| Ballet Fantastique | |
| Foundation: | 2000 |
| Location: | Eugene, Oregon, U.S. |
| Area Served: | Pacific Northwest |
| Key People: | Donna and Hannah Bontrager |
| Industry: | Performance dance, Education |
| Homepage: | www.balletfantastique.org |
Ballet Fantastique is an Emmy®-nominated[1] American ballet theater company based in Eugene, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Ballet Fantastique creates and performs all-original dance theater repertoire and immersive audience experiences. Ballet Fantastique became a resident company at Eugene's Hult Center for the Performing Arts in 2014 and tours across the US and internationally.
The company has been featured in The Washington Post,[2] heralded a "bold, cross-disciplinary dance company" by Dante Zuniga-West of the Eugene Weekly.[3] According to Portland Center Stage Reviews, Ballet Fantastique has "made a name for itself in out-of-the-box revisions of classic story ballets"[4] and is "not your grandmother's Swan Lake."[5]
Ballet Fantastique concerts feature collaborations with live artists and musicians and other cross-disciplinary collaborators.,[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] including Hollywood combat choreographer Michelle Ladd Williams (Lord of the Rings and Recognized Fight Director, Society of American Fight Directors[11]) for the world premiere of Ballet Fantastique's Robin Hood & Maid Marian in 2023.[12]
The company fields auditions from dancers across the US and internationally.
The Academy of Ballet Fantastique offers dance instruction for children, adults, and aspiring professional artists ages 2–24, and also offers a separate Community-based Teen/Adult Dance Program.
In the Professional Training Division, dancers age 9 and up study the Vaganova Method of training in limited class sizes of 12 students or fewer.[13] Students participate in professional performances with the company, and may audition for company positions and apprenticeships upon graduation. Academy of Ballet Fantastique coaches are experienced in the well-recognized Vaganova method of training as well as in pedagogy and professional performance.
The Young Dancer Program at The Academy of Ballet Fantastique is for dancers age 2 and up, and follows a progressive training approach, introducing young children to creative movement, music education, and dance fundamentals.
Ballet Fantastique's outreach programming includes scholarships for dancers in financial need, free tickets for youth to attend concerts, in-school integrated arts residencies,[14] and school assembly performances.[15]
Ballet Fantastique became an Oregon non-profit in 2003 and earned 501(c)(3) non-profit status in 2006.[14] The organization was established to bring dance training, performance opportunities and performances to the Lane County area. The company's first performance at the Hult Center was Danse Renaissance in June 2003. On October 30, 2010, Ballet Fantastique opened its highly visible City Center for Dance at 960 Oak Street, funded largely by a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust.[16]
Ballet Fantastique was founded in 2000 by Choreographer-Producers and mother-daughter team Donna Marisa and Hannah Bontrager. Since 2003, the company has presented all-original contemporary ballet productions each season at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Ballet Fantastique also tours, and has performed at the internationally recognized Oregon Shakespeare Festival[17] in Ashland, Oregon, at the Lincoln Performance Hall in downtown Portland, Oregon,[18] and across the NW and internationally.
Ballet Fantastique performs all-original repertoire created in house in collaboration with a wide range of multi-disciplinary artistic collaborators. Selected list of new works created and premiered by Donna and Hannah Bontrager, Resident Choreographer-Producers for Ballet Fantastique:
| Title | Music | Premiere |
|---|---|---|
| Robin Hood & Maid Marian (full-length stage production in two acts) | Nottingham, composed by Liza Carbé for Ballet Fantastique (premiere) | May 11–14, 2023 |
| ARRIVALS: RIO (full-length stage production in two acts) | Bossanaire and Juan Cruz Luqui (premiere), performing original music as well as music by Grammy Award-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla | Dec. 31, 2021, Jan. 2, 2022 |
| American Christmas Carol: A Ballet Movie (Feature film adaptation of the original Ballet Fantastique stage production) | Halie Loren, singing original arrangements of 1940s holiday jazz standards. A co-production with Bronson Studios and Director Jeremy Bronson | Nov. 28, 2020 |
| Nevermore: Stories of Edgar Allan Poe(full-length stage production in two acts) | Liz Dorman, Dale Bradley, Sergei Teleshev play the music of YouTube celebrity composers Peter Gundry and Lucas King | Oct. 25–27, 2019 |
| Cleopatra The Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Beats Antique | May 9–12, 2019 |
| Babes in Toyland(full-length stage production in two acts) | Swing Shift Jazz Orchestra play Duke Ellington's jazz Nutcracker score | Dec. 10–12, 2018 |
| Alice in Wonderland(full-length stage production in two acts) | High Step Society (electro-swing band, represented by Gravitas Recordings) | May 11–13, 2018 |
| The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(full-length stage production in two acts) | Dreos + Gerry Rempel Ensemble | Oct. 27–29, 2017 |
| Aladdin A Rock Opera Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Satin Love Orchestra | May 12–14, 2017 |
| Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon(full-length stage production in two acts) | DaXun Zhang + Oregon Mozart Players under Music Director Kelly Kuo | Mar. 3–5, 2017 |
| The Book of Esther: A Rock Gospel Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Gospel classics, arranged and performed live by Andiel Brown + the UO Gospel Singers | Dec. 9–11, 2016 |
| Pride & Prejudice A Parisian Jazz Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Gerry Rempel Jazz Syndicate | Oct. 14–16, 2016 |
| Scarlet Flower: Beauty and the Beast Retold(full-length stage production in two acts) | Trio Voronezh | May 6–8, 2016 |
| Dragon & the Night Queen: Celtic Stories(full-length stage production in two acts) | Gerry Rempel Ensemble with Eliot Grasso | Feb. 26–28, 2016 |
| The Odyssey The Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Original live looping violin, Cullen Vance | Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2015 |
| An American Christmas Carol(full-length stage production in two acts) | Halie Loren, singing original arrangements of 1940s holiday jazz standards | Dec. 12–14, 2014 |
| The Book of Esther: A Rock Gospel Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | UO Gospel Singers | May 9–11, 2014 |
| Tales from the Floating World(full-length stage production in two acts) | Original music by Portland Taiko and Mitsuki Dazai | Feb. 7–9, 2014 |
| Zorro®: The Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Original music by Incendio, the Latin world guitar fusion band from LA, and violinist Kim Angelis (premiere) | Oct. 17–19, 2013 |
| Pride and Prejudice A Parisian Jazz Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Gerry Rempel Jazz Syndicate | May 4–5, 2013 |
| (The Misadventures of) Casanova(full-length stage production in two acts) | Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jean-Baptiste de Lully, Johann Sebastian Bach | Feb. 2–3, 2013 |
| Cirque de la Lune(full-length stage production in two acts) | Original music, played live by Betty & the Boy, Troupe Carnivale, and Mood Area 52 | Oct. 20–21, 2012 |
| Cinderella A Rock Opera Ballet (full-length stage production in two acts) | 1960s Billboard hits, arranged and played live by Shelley & Cal James and the Agents of Unity Band | May 12–13, 2012 |
| Arabian Nights(full-length stage production in two acts) | Traditional, with narrations performed by Deepti Khedekar | Jan. 28, 2012 |
| "Tango Para Abel," "St. Margaret's Tears," "Illumination," "Misterioso," "Magie Noire," "Viheula," "Jaco y Paco"(suite of dances) | Original music, written and performed live by Incendio, the Latin world guitar fusion band from LA | Oct. 22, 2011 |
| Shakespeare'sAs You Like It A Wild West Ballet(full-length ballet; two acts with silent film prologue) | Aaron Copland, Hershy Kay, George Gershwin, Jacques Offenbach, Leroy Anderson, John Philip Sousa, Ferde Grofé, traditional saloon music, and original compositions for honkytonk piano by Jeremy DeKyle Schropp | Apr. 16, 2011 |
| "Sunday Table" | Pink Martini | Jan. 29, 2011 |
| "Gaucho, De Ushuaia a la Quiaca, Pampa" | Gustavo Santaolalla | Jan. 29, 2011 |
| "Jongo No. 3 Suite Brasileira" | Lorenzo Fernandez | Jan. 29, 2011 |
| "Cinquenta Anos de Soledad" | Original score by NW composer Charles Gurke (premiere) | Jan. 29, 2011 |
| "Dime Amor" | Enrique Cardenas, arranged and performed live by Jessie Marquez | Jan. 29, 2011 |
| "Folk Suite" | Traditional Irish and Celtic folk medleys | Nov. 20–21, 2011 |
| "Desperation, Obsession, Passion" | John Corigliano, music from The Red Violin | Nov. 20–21, 2011 |
| "Bulgarska Tantsova Suita" | Original score Jeremy DeKyle Schropp (premiere) | Nov. 20–21, 2011 |
| Tales of Beatrix Potter(stage production in one act) | John Lanchbery | Apr. 30, 2010 |
| Love at the Cafe Terrace(stage production in one act) | Original score (world premiere) by composer Jeremy DeKyle Schropp | 2009 |
| "Pourquoi me Reveiller," "Je Crois Entendre Encore," "Song to the Moon," "Apres un Reve" | Jules Massenet, from the opera Werther; Georges Bizet, from the opera The Pearl Fishers; Antonín Dvořák, from the opera Rusalka; Gabriel Fauré | 2009 |
| "Lagrima," "Adelita" | Guitar meditations arranged and played live by classical guitarist John Jarvie | 2009 |
| "Argentinian Dance," "Besame Mucho," "Russian Ragtime," "Waltz for Nicky," "Strauss Polka," "NY Tango" | Original arrangements and new work arranged and played live by Trio Voronezh | 2009 |
| Breakfast at Tiffany's(one-act suite of dances) | Henry Mancini | 2009 |
| Carnival of the Animals(one-act suite of variations) | Camille Saint-Saëns, played live by Eugene Symphony | 2008 |
| Four Novelettes(one-act suite) | Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, played live by Oregon Mozart Players | 2008 |
| Daphnis et Chloé(one-act suite) | Maurice Ravel | 2008 |
| "La Soledad," "Brazil" | Pink Martini | 2008 |
| "La Musica Notturna Delle Strade Di Madrid No. 6, Op. 30" | Luigi Boccherini | 2007 |
| Goldilocks & the Three Bears(suite of dances) | Ferdinand Hérold, John Lanchberry | 2005 |
| Madama Butterfly | Giacomo Puccini | 2005 |
| The Cakewalk Ballet(full-length stage production in two acts) | Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Hershy Kay | 2005 |
| "Casta Diva" | Vincenzo Bellini (from the opera Norma) | 2003 |
| "Water Music" | George Frideric Handel | 2003 |
| "Chopin Waltzes"(suite of dances) | Frédéric Chopin | 2003 |