Septime Webre
| The Washington Ballet | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Name | The Washington Ballet |
| Year founded | 1976 |
| Founders | Mary Day |
| Website | www |
| Artistic staff | |
| Artistic Director | Julie Kent |
| Other | |
| Official school | The Washington School of Ballet (TWSB) |
The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Septime Webre since 1999. Webre announced he would be stepping down at the conclusion of the 2015/2016 season, and the company named Julie Kent as his successor.
Mary Day, a native of Washington, and her mentor, Lisa Gardiner, established The Washington School of Ballet in 1944. In the 1950s, a pre-professional group of dancers trained at the school joined together to perform at the National Cathedral and the D.C. Recreation department with the National Symphony Orchestra. This group also toured New York, West Virginia, and the Dominican Republic, where the troupe performed with Alicia Alonso.
In 1961, the Washington Ballet School premiered Day's The Nutcracker with the National Symphony Orchestra in Constitution Hall. In 1976, Day started The Washington Ballet, a company providing a professional showcase for the students of The Washington School of Ballet. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Day hired Peter Grigsby as the first administrative director who took advantage of the Department of Labor's Comprehensive Employment and Training Act to hire dancers. He was followed by Alton Miller as director who expanded the touring of the company. The Washington Ballet founding company members included Madelyn Berdes, Patricia Berrend, James Canfield, Sharon Caplan, Robin Conrad, Lynn Cote, Laurie Dameron, John Goding, Robin Hardy, Jon Jackson, Brian Jameson, Terry Lacy, Christine Matthews, Ricardo Mercado, Julie Miles, Patricia Miller, Philip Rosemond, Helen Sumerwell and Allison Zusi.
The company's first season consisted of three works by an up-and-coming choreographer/dancer from the Dutch National Ballet, Choo San Goh, who was resident choreographer at the founding of the company and later became associate artistic director. Goh's teaching and choreographic demands in his first two years in Washington DC moved the company from being described as "pre-professional" to solidly professional level, with Mikhail Baryshnikov showing interest in, and eventually dancing with, the company and Goh's choreography in 1979. During his time at The Washington Ballet until his death in November 1987, Goh choreographed 19 ballets for the company.
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