Ballet & Bubbly At The Met
When a ballet company performs mixed repertoire, usually new choreography is showcased and older dances take back stage.
New Year’s Eve at The Met, Theatre Ballet of Spokane will do it the other way: the most popular older ballets will take center stage and new works will be performed at the edges of the program.
This special Ballet & Bubbly program will honor the 10th anniversary of Theatre Ballet (although it’s the 11th Ballet & Bubbly since the company premiered with this event).
One of the troupe’s most popular dances, “En Route” by choreographer Wendy Long, will be features, as will a dance by Elizabeth Carlssohn, “Seranade Adage,” set to original music by Don Caron.
“Wendy’s piece stood out as something we wanted to do again,” says Margaret Goodner, director of Theatre Ballet. “We had so many request over the past five years (since it was premiered) to bring back.
“It was important for me to do a Wendy Long piece and Leslie piece in this anniversary performance,” Goodner says.
“Both women had a major influence on this company;- both choreograph well and they brought the dancers to a mature level through their choreography.”
Ballet & Bubbly has always been a New Year’s Eve event; but because of the anniversary celebration, it has been expanded to include a champagne and chocolate reception prior to the dance and a gala party following the ballet. The reception begins at 8, the ballet is at 9 and the party runs from 10 to midnight.
Performing the best of 10 years of choreography seems apropos; so does the lineup of dancers, which includes performances by several of the original dancers who performed the pieces.
Sara Morrison, now a dancer with Alberta Ballet, will return to dance the part of “En Route” which was created for her.
Other former Theatre Ballet dancers who will perform Emily Grizzell, who now dances with Winnipeg Ballet, Carolyn Pace, who is dancing in Los Angeles, and Giselle Doepker, who dances in New York.
Other guest dancers on the program include Jeff Amsden, a choreographer and dancer who will dance a jazz pas de deux with Pace, and Shaw Sturton, who also dances with Winnipeg Ballet and will perform excerpts from “Don Quixote” with Grizzell.
“The program reflects a mix of what would be representative of Theatre Ballet. We will open and close with classical pieces, which is characteristic of the company,” says Goodner.
Since its founding in 1987, Theatre Ballet has staged more than 70 performances in the region.
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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TICKET INFORMATION Theatre Ballet of Spokane will stage Ballet & Bubbly Wednesday at 8 p.m. at The Met. Tickets are $15, $12 for seniors and students and are available through G&B Select-a-Seat.