Richmond Ballet
| Richmond Ballet, State Ballet of Virginia | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Name | Richmond Ballet, State Ballet of Virginia |
| Year founded | 1957 |
| Website | www |
| Artistic staff | |
| Artistic Director | Stoner Winslett |
| Other | |
| Official school | The School of the Richmond Ballet |
The Richmond Ballet, named the State Ballet of Virginia in 1990 by then Governor Douglas Wilder, is a nationally recognized education and performance institution, founded in 1957.
In 1957, the Ballet Impromptu, founded by Richmond natives Robert C. Watkins Jr. and Marjorie Fay Underhill and Donna Comstock Forrest, became Richmond's first ballet company. Later, the Ballet Impromptu became the Richmond Ballet. The Richmond Ballet existed for more than twenty years as a small, civic company until 1975, when the School of Richmond Ballet was created. In 1980, Stoner Winslett became the founding artistic director. In 1984, Richmond Ballet became the first professional Ballet company in Virginia and was designated the State Ballet of Virginia in 1990, by then Governor Wilder. Richmond Ballet's educational outreach program, Minds In Motion, was founded in 1993. It features a pedestrian based movement curriculum that is taught to 4th graders all over the commonwealth. In 2000, Richmond Ballet moved into a renovated state-of-the-art facility in the heart of downtown Richmond.
Richmond Ballet’s mission is to awaken and uplift the human spirit, both for audiences and artists.
The Richmond Ballet "is dedicated to the promotion, preservation and continuing evolution of the art form of ballet, according to specific aesthetic and institutional values established by the vision of the artistic director and supported by the Board of Trustees. Richmond Ballet strives to keep meaningful works of dance alive and to produce and foster new works that remain true to these values."
In his 2011 article on American productions of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the New York Time's Alastair Macaulay singled out the Richmond Ballet production as one of the best in the country. The company debuted in New York City in 2005 with performances at the Joyce Theater. In October 2013, during the company's 30th season, the ballet premiered the contemporary work “Phoenix Rising”, choreographed by Philip Neal, a former student of the Richmond Ballet school and dancer for 23 years with the New York City Ballet. Richmond Ballet returned to The Joyce Theater in April 2007 as part of a tribute to American master choreographer John Butler, and again in 2010. In 2012 Richmond Ballet made its international debut when they traveled to London where they performed in the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House. In 2015 Richmond Ballet embarked on a tour of China. While in China they performed at the "Meet in Beijing" Arts Festival at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. They also performed in the cities of Jinan, Dezhou and Shanghai.
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