Ballet News

BOISE -- A Boise teenager is beating the odds after finding a passion in the Treasure Valley. The 15-year-old is perfecting turn-outs and pliés, hoping for a future in the ballet. When you walk into one of the brightly lit studios at Ballet Idaho, you can see the concentration on the students' faces. "Big toe on the floor," commands the instructor. Students follow suit with precision and poise. Close to 250 students take classes at Ballet Idaho. Many of them have dreams of becoming a prima ballerina, and the one male dancer in this class has aspirations of ballet greatness, too. "I get a lot of attention," admits dancer Antonio Carnell. He doesn't mind the spotlight. "This is my sixth year dancing here at Ballet Idaho," Carnell told us. The long hours and repetition have been good for the teenager. It's a completely different world compared to the one he was born into. "I grew up in an adoption home or foster home and there was no opportunity in St. Louis, Missouri and I didn't grow up with a dance background," said Carnell. Early on in life, Antonio didn't have much of a chance at all. "Antonio was uh, had a very difficult start in life. He was born prenatally exposed to drugs, went through withdrawal. Premature," said Michael Carnell. At the age of three, Antonio met the people who would help him change course: his adoptive parents, Michael and Diane. "He's just a real resilient, positive human being," added Antonio's adoptive father. The Carnells brought Antonio to Boise and gave him a safe place to grow. "Even when he was little he was such a performer," said Diane Carnell. When he showed an interest in dance at age 10, Antonio's family encouraged him. A dance scholarship at Ballet Idaho sealed the deal. "I'm here more than I'm at my house," said Antonio Carnell of the Ballet Idaho studio. Antonio's teachers say he has a natural ability. "He has a wonderful stage personality," said Academy Director Emily Wallace. "And you really see that in him, that drive to perfection." Antonio Carnell is now perfecting his technique six days a week. He hopes to turn his passion into a career. "That's what he'd like to do. He'd like to be a dancer. that's his goal," said Michael Carnell. The 15-year-old dancer told us he's ready for the challenge. A tough past has prepared him for the rigorous road ahead. It's the advice he says he's give any young person reaching for a dream. "Just work really hard and you can accomplish it," said Antonio Carnell. The teenager is definitely working hard to reach his goal of becoming an accomplished dancer. He's taking part in a summer intensive ballet experience in Oregon for the next few weeks. In addition to classes at Ballet Idaho, he also performs in several productions throughout the year. Instructors in Boise say he has the potential to keep growing and dance in a prestigious ballet company in the future.

 

 

Download printable versions of the schedule Academy West Schedule or Downtown Academy Schedule.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 20, 2014
Contact: Meredith Stead, Marketing Director
Ballet Idaho
208.343.0556 x22, mstead@balletidaho.org


  BALLET IDAHO WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

BOISE, ID - Ballet Idaho has announced Jennifer Weaver as its new Executive Director, and members of the community will have the opportunity to meet her and learn more about the organization at an upcoming event.

Interested members of the community can meet Weaver and Artistic Director Peter Anastos to learn about Ballet Idaho’s mission and the upcoming season at Bonefish Grill in Downtown Boise on Wednesday, June 11^th from 4:00-6:00pm.

Ms. Weaver is an Idaho native, having grown up in Council, and earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree at BSU. "I am delighted to return home to Idaho after a multiyear absence, where I will join the team at Ballet Idaho,” said Weaver, “It is extremely exciting to be part of such a well respected organization that touches the lives of so many Idahoans through the art of dance. I look forward to leading this team and am thrilled by this opportunity."

Most recently, Weaver worked at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado with the Department of Pediatrics Section of Nutrition. She previously worked in human resources, finance and outreach with the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Jenny has recent experience in marketing and grant administration, including grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institute of Health.

Weaver will start at the end of May, succeeding Paul Kaine who announced his retirement in January. She joins a new team of recent hires at Ballet Idaho, including Marketing Director Meredith Stead, and Development Manager KC Driscoll.

Board President Chris Privon stated, “I am delighted that Jenny is our new ED and very confident that she will bring a fresh perspective to the organization. I am excited to see the direction the Ballet takes with this new team in place. Together leading this new generation of staff, Peter Anastos and Jenny will bring a new dance experience to Idaho.”

Since 1972, Ballet Idaho has enriched lives through classical ballet and served as a dynamic reflection of the Boise community. Led by Artistic Director Peter Anastos, Ballet Idaho is the only professional ballet company and academy in the state of Idaho, bringing together the highest level of dance excellence with a commitment to education and training. For more information, visit www.balletidaho.org
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The 2014 Alice in Wonderland Cast List is listed below:

2014 Alice In Wonderland Cast

Alice in Wonderland- Order Form

Alice Rehearsal Schedule 3-14 and 3-15

Alice In Wonderland Rehearsal 3 -20 thru 3 - 29

POST Alice Rehearsal Sched 3 - 29 thru 4 - 9

Alice Costume Guide

The performances are at the Morrison Center April 11 – 12, 2014

Saturday, March 8, 2014

8:00 PM

Rose Room

- More information coming soon -

JOIN SOUTH 8^TH STREET’S BLOCK PARTY

FIRST THURSDAY - December 5, 2013

 

The South 8^th Street neighbors are coming together with activities, entertainment and refreshments to celebrate the holidays and their new beautiful landscaped block!

Boise Public Library

Renewal Home

Fulton Street Showroom

Creative Access Art Center

Phillip James Paul Mitchell Focus Salon

Foothills School of Arts and Sciences

Boise Farmers Market

Ballet Idaho

Opera Idaho

Boise Philharmonic

Boise Contemporary Theater

_________________________________

Boise Public Library 4:30 – 5:30 pm

The Nutcracker with Ballet Idaho Academy

Reading hour with mini performance

 

Renewal Home 5:00 – 9:00 pm

Wine Tasting with the Indian Creek Winery

Creative Access Art Center 5:00 – 8:00 pm

Hosting {en} ABLE 4.0, the Art Exhibit-A Master Apprentice

Artist Program PLUS Wingtip Press and Arin Arthur Textiles

will have exhibits and pop-up shops…and just parked right outside

will be Midway mini-doughnuts

Phillip James Paul Mitchell Focus Salon 5:00 – 9:00 pm

20% off all Paul Mitchell products + 20% off services booked that evening

Foothills School of Arts and Sciences 5:30 – 7:30 pm

Open to the public for

“The Art of Science and the Science of Art”

A night at school when Foothills upper school students will present projects they have been working on this semester

Boise Farmers Market Indoor Winter Market 5:00 – 8:00 pm

Hosting a Holiday Open House

Local Farmers, Guest Artists, Music and Refreshments

Ballet Idaho & Ballet Idaho Academy 5:00 – 8:00 pm

Flash mobs with mini mice, Clara, Fritz and so many more characters from The Nutcracker, with a bon fire,

roasting marshmallows, hot chocolate, candy canes…a fun and festival evening

Opera Idaho

Opera Idaho’s children choir will be out and about all evening, but you will be able to catch them on South 8^th Street

Boise Contemporary Theater 5:00 – 8:00 pm PLUS

BCT will be part of the celebration, as well at 8:00 pm their curtain will open with

This Wonderful Life - Frank Capra’s celebratory masterpiece with a contemporary perspective

Ticket information visit www.bctheater.org

Fulton Street Showroom 5:00 – 9:00 pm

Artist Bio’s for First Thursday at Fulton Street Showroom

Ed Anderson is from Minneapolis, but currently resides in Boise. Ed’s many artistic themes are based around life outdoors. Most of his compositions are “line driven.” Since the work is conceived as a sketch, many of the final pieces maintain a gestural feel.

Paul Hoelscher is from Baker City, Oregon. Paul teaches drawing, painting and ceramics for children and adults. His artwork has won many awards and has been published with the Watercolor Society of America, the Northwest Watercolor Society and as the cover for Birdwatcher’s Digest. His main artistic them is watercolor, with subjects as people, landscapes and animals.

Travis Sylvester is a colored pencil artist from Salt Lake City. His love and appreciation for the amazing colors and markings of trout can be seen in his artwork. His artwork has become widely recognized in the fly fishing industry and has been published in “Fly Rod and Reel” and on the cover of “Southern Trout” magazine.

Josh DeSmit embraces a unique mix of city and country in his one-of-a-kind mixed media work. By drawing from influences like his hometown of Minneapolis and his getaway Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Josh creates energetic and eclectic works that reflect personal experiences and artistic process. His interests in graffiti and street art joined with his love for the outdoors breeds an art form that acts as a connector for these separate worlds.

Kat Houseman from and currently resides in Montana, Kat’s influence from western art and the academic/contemporary art world, her work crosses both fences. She works in oil paint, typically on canvas. The color pallet is often bright, vivid and rich. She primarily paints mammal and avian species in portrait-like compositions.

Josh Udesen is a fly fishing and outdoor lifestyle artist, whose training combines a great deal of educating himself in painting, drawing, ceramics and printmaking. Josh currently resides in Boise, where he is a teacher for 9^th through 12^th graders at Riverstone International School.

Kathleen Martin, company dancer at Ballet Idaho, sat down with 3 of the choreographers for this weekend's Fall Rep. Enjoy small interviews from Company C Contemporary Artistic Director Charles Anderson, Ballet Idaho Company Member Daniel Ojeda and Ballet Idaho Artistic Director Peter Anastos. Join us this weekend, November 1 and 2 at the Morrison Center.

Ballet Idaho has successfully started it's 6th season. Boise is as beautiful as ever and everyone is excited to be back. It’s been a very busy fall between the new satellite academy building in west Boise, the company’s two major fundraisers, American Girl Fashion Show and the Masked Ball Gala, plus all the new and visiting faces. Here are a couple short interviews with Charles Anderson, Daniel Ojeda and Peter Anastos. These men choreographed three of the four ballets you will see this weekend. The fourth is Serenade, returning for its second time in Boise by popular demand.

Interview 1: Charles Anderson

Charles is the Founder and Artistic Director for Company C Contemporary. He was a dancer with New York City Ballet from 1985-1993 and is from San Francisco. Here is a quick interview with the choreographer of Akimbo.

1. What was your inspiration for Akimbo?

“This ballet has come about differently than almost any ballet that I've ever done. Remembering the exact inspiration is difficult because I did it a long time ago. But what's different about this ballet is for me choreographically, it’s both a look back and a look forward. When I first started it, I had just left New York City Ballet so I was really heavily influenced by the Balanchine technique. Then as I became more of a choreographer, and influenced by lots of other things that I love like Eurich Kelian, I started going into more of a contemporary ballet situation. And then I moved into my own voice which then twisted it all again. Akimbo was choreographed over a 15 year period. A lot of the inspiration had to do with me finding my own choreographic voice.

2. Were you always interested in choreography? Or did you develop that later in your career?

I always was. My life is different than so many dancers because I had a mother, a father and a step-father all involved with dance. They were principle dancers and danced at the San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theater and all over the place. I don't have a time in my life before ballet. People will remember me as the boy under the piano. My mom would take class everywhere and would have to take me. So yeah, I was the boy always under the piano. It's funny, I thought every dancer wanted to grow up and become a choreographer and run a company. I just thought that was the natural progression of all peoples. But for me, I always knew that's where I was headed.

My process with choreography is different because I've known structure and technique since I was very young. So as a choreographer, what it is about for me is NOT structuring the ballet perfectly. Not knowing every single rule but breaking the rules and that’s what makes my choreography artistic. A lot of the ballet world didn't come from where I came from, and they are trying to figure out structure. How does a line go into a square-what happens here-when do the soloists come on? That's all second nature to me. My mind is like, “How do I let go of all of that and get to the meat of who I am, who the dancers are, and make that into a piece of art.”

3. How did you come about setting Akimbo at Ballet Idaho?

I knew Peter Anastos' works for many years and there were a few times I would see them when I was younger. I would laugh hysterically, I loved them. We do a lot of the contemporary stuff {his company, Company C} and it can be really heavy. So I looked up Peter and I got to talking with him and he came out and set a ballet on us. Footage actually! Peter came to see our Gala performance where we did all sorts of different contemporary ballets and he said “Wow, I'd really like to do one of these contemporary ballets for my company.” And I said, “Well give me a call because I'd love to do it”.

Interview 2: Daniel Ojeda

The second piece of the night is by Ballet Idaho’s own dancer and choreographer Daniel Ojeda. Daniel has been with the company for three years and here are a couple questions about his piece.

1. Hi Daniel. Describe your piece and what how it came about?

The title of my piece is Qualia and it's a philosophical term which refers to those subjective experiences of individuals which cannot be communicated inter personally.

When I first heard the music it invoked an experience, a reflection, and it made me feel something I couldn't describe to you. But I could describe this memory, and maybe from describing my memory I can in turn have you feel, or experience what I was experiencing.

2. You've choreographed for Ballet Idaho before, how is this piece different?

This is technically my sixth piece with Ballet Idaho, but my first real professional endeavor where I've had real time and resources. I've put a lot of thought into this. This is my interpretation of classical ballet; it's completely different than anything I've done.

This is my first main stage performance, the other pieces were in front of an audience of 60 people, incredibly intimate. This is the first time that the work that I'm doing is achieving maximum exposure. It really feels like for the first time I'm really doing something. It's sort similar to starting all over again. I have that feeling I had when I first choreographed, ever. It’s a wonderful experience, to feel like you have something to prove.

3. What's the journey been like, getting to the main stage in Boise?

Last season Peter approached me about choreographing a piece, after of course I had multiple times approached him. Although, initially it started with a previous repertoire where one of our dancers was supposed to choreograph a piece, but was unable to due to other commitments. I went up to Peter and asked if I can fill the space, but he decided against it because at that point in time I had only choreographed two pieces. So he went with a more seasoned choreographer, which makes total sense. But really I didn't let up and I prayed to God that he viewed my tenacity as laudable opposed to annoying. So he approached me last season about choreographing for our spring rep. After I stumbled upon Schubert and his piano trios I pitched him the idea for Qualia. As I pitched the idea, I told him everything that will be happening on the stage as we listened to the music. Afterwords he looked at me and said “Fine, but you're going in the first rep”. And that was that.

Interview 3: Peter Anastos

The final ballet of the night is our very own Footage. Peter Anastos is our Artistic Director and his choreography will close the show!

1. When did you originally set Footage?

I think it was in the 80's when I set Footage, it's been a really long time. I've set this ballet with Cincinnati Ballet and it was in Garden State Ballets repertoire (New Jersey) for a while. I've done it in Berkeley, CA honestly a lot of companies have had it over the years. I set it in Europe actually, they did it in Belgium.

2. What is Footage about?

It's supposed to be a ballet about film dancing. I just think using 30's jazz music is a nice idea for a ballet and I thought it would be a great closer for the evening. The music is actually recorded in England. It's an English orchestra called the Jack Hylton Orchestra. Clearly they are intimidating American Jazz music, and clearly they did a great intimidation.

3. How many times have you set Footage at Ballet Idaho? Has it evolved?

This is the third time. I'm surprised because we normally do not set things this closely. But also it's a whole new cast, and it's always different for a choreographer to set it somewhere else, or on different dancers. You go to a different company, and it's a completely different ballet. I just think it would be boring to set a ballet from a video and say “this is it” and never really change a thing. Also the company is a lot stronger than it was in 2010 so I added things and changed a lot.

I wanted to do another pas de deux for the lead couple because they only have one at the beginning of the ballet so, I thought it would be nice to have them come back. But with the Maltise Falcon section with the trench coats-I just wanted to do some kind of a film noir, a really dark movie idea. It has nothing to do with the rest of the ballet. All of a sudden you are watching a comedy and someone puts in the 3^rd reel of a horror movie.

....

This weekend is something you do not want to miss. With two Boise debuts, a returning favorite and the ever so sweet Serenade it's safe to say it'll not only leave the dancers breathless but the audience as well.

Don’t forget to be in the audience November 1 and 2 at 8:00 p.m.

See you there!

-Kathleen Martin, company dancer

During each of the four American Girl Fashion Shows® we will be raffling off great local and American Girl prizes! Each show will have a grand prize drawing of an American Girl Doll and her accessories. Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased before the event here. Prizes include:

• Kaya Doll
• Kaya'a Horse Steps High
• Caroline Doll
• Caroline's Bed & Bedding
• Bitty Baby Doll
• My AG Doll with Trail Bike and accessories
• Saige Doll and Accessories
• And many other great prizes!

*Photos are provided by American Girl and do not necessarily depict all accessories for each doll. _ _  

A huge thank you to everyone who helped with The Nutcracker performance. We couldn't do it without you!

Photography Information:

Rehearsal Schedule Order online at http://idahoactionphotos.com/f84666728 Password: 'dance' For questions contact Dave Keefer at 208-284-9112

Ballet Idaho's Volunteer of the Year- 2013/14

 

Brook Blakeslee

Retail Brokerage

Colliers International

 

Brook Blakeslee is the team leader of the Retail Services Group, which provides professional services to tenant and landlord assignments. Brook began working in commercial real estate brokerage and development in 1980 with CB Commercial (now CB Richard Ellis) in Orange County, California. Brook moved to Boise in 1993 and has worked on assignments throughout southern Idaho, eastern Washington and eastern Oregon.

Ballet Idaho is proud to recognize Brook Blakeslee as Volunteer of the Year. Brook for the past 1 ½ years has guided, advised and directed Ballet Idaho in finding the perfect location and facility for Ballet Idaho Academy’s new West location. When approached in January of 2012, little did Brook know what he was getting into, but he endured and succeeded and for that Ballet Idaho is truly grateful. The goal for Ballet Idaho Academy was to find an affordable, attractive and great location to open a satellite academy in the west side of Boise/Meridian/Eagle area. He located potential sights, toured the sights and told us the pros and cons of each property. “Brook has been instrumental in bringing our efforts to establish an Academy satellite in Meridian to fruition.” stated Paul Kaine, Executive Director of Ballet Idaho. Emily Wallace, Academy Director added, “On every occasion Brook has gone out of his way to make our Academy West happen-we could not have done it without his good nature guidance.”

Finally a few months ago, a gem of a location was found. Not only has Brook found us the perfect location, he negotiated an outstanding lease and when it was requested we needed to get a variance before signing the lease, once again, Brook stepped up. He set up the entire process for us…from holding a meeting at the location for any questions/concerns from our future neighbors to the City of Boise’s Planning committee approval and finally to City Council for their final blessing. “We literally could not have done it without Brook. We are very grateful for all that he has done to help make our Academy west location a reality.” added Kaine.

Thank you Brook,

Ballet Idaho Board of Directors, Dancers and Staff