Minnesota Ballet
Encyclopedia
The Minnesota Ballet is a ballet company
and school located in Duluth, Minnesota
. Founded in 1965 by Donna Harkins and Jan Gibson as the Duluth Civic Ballet, the company has since expanded into a touring company with fourteen professional artists, who are locally based. From 1992-2007 the Artistic Executive Director
of the Minnesota Ballet was Allen Fields, who retired to become Artistic Director Emirtus. Fields acquired rights to works by master choreographer's like Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor
, and George Balanchine
. He was succeeded by Robert Gardner.
----
Before the Minnesota Ballet existed, Donna Harkin was a ballet teacher with a studio in Duluth. She saw potential in her senior dancers and a beginning to a ballet company. In the spring of 1965, she choreographed her first all-ballet performance and it was quite a success. It was so successful that in December 1965, a group of 20 ballet supporters formed a Board of Directors with Jan Gibson. The mission at first was to be an amateur performing company for advanced students, but it eventually changed to the Minnesota Ballet.
will even visit school or group events and hold the classes there, so that they can reach out to communities near and far.
In his early years, Gardner received scholarships to the North Carolina School of the Arts
and the School of American Ballet
in New York. He later joined the Joffrey II dancers and while touring America performed several ballets by Antony Tudor
, Sir Frederick Ashton, Robert Joffrey
, and Choo-San Goh. Before he was granted the role of the artistic director of the Minnesota Ballet, Gardner danced in the company in roles including Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake Act II.
Jack Bowman: The director of the Festival Orchestra.
Bowman is also the Dean of the UMD School of Fine Arts. In addition he serves as music director/organist at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth. Jack Bowman is a British stage actor, who has appeared on stage in Britain for about fourteen years.
Kenneth Pogin: Production Manager and lighting design.
Pogin began his career with the Minnesota Ballet in 1997. He has worked with many celebrities, not just the Minnesota Ballet, like Toby Keith
, Poison
, and David Copperfield
. He also helps out with the Duluth Festival Opera.
Sandra Ehle: Wardrobe designer.
Ehle joined the Minnesota Ballet team in 1998. Ehle attributes some of her talent to working under Betty Madden, the costume designer for Walt Disney Productions. She is well known for her historic costumes and tutus.
Cheryl Vander Heyden: Stage manager.
Heyden has been a part of the Minnesota Ballet Company for about four years now (2009). She has completed two technical degrees from two different Universities. Heyden has also traveled around internationally with other companies.
.
Balanchine is a leading contemporary choreographer, is responsible for the choreography in the show "Who Cares?”, a show in the Minnesota Ballet repertoire. George Balanchine
was born in St.Petersburg, Russia in 1904. At the young age of 29, he came to the United States, where he co-founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 with an American arts patron, Lincoln Kirstein. On October 11, 1948, The New York City Ballet was founded, and Balanchine became the principal choreographer and ballet master from 1948 until his death in 1983. Balanchine revolutionized classical ballet, by Americanizing his Russian influences. The two styles blended together, and created an upbeat dance.
Antony Tudor
.
Tudor, originally named William John Cook, was born in London, England on April 4, 1908. Antony Tudor
changed his name after becoming Dame Marie Rambert's general assistant. In 1939 he moved from London to New York City to help Lucia Chase and Agnes de Mille
establish the Ballet Theatre (the American Ballet Theater). He was resident choreographer of American Ballet Theater for ten years. Tudor choreographed with emotion of the whole body, not just with facial expressions. He also created works that were attentive to detail.
Penelope Freeh.
Freeh is a guest choreographer at the Minnesota ballet. Freeh has been a member of the James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis for fifteen years. In 1998 Freeh received a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship and also won a McKnight Fellowship for Dancers in 2003 she received a Jerome Foundation Travel Grant.
Sleeping Beauty
Suite Italienne
One Night
Three Virgins and a Devil
Apollo
Cinderella
The Nutcracker
...and many more
Anna Acker
Benjamin Biswell
Igor Burlak
Suzanne Kritzberg
Laura Prather
Ryan Stokes
Kaori Takai
Reinhard von Rabenau
Yosuke Yamamoto
Suzie Baer
Nikolaus Wourms
Cinderella
The Nutcracker
Who Cares?
Wine and Cheese event to raise money
• Sample dozens of wines and micro-brewed beers
• Sample food provided by six of the Northland’s finest restaurants: Nokomis, 301 Sheraton, The Boathouse, New Scenic Café, Black Water-Greysolon, Northland country club
• Silent and live auctions
• All proceeds benefit Minnesota Ballet
Celebrity Dance Challenge:February 2009
• Northland Celebs paired with Ballet Company dancers
• All types of ballroom dances shown
• Winners picked in different categories such as most elegant, most enthusiastic, best stage performance and many more.
Black and White Ball:October 2008
• Proceeds benefited Minnesota Ballet
Sugar Plum Fair: November 2008
• Student presentations
• Silent Auctions
• Proceeds benefit financial aid to qualifying students at the Minnesota Ballet School
Ballet company
A ballet company is a group of dancers who perform ballet, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round basis, except in the United States, where contracts for part of the year are the norm...
and school located in Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
. Founded in 1965 by Donna Harkins and Jan Gibson as the Duluth Civic Ballet, the company has since expanded into a touring company with fourteen professional artists, who are locally based. From 1992-2007 the Artistic Executive Director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of the Minnesota Ballet was Allen Fields, who retired to become Artistic Director Emirtus. Fields acquired rights to works by master choreographer's like Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
, and George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
. He was succeeded by Robert Gardner.
----
Established
The Minnesota Ballet was once a smaller company but expanded into an internationally touring one. The first performance was in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1995.Before the Minnesota Ballet existed, Donna Harkin was a ballet teacher with a studio in Duluth. She saw potential in her senior dancers and a beginning to a ballet company. In the spring of 1965, she choreographed her first all-ballet performance and it was quite a success. It was so successful that in December 1965, a group of 20 ballet supporters formed a Board of Directors with Jan Gibson. The mission at first was to be an amateur performing company for advanced students, but it eventually changed to the Minnesota Ballet.
About the School of the Minnesota Ballet
The school teaches accepts dancers as early as the age of 3. The classes range from beginner ballet all the way up, point, jazz, tap, and so on. The school also offers a Day in the Life of a Dancer, where a person can live as a true dancer, allowing them to see whether or not that is the path they want to take in life. The ballet companyBallet company
A ballet company is a group of dancers who perform ballet, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round basis, except in the United States, where contracts for part of the year are the norm...
will even visit school or group events and hold the classes there, so that they can reach out to communities near and far.
The Company
Robert Gardner: The artistic director of the Minnesota Ballet.In his early years, Gardner received scholarships to the North Carolina School of the Arts
North Carolina School of the Arts
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts , formerly the North Carolina School of the Arts, is a public coeducational arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is one of the seventeen constituent campuses of the...
and the School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
in New York. He later joined the Joffrey II dancers and while touring America performed several ballets by Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
, Sir Frederick Ashton, Robert Joffrey
Robert Joffrey
Robert Joffrey was an American dancer, teacher, producer and choreographer, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets...
, and Choo-San Goh. Before he was granted the role of the artistic director of the Minnesota Ballet, Gardner danced in the company in roles including Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake Act II.
Jack Bowman: The director of the Festival Orchestra.
Bowman is also the Dean of the UMD School of Fine Arts. In addition he serves as music director/organist at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth. Jack Bowman is a British stage actor, who has appeared on stage in Britain for about fourteen years.
Kenneth Pogin: Production Manager and lighting design.
Pogin began his career with the Minnesota Ballet in 1997. He has worked with many celebrities, not just the Minnesota Ballet, like Toby Keith
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...
, Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
, and David Copperfield
David Copperfield (illusionist)
David Copperfield is an Emmy Award-winning American illusionist, and was described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's network specials have been nominated for 38 Emmy Awards and won a total of 21 Emmys...
. He also helps out with the Duluth Festival Opera.
Sandra Ehle: Wardrobe designer.
Ehle joined the Minnesota Ballet team in 1998. Ehle attributes some of her talent to working under Betty Madden, the costume designer for Walt Disney Productions. She is well known for her historic costumes and tutus.
Cheryl Vander Heyden: Stage manager.
Heyden has been a part of the Minnesota Ballet Company for about four years now (2009). She has completed two technical degrees from two different Universities. Heyden has also traveled around internationally with other companies.
Choreographers
George BalanchineGeorge Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
.
Balanchine is a leading contemporary choreographer, is responsible for the choreography in the show "Who Cares?”, a show in the Minnesota Ballet repertoire. George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
was born in St.Petersburg, Russia in 1904. At the young age of 29, he came to the United States, where he co-founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 with an American arts patron, Lincoln Kirstein. On October 11, 1948, The New York City Ballet was founded, and Balanchine became the principal choreographer and ballet master from 1948 until his death in 1983. Balanchine revolutionized classical ballet, by Americanizing his Russian influences. The two styles blended together, and created an upbeat dance.
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
.
Tudor, originally named William John Cook, was born in London, England on April 4, 1908. Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
changed his name after becoming Dame Marie Rambert's general assistant. In 1939 he moved from London to New York City to help Lucia Chase and Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
establish the Ballet Theatre (the American Ballet Theater). He was resident choreographer of American Ballet Theater for ten years. Tudor choreographed with emotion of the whole body, not just with facial expressions. He also created works that were attentive to detail.
Penelope Freeh.
Freeh is a guest choreographer at the Minnesota ballet. Freeh has been a member of the James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis for fifteen years. In 1998 Freeh received a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship and also won a McKnight Fellowship for Dancers in 2003 she received a Jerome Foundation Travel Grant.
Repertoire
Ranges from 1965–Present (44 years of shows)Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
Suite Italienne
One Night
Three Virgins and a Devil
Apollo
Apollo (ballet)
Apollo is a ballet in two tableaux composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky. It was choreographed by balletmaster George Balanchine in 1928, the composer contributing the libretto...
Cinderella
Cinderella (Prokofiev)
Cinderella is a ballet, Op. 87, composed by Sergei Prokofiev to a scenario by Nikolai Volkov. It is one of his most popular and melodious compositions, and has inspired a great many choreographers since its inception. The piece was composed between 1940 and 1944. Part way through writing it he...
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
...and many more
Most Recent Dancers
Amanda AbrahamsonAnna Acker
Benjamin Biswell
Igor Burlak
Suzanne Kritzberg
Laura Prather
Ryan Stokes
Kaori Takai
Reinhard von Rabenau
Yosuke Yamamoto
Suzie Baer
Nikolaus Wourms
Upcoming Shows: 2008-2009
The Nutcracker
Who Cares?
Special Events
These are held in order to raise money for the ballet. A few that happened over the year 2008–present are:Wine and Cheese event to raise money
• Sample dozens of wines and micro-brewed beers
• Sample food provided by six of the Northland’s finest restaurants: Nokomis, 301 Sheraton, The Boathouse, New Scenic Café, Black Water-Greysolon, Northland country club
• Silent and live auctions
• All proceeds benefit Minnesota Ballet
Celebrity Dance Challenge:February 2009
• Northland Celebs paired with Ballet Company dancers
• All types of ballroom dances shown
• Winners picked in different categories such as most elegant, most enthusiastic, best stage performance and many more.
Black and White Ball:October 2008
• Proceeds benefited Minnesota Ballet
Sugar Plum Fair: November 2008
• Student presentations
• Silent Auctions
• Proceeds benefit financial aid to qualifying students at the Minnesota Ballet School