New Jersey Ballet
Industry | Education, Performance |
---|---|
Founded | 1958 |
Headquarters | Florham Park, New Jersey, U.S. |
Area served | New Jersey |
Website | www.njballet.org |
The New Jersey Ballet is a ballet company based in Livingston, New Jersey in the United States, founded in 1958 by native New Jerseyan Carolyn Clark and her fellow dancer, George Tomal.
History
Carolyn Clark's mother established New Jersey School of Ballet in Orange, New Jersey in 1953 with her mother's friends who were dancers. Clark has involved in her mother's dance school operation since its beginning. She has later become a professional dancer herself. After touring around the world with American Ballet Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, she had conceived an idea to create a ballet company in New Jersey with national significance. The company was finally founded in 1958 with the first performance on December 27, 1958 at the Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey with George Tomal as the founding director.[1][2]
After thirteen years from the first season that consisted of two performances for a few hundred people, New Jersey Ballet started a production of
The company started gaining wider recognition when it started the tours to
Today, the annual season consists of many performances in many venues throughout New Jersey. It also includes New Jersey Ballet Matinee for Kids and Families, which is a collections of children's ballets of classic tales such as
New Jersey School of Ballet
At the present time, the school offers many courses and instructions ranging from age 4 to professional. The classes include Ballet, Academic Ballet, Pointe, Jazz and Tap. The school offers intensive program for Ballet, Variations, Partnering, Character, Jazz, and Special Workshops by audition only. The classes are held in three locations; Livingston, New Jersey; Somerville, New Jersey; and Morristown, New Jersey. Each year, more than one hundred students who pass auditions have a chance to perform in New Jersey Ballet's Nutcracker professional production. Advanced students are included in New Jersey Ballet Matinee for Kids and Families productions.[8]
New Jersey Ballet's Junior Company is the school's pre-professional program for students with carrier track in dance. Students have opportunities to work with professional dancers, for example, being cast members when the Bolshoi performed at the Metropolitan Opera.[9] Many alumni have performed with or are current dancers of American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, The Joffrey, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and other major companies.[10]
Artistic leadership
The artistic leadership of New Jersey Ballet, as of October 1 2023:[11]
Founder
- Carolyn Clark
Artistic Director
- Maria Kowroski
Executive Director
- David Tamaki
Assistant Artistic Director
- Paul McRae
Artistic Coordinator
- Kotoe Kojima-Noa
Production Manager
- Brian Coakley
Artistic Advisor
- Edward Villella, former principal dancer of New York City Ballet
Repertory Coaches
- Rosemary Sabovick-Bleich
- Zoe Zien
Performers
New Jersey Ballet has a diverse company with artists from around the world including the United States, Argentina, Japan, Korea, Philippines, and Brazil to name a few.
Dancers
The dancers of the New Jersey Ballet according to the company website, as of October 2023.[12]
- Emily Barrows
- Louis DeFelice
- Vinicius Freire
- Yuiko Honda
- Akira Iida
- Se Hyun Jin
- Ilse Kapteyn
- Raleigh Ledford
- David Lopena
- Jonatan Lujan
- Risa Mochizuki
- Denise Parungao
- Jonathan Philbert
- Abigail Robison
- Brian Sevilla
- Eunice Suba
- Felipe Valentini
- Joshuan Vazquez
- Catherine Whiting
- Alexandra Limeburgs (Apprentice)
- Lilli Etheredge (Apprentice)
References
- ^ New Jersey Countryside magazine, November/December 2008
- ^ Pompilio, Natalie (29 January 2019). "N.J. Ballet is still on its toes after six decades". NJ Advance Media. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ "New Jersey Ballet History". Archived from the original on 2009-02-01. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ DANCE REVIEW; A Teeming Action Ballet With a Classical Sheen, New York Times, April 24, 2004 - accessed January 12, 2011
- ^ New Jersey Ballet presents Tchaikovsky program. New Jersey Herald. - accessed on March 28, 2009
- ^ "New Jersey Ballet dances off to Russia". 15 April 2008.
- ^ "New Jersey Ballet Season Info". www.njballet.org. Archived from the original on 2006-06-20.
- ^ "Home". njschoolofballet.com.
- ^ Nash, Margo. Jersey Footlights: Learning Lessons From Leaps and Bounds. The New York Times, August 7, 2005
- ^ "ABOUT".
- ^ "Artistic Leadership". New Jersey Ballet. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ "Company Dancers". NJBallet.