Ballet Performance Impressive

Theatre Ballet of Spokane/Ballet & Bubbly, Wednesday, Dec. 31, The Met

As a rule, we do not attend performances of students for the purpose of writing reviews. Still in the formative stages of their field, be it music or dance or theater, students simply should not be held to the same standards in public performances that we expect from professionals.

An exception was made, however, for Theatre Ballet of Spokane in its 10th anniversary celebration. Several former Theatre Ballet dancers, now professionals, returned to perform along with the troupe at the New Year’s Eve Ballet & Bubbly gala. While the company members, all still students, certainly are capable of accomplished dancing, the addition of the professionals to the lineup raised this program to, well, a professional level.

The dancing of Carolyn Pace and Jeff Amsden in “Tangueda 3,” which Amsden also choreographed, exhibited all of the elements expected of experienced dancers.

The real gem of the evening, however, was the performance of Emily Grizzell, who now dances with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She and fellow Winnipeg Ballet dancer Shaw Sturton performed the “Don Quixote” Suite. I watched Grizzell dance as a student with Theatre Ballet; with a couple of years of experience with the Winnipeg Ballet she has blossomed into a truly fine dancer. She has within her grasp all of the skills needed for performing classical ballet.

Theatre Ballet artistic director Margaret Goodner and all associated with the troupe should be proud. For nothing speaks louder about the contributions of a training ground than having students return as professionals and show us their stuff. And indeed, it was impressive.

, DataTimes