Ballet Idaho to participate in fundraising gala with Sun Valley Ballet
By Dana DuGan
Spring remains the season of dance, as students across the Valley finish up their training for the year and present shows for the public. On Sunday, May 19, there will be two performances as part of the Sun Valley Ballet School’s spring fundraising gala “Season of Ballet” at the Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum.
At 1 p.m., the Spring Showcase will feature “Jeux d’Enfant” staged by the ballet students ages 3 through 16. The children’s show, in full costume, will present ballet, jazz, tap and hip-hop pieces that the students have worked on this semester. The choreography was created by Sun Valley Ballet staff and a couple of dancers who will display their own styles for the first time.
“The students are the heart of what we do at SVB,” said Aimee Durand, school administrator.
Tickets to the children’s performance are $5 for children and $10 for adults, or at the door on the day of performance for $10 and $15, respectively.
“We encourage kids and their parents to give dance education a serious consideration because it is much more than dance,” said SVB School’s Artistic Director Alexander Tressor. “It’s also about creativity, musicality, culture, foreign language and, above all, discipline and teamwork.”
Tressor, who grew up in the ballet world—his late stepfather was a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and a longtime ballet master with the American Ballet Theatre—was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2006. Since then, he’s gone on to become something of a guru on how to live with the disease.
“He’s done a lot for our community in the nine months he’s been here,” said Jeff Nelson, vice chair of the SVB board and the person who recruited Tressor. “His Parkinson’s technique—Parkinson’s On the Move—has been big. We gave him the flexibility to continue his work around the country.”
That evening, at 7:30 p.m., there will be nine special guest dancers from the Boise-based professional dance company, Ballet Idaho. The dancers from Ballet Idaho will perform highlights from their 2018/2019 season as well as excerpts of their newly premiered performance, “Cinderella.”
“We’ve been working on getting them up here for a long time,” Nelson said.
In fact, it’s through Tressor’s friendship with Ballet Idaho’s artistic director Garret Anderson, and months of hard work, that the gala performance will happen.
For the show, Tressor choreographed a debut piece called “A Stroll in the Park” with music by Leroy Anderson. The performance will be danced by Ballet Idaho dancers.
“It’s always rewarding to work with a professional dance company of a high level, and to be able to introduce them to new audiences who will have the pleasure to enjoy their artistry,” Tressor said. “My personal contribution to this gala is an homage to George Balanchine and his love of American music and dancers.”
Premiere seats for the evening performance will be $80, which includes wine and appetizers prior to the show, as well as a meet and greet with the dancers after the show. There are also tickets for $60 and $40. All net proceeds will benefit the Sun Valley Ballet School.
Tickets can be purchased at sunvalleyballet.org or at theargyros.org.
