News Archive

Keep Them Dancing!

KTD
L to R: Michael Lang, Lisa Mayer, Marie Vogt, Mari Davies

Toledo Ballet hosted its annual scholarship gala this year on October 15 at the Inverness Club. An elegant evening of cocktails, “quiet auction,” sit down dinner, and fabulous music made for an memorable evening. Young Toledo Ballet dancers strolled among the guests selling raffle tickets for a fabulous basket filled with amazing wines and guests had a plethora of auction items on which to bid as they began their holiday shopping. The event netted over $15,000.

First Annual Scholarship Awarded

L to R: Steve and Cyndy Brookover with Bethany Trumbull. (Photo by Photo Works, Inc.)

Toledo Ballet awarded its first annual Becca Brookover Memorial Scholarship on October 14 to longtime Toledo Ballet dancer Bethany Trumbull. Bethany, a freshman at Toledo Christian, studies classical ballet as well as numerous contemporary dance forms and was recently named a member of the Toledo Ballet company. This scholarship was established in memory of Toledo Ballet dancer Becca Brookover, who lost her battle with leukemia in 2010. It is the only scholarship offered not limited only to the study of classical ballet. The award of $500 was made possible through both the scholarship fund and the Toledo Ballet guild.

Tea With Clara

Join our NUTCRACKER’s “Clara” and a few of her very best friends for an afternoon of delectable delights, a magical storytelling of “The Nutcracker” by master storyteller Condessa Croninger, and an opportunity to take pictures of your aspiring ballerinas with the stars of Toledo Ballet’s 71st annual NUTCRACKER! Call for tickets at 419-471-0049 before they are all sold out!

Join Toledo Ballet October 15th at the Keep them Dancing Scholarship Gala

TBA invite
Click Here to download the RSVP for Keep them Dancing Scholarship Gala

Showcase 2011

Showcase 2011
On Friday, June 10 at Lourdes College's Franciscan Life Center, Toledo Ballet dancers performed a wide array of dance forms which highlighted the superb training receive in both its trademark classical ballet division as well as its dynamic contemporary division. Our youngest ballerinas showed off those very important basics of classical ballet with great focus and enthusiasm while our more advanced dancers wowed the audience with the beautiful result of years of serious commitment to ballet and contemporary dance as art forms. The highlight of the performance was a piece performed by the advanced and company dancers, choreographed by Artistic Director Michael Lang, titled "Sun Will Rise," in memory of Toledo Ballet dancer Becca Brookover, who lost her struggle with leukemia last year.

Museum of Dreams

Toledo Ballet enjoyed a wildly successful spring production, ‘MUSEUM OF DREAMS’ in March at the Valentine Theatre. This celebration of Toledo Museum of Art was such a smash that community leaders and arts patrons begged us to do third performance. Alas, Toledo will have to patiently until next spring to see Michael Lang's next original prodcution. Toledo Ballet will not keep our community in suspense too long. Stay tuned for the announcement of our 2011-2012 season!

Toledo Ballet Offers Master Class!

Toledo Ballet alumna and champion Irish step dancer Darrah Carr will conduct a Master Class Tuesday, May 17 from 7:15 – 8:45 p.m. at Toledo Ballet's studios at Westfield Franklin Park Mall. Carr, Director of New York based Darrah Carr Dance, describes her style as ModERIN: a playful combination of traditional Irish step and contemporary modern dance. Participants will learn phrases from Carr's company repertoire. Registration is $25.
Call Toledo Ballet to register at 419.471.0049.

RÉVÉRENCE: TOLEDO BALLET Goes National!!

WGTE's documentary on Toledo Ballet has been selected by 77 American Public Broadcasting stations all over the country to be aired on their television stations. A minimum of 25 stations must select any given documentary for it to go national, and ours was selected by three times that number! Those stations include nearly every major city in Ohio, plus NYC affiliate WNET, Boston's affiliate, and Los Angeles, to name just a few.
Toledo Ballet thanks WGTE for producing such a cutting edge and inspiring documentary as well as its major donors, The Blade and The Andersons.

Toledo Ballet Student Storms the Dance World

Toledo Ballet student Rebekah Paul won first place in the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition in Chicago last weekend in the classical division and second place in the contemporary division. This is the world's largest student ballet scholarship competition that awards over $250,000 annually in scholarships to leading dance schools worldwide. The competition is held annually all over the world and in New York and is open to dancers of all nationalities 9 - 19 years old. Only the top three students from each age group go to the finals in NY. Toledo Ballet School Director Lisa Mayer and Toledo Ballet faculty member Frances Shuk Kwan Fu coached Ms. Paul in a “Sleeping Beauty” Variation, and Toledo Ballet spring production Artistic Director Michael Lang coached her for the contemporary piece. She will participate in the finals this March in New York. Over 200 YAGP winners are now dancing with 50 major companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera, and San Francisco, among others. Toledo Ballet School Director Lisa Mayer points out, “Youth America Grand Prix is unlike any other dance competition for several reasons. First and foremost, YAGP is a non – profit that does not operate its own dance company. The scholarship money that is awarded goes to students who then have the opportunity to study at the best dance companies in the world. Therefore, it is an organization that is truly looking out for the best interest of the dancers versus trying to attract students for its own interest.” Ms. Paul has also received a full scholarship to the highly esteemed School of American Ballet for its five week Summer Course 2011. The official training academy of the New York City Ballet, SAB was established in 1934 by legendary choreographer George Balanchine and philanthropist Lincoln Kirstein and is located at NYC's Lincoln Center. SAB alumni include dance legends Suzanne Farrell, Arthur Mitchell, Maria Tallchief and Darci Kistler. The course attracts 200 of the nation's top ballet students, and admission is by audition only. Many SAB students go on to dance for New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Miami City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. An eighth grader at Toledo Christian School, Rebekah is currently a member of Toledo Ballet's junior company. She will dance several lead roles in Toledo Ballet's spring production, MUSEUM OF DREAMS March 11 and 12 at the Valentine Theatre. This original production celebrates the art collection at the Toledo Museum of Art. Among the pieces Ms. Paul will dance are ones celebrating several of the museum's pieces by Degas. Adds Ms. Mayer, “The fact that Rebekah won first place in YAGP classical division and second place in the contemporary division, as well as earning this incredible scholarship, are true testaments to her talent and the training she is receiving at Toledo Ballet. We are so proud of her and know she has an amazing career ahead of her.”

Museum Of Dreams Coming Soon!

Inspired by works of art from our own Toledo Museum of Art, this original dance concert by Toledo Ballet Artistic Director Michael Lang brings to life, through the imagination and desires of its patrons, a magical museum of pieces from our very own museum. In this "Alice in Wonderland" type journey, the question arises: Has the art world entered the world of the patrons or have the patrons entered the art world? Museum of Dreams, through beautifully elegant dance, points out that sometime where one is supposed to be is exactly where one is!
Museum of Dreams final :30 spot from David Kuznicki on Vimeo.

Deadline NOW: Kathleen Carroll and Mari Davies

Becca Brookover

Toledo Ballet mourns the loss but celebrates the life of our dear Becca who fought her leukemia with the passion with which she danced. A memorial scholarship has been established in her name which will issue an award annually on October 14, her birthday.
Contributions should be sent to Toledo Ballet; in memo, write Becca Brookover Memorial Scholarship Fund and mail to TB at 5001 Monroe St., Ste. R20, Toledo 43623.

New Set Slideshow

Click on the image below to see the slideshow.

Andersons' Wine Challenge

Andersons is offering a wine sale challenge through December. The organization that sells the most wine receives a $1,000 Andersons gift card! For every bottle of Toledo Ballet wine that is purchased, TB gets $2. Learn more.

Nutcracker Tea Party

TeaWithClaras

Toledo Ballet's Nutcracker Tea Party was held November 14 at the Toledo Club. A grand time was had by all, especially those who had their photos taken with the Nutcracker dancers and won the coveted Felicity American Girl dolls! We can't wait to do this again next year! Photo: Real life Clara Williams, a TB dancer, is flanked by TB's "Claras" Rebekah Paul (left) and Semira Warrick (right).

Tea with Clara

Toledo Ballet invites you and your child to join Clara and her Nutcracker friends for a magical afternoon of tea and treats.

teaWclara
Advertisement created by John Decker, Jr. through Cre8ive Sites.

Centennial Room at Toledo Club
Sunday, November 14th, 2:00-3:30pm

Tickets $15
Limited Seating

Call 419.787.4186

Toledo Ballet Unveils New Nutcracker Set

Documentary

Toledo Ballet unveiled the to-scale model of its brand new NUTCRACKER set Thursday, September 2. during a press conference in its studios. Set designer Thomas C. Umfrid, a professor of scenic and costume design at University of Cincinnati, was selected from a list of professional designers belonging to United Scenic Artists which represents scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers, as well as scenic artists and media specialists who work in the theatre and entertainment industry in the United States. Umfrid specializes in designing for lyric theater. “Tom Umfrid's work is both eclectic and substantial. Given his professional experience and familiarity with the Midwest ballet scene, Mr. Umfrid promised to be a designer receptive to our needs for NUTCRACKER,” said Toledo Ballet board member and University of Toledo theater professor James Hill.

The new Act II “Land of Sweets” set, funded largely by a grant from the Anderson Fund Supporting Organization of the Toledo Community Foundation as well as the Landman Goldman Foundation, replaces a set that was purchased second hand by Toledo Ballet nearly twenty years ago. It was designed with the intention to complement the current Act I set until funds can be raised to replace it with Umfrid's Act I set design, as well.

When asked about his design process, Mr. Umfrid explained, “The former set design was a rather abstract environment. To my eye, the former set seemed rather dark and lackluster, like a cave made of paper doilies. The new design is a distinct place; it's the throne room in the Kingdom of Sweets. In the new set the colors, vertical accents and energetic decoration depict a place for a happy celebration. Clara and her Nutcracker Prince have just traveled from a coldly elegant moonlit winter forest. Act II needs to be a real contrast for Clara and the audience. In the middle of winter, at Christmas time, we all need some sunlight and fun!”

The new set will make its public debut at Toledo Ballet's 70th annual NUTCRACKER at the Stranahan Theater December 11 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and December 12 at 2 p.m.