after an intense weekend of Evenings performances. Evenings is the in-studio performance series performed and choreographed by State Street Ballet dancers.
These programs are a great way to see a different side of our dancers, from their creativity in their own choreography to their versatility as they tackle different styles of dance rarely seen in tradition ballet performances.
One patron said approvingly, “This is not my grandmother’s ballet.” State Street Ballet prides itself on preserving the classics while also creating a series for new and cutting edge work like our Evenings series.
Dancer, Katie McDermott talks to us about her experience performing in Evenings
How do performing pieces choreographed by fellow dancers differ from what you are used to doing in a more traditional performance setting?
Working for your peers is an interesting experience. I am performing pieces that my friends choreographed so I feel a lot of pressure to do a great job for them. Evenings is especially physically difficult because we put everything together in a week or two. Practicing 5 different pieces that use polar opposite techniques can be taxing on the brain to learn and the body to practice.
How do you compare performing at the studio to performing in a theatre like The Granada?
I love inviting people in to our studio to let them see the behind the scenes of where we practice. As a performance venue I am very comfortable in the studio but I also get more nervous for Evenings performances.
Why is that Katie?
The studio is a smaller more intimate experience. Being able to see and hear everything happening in your audience is nerve-racking. At a big theatre like the Granada I feel less connected to the audience, but in the studio it is so up close and personal.
Tell me what you feelings about the Evenings program?
Evenings is an opportunity for all of us to be doing what we love during the off-season, and it feels great to be trying out different styles of dance. It is amazing to me that given the opportunity to choreograph and perform whatever inspires us, the program is so diverse. I suppose that just further highlights how individual we all are.
Our next Evenings performance will be scheduled for November 6, 2010
Want to hear more? Make sure you are on our email list and become our friend on facebook.
These programs are a great way to see a different side of our dancers, from their creativity in their own choreography to their versatility as they tackle different styles of dance rarely seen in tradition ballet performances.
One patron said approvingly, “This is not my grandmother’s ballet.” State Street Ballet prides itself on preserving the classics while also creating a series for new and cutting edge work like our Evenings series.
Dancer, Katie McDermott talks to us about her experience performing in Evenings
How do performing pieces choreographed by fellow dancers differ from what you are used to doing in a more traditional performance setting?
Working for your peers is an interesting experience. I am performing pieces that my friends choreographed so I feel a lot of pressure to do a great job for them. Evenings is especially physically difficult because we put everything together in a week or two. Practicing 5 different pieces that use polar opposite techniques can be taxing on the brain to learn and the body to practice.
How do you compare performing at the studio to performing in a theatre like The Granada?
I love inviting people in to our studio to let them see the behind the scenes of where we practice. As a performance venue I am very comfortable in the studio but I also get more nervous for Evenings performances.
Why is that Katie?
The studio is a smaller more intimate experience. Being able to see and hear everything happening in your audience is nerve-racking. At a big theatre like the Granada I feel less connected to the audience, but in the studio it is so up close and personal.
Tell me what you feelings about the Evenings program?
Evenings is an opportunity for all of us to be doing what we love during the off-season, and it feels great to be trying out different styles of dance. It is amazing to me that given the opportunity to choreograph and perform whatever inspires us, the program is so diverse. I suppose that just further highlights how individual we all are.
Our next Evenings performance will be scheduled for November 6, 2010
Want to hear more? Make sure you are on our email list and become our friend on facebook.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
New Evenings video and postcards
The postcards are a bit late for this one, but they're finally done. If you're on our mailing list, expect to see one soon. For a preview, check out our Facebook event page.
We also hope you'll enjoy a new highlight reel of past Evenings:
We also hope you'll enjoy a new highlight reel of past Evenings:
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Evenings: April 9
Join us at the Gail Towbes Center for Dance to see new choreography created and performed by the dancers of State Street Ballet.
Evenings is a casual, elegant evening of new dance served with wine and refreshments.
Stay after the performance to meet the dancers.
$25 at the door
$20 reserved in advance (email, Facebook, or phone)
Evenings is a casual, elegant evening of new dance served with wine and refreshments.
Stay after the performance to meet the dancers.
$25 at the door
$20 reserved in advance (email, Facebook, or phone)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Review: Cinderella
The Santa Barbara Independent Reviews Cinderella
Marina Fliagina, Sergei Domrachev (on the ground), and guest artist Ezlimar Dortolina
State Street Ballet’s Cinderella
Granada Theater, February 21-22, 2009
Reviewed by Melissa Lynn Block
State Street Ballet’s Cinderella, staged at the Granada last weekend, was like the theater itself—a faithful retelling of an old story, but with plenty of colorful surprises.
Guest artist Ezlimar Dortolina held the show’s center as the story’s ever-hopeful, ever-faithful heroine. The stepsisters—danced by John Christopher Piel and Sergei Domrachev—were clothed in hilarious drag, complete with complicated hoop skirts, piled-on makeup, long nails, and squeezed-together cleavage. With his subtle but skillfully timed mincing, ill-conceived flirting, and pouting, Piel provided a nice foil to Domrachev’s broad physical antics and facial expressions.
Read more of the review.
Marina Fliagina, Sergei Domrachev (on the ground), and guest artist Ezlimar Dortolina
State Street Ballet’s Cinderella
Granada Theater, February 21-22, 2009
Reviewed by Melissa Lynn Block
State Street Ballet’s Cinderella, staged at the Granada last weekend, was like the theater itself—a faithful retelling of an old story, but with plenty of colorful surprises.
Guest artist Ezlimar Dortolina held the show’s center as the story’s ever-hopeful, ever-faithful heroine. The stepsisters—danced by John Christopher Piel and Sergei Domrachev—were clothed in hilarious drag, complete with complicated hoop skirts, piled-on makeup, long nails, and squeezed-together cleavage. With his subtle but skillfully timed mincing, ill-conceived flirting, and pouting, Piel provided a nice foil to Domrachev’s broad physical antics and facial expressions.
Read more of the review.
Feature: Cinderella preview
The Santa Barbara Independent previews Cinderella:
Marina Fliagina, John Christopher Piel, and Sergei Domrachev as the Stepmother, and two Stepsisters.
Cinderella at the Granada
by Justine Sutton
After its Santa Barbara premiere in 2005, SSB’s Cinderella went on to a highly successful tour of the East Coast, and this fall the show will head to Colorado, Wyoming, and other points east. But first, Cinderella will waltz across the stage at the company’s new home theater, the Granada, this weekend.
Read more of the feature.
Marina Fliagina, John Christopher Piel, and Sergei Domrachev as the Stepmother, and two Stepsisters.Cinderella at the Granada
by Justine Sutton
After its Santa Barbara premiere in 2005, SSB’s Cinderella went on to a highly successful tour of the East Coast, and this fall the show will head to Colorado, Wyoming, and other points east. But first, Cinderella will waltz across the stage at the company’s new home theater, the Granada, this weekend.
Read more of the feature.
Feature: The Nutcracker
More Nutcrackers than you can shake a stick at. Theater schedules are very tight in December, even for small towns!
Dueling Nutcrackers Vie for Audience
by Cathy Murillo
Because of an unavoidable scheduling conflict, both Santa Barbara Festival Ballet and State Street Ballet will present their respective Nutcrackers on December 13 and 14, at essentially the same curtain times. Heightening the sense of competition, State Street Ballet will forego its Hollywood-themed presentation of art deco sets and 1930s costumes, so both productions will be turned out in traditional fairytale ballet style.
Read more of the feature.
Dueling Nutcrackers Vie for Audience
by Cathy Murillo
Because of an unavoidable scheduling conflict, both Santa Barbara Festival Ballet and State Street Ballet will present their respective Nutcrackers on December 13 and 14, at essentially the same curtain times. Heightening the sense of competition, State Street Ballet will forego its Hollywood-themed presentation of art deco sets and 1930s costumes, so both productions will be turned out in traditional fairytale ballet style.
Read more of the feature.
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