 |
Season
News
Event Calendar & Tickets
Venues & Directions
Company
Home
Mission
Directors
History & Accomplishments
Joining the Ensemble
Training
Auditions
Community Outreach
Collaboration
Storybook Series
Fundraising With Us
Donations
Foundation
Giving Opportunities
Ballethoo
Calendar
Schedules
CBV Sharingspace
|
|
Mission
The mission of The Concert Ballet of Viriginia is
to foster an appreciation of classical and contemporary dance by staging
affordable full-scale productions at convenient locations throughout the
state, while providing excellent training and challenging creative
opportunities within a professionally-mounted dance company.
The goals of The Concert Ballet of Viriginia include expanding its
impact on the community through:
- increasing visibility and membership
- increasing recruitment
- providing opportunities for inclusion for all those interested in promoting
mounting, and participating in performance
- expanding outreach programs within the community
- reaching larger, more diverse audiences
|
|
History
On February 14, 1976, following months of clandestine meetings, much soul-searching,
and long hours of planning, a way was found to allow a long-standing tradition of dance in
Richmond, Virginia to continue without interruption. A corps de ballet of 30 dancers left
their positions with The Richmond Ballet, and joined together to form The Concert
Ballet of Virginia.
This team of seasoned performers had one goal in mind - PERFORMANCE!
The first order of business was to approach the Richmond Ballet’s recently resigned
Artistic Director, Robert Watkins, with the invitaton to assume that same position
with the fledging company. With his acceptance, others followed: Scott Boyer as Associate
Director, deVeaux Riddick as Technical Director, and Eleanor Rennie as Executive Assistant,
along with a host of other artistic and creative persons, all committed to the
continuation of a professionally-mounted ballet company which offered unlimited
creative opportunities to persons interested in the production and presentation of dance.
The Concert Ballet of Virginia traces its heritage back to the very beginnings of dance
in Richmond. In the 1940's, both Watkins and Rennie appeared as dancers in the Richmond
Recreation & Parks Opera productions. Watkins later joined with Marjorie Fay Underhill
and Donna Comstock in operating Ballet Impomptu, the city’s first ballet company.
After assuming Directorship, Watkins changed the name to The Richmond Ballet, and
for 26 years presented annual Subscripton Series of dance that included many of the important
names in teh history of American dance, including: Edward Villella,
Natalia Makarova, Kirk Peterson, Stuard Sebastian, Jean Pierre Bonnefous, Melissa Hayden,
and Jacques D'Amboise.
The Concert Ballet of Virginia is a hybrid of a rich heritage, a company that is
still in direct contact with the very artists that created its immediate past, as well
as the springboard by which it leapt into its exciting future!
|
|
Accomplishments
- First full-length Swan Lake
- First full-length Giselle
- Winner in all categories, National Dance Week Choreography Competition (Loudounn, VA)
|
|
Dance Studio Representation
- Diane Hale School of Dance
- The Dance Studio
- Scott Boyer Teaches Dance
- Fredericksburg Ballet Theatre
- Richmond Ballet Center for Dance
- Children’s Creative Workshop
- Shuffles
- Encore Dance Studio
- Royal School of Dance
- Jessica Morgan School of Dance
- Magical Movements
- Ingrid School of Dance
|
|
