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Revived Toledo Ballet steps lively in dance 'Tapestry'

Last night's Ballet Tapestry of American Dance production by the Toledo Ballet signaled a major leap towards a promising new direction for this beleaguered arts organization.

Phoenixlike, the company and its school have arisen again from the ashes of management and artistic troubles, which cost the operation dancers, teachers, financial support, and community confidence.

Michael Lang and Lisa Mayer have set a fresh course for the school and the company and their first production last night on the Franciscan Center stage made it plain.

Lang and Mayer pushed their dancers hard to accommodate the variety of choreographic traditions represented in Ballet Tapestry. And, to their credit, everyone stepped up with style. Even Lang took front and center to show he still has chops.

Despite attempts to disguise it as something other than a recital, the program unfolded as such and, in the end, succeeded because of the quality of its parts.

The first half was a fast-paced, sometimes confusing concoction of scenes inspired by musicals: Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story and On the Town, Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, and George Gershwin's Hurricane Suite, "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, a too-short snippet of Rhapsody in Blue, and Bourbon Street Parade by Paul Barbarin.

The bigger production scenes were choreographed by Lang; Mayer handled the balletic interludes promoting the show's theme. Clearly Lang knows how to create life on stage: his On the Town segment was eclectic, surprising, and authentic.

Choreographer Katherine Kerekes achieved convincing tension in a trio of works set to the Gershwin music. Her contemporary style was beautifully realized by guest dancers Loganne Bond, Brandon White, and Ashley Duke from Toledo School for the Arts. Other excellent performances in this set came from Michael Warrick, Tyler Piercefield, Caroline Kelley, and Julia Mazur.

Lang's setting of Barbarin's rousing score captured the frenzy, color, and humor of New Orleans at its best.

Not since the late Heinz Poll and his marvelous Ohio Ballet performed on the same stage has there been a performance as elegant and evocative as Kerri Wilde's choreography to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.

With Wilde as featured performer and a marvelously supple and confident corps comprising Toledo Ballet and Toledo School for the Arts dancers, this number was a highlight of the evening.

Another winner was St. Louis Ballet leader Gen Horiuchi's setting of several works for solo piano by mid-19th century composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. His clever, restrained settings of Caprice Espagnol and Piano Concerto in D evoked the mannerly salons of Gottschalk's time.

Guest dancer Megan Coleman and the company of MacKenzie Zarecki, Molly Gase, Claire Works, Amanda Kelley, Julia Mazur, Ariel Warrick, and Juliana Black were at their very best in this section.

The finale, selections from American Ballet Theatre's Fancy Free Ballet, with choreography by Lang and Mayer, was a perfect summation of the evening.

Ballet Tapestry will repeat at 7:30 p.m. today in the Franciscan Center at Lourdes College. Tickets are $15 to $25.

Article written by Sally Vallongo, Blade Staff Writer (Toledo Blade 05.31.07)
Reprinted from The Blade, with permission.

Dancers' lives come full circle

When Lisa Mayer Lang began her ballet career at age 6 in Toledo Ballet's “The Nutcracker,” she never believed she would one day become the school's director.

“I definitely didn't see it coming,” said Lang, a Broadway veteran of 20 years, with roles in “Cats,” “Kiss Me Kate” and most recently “Wonderful Town” with Brooke Shields.

“I was excited to work on Broadway for so long. It was a dream come true for me. I didn't expect to be back in Toledo as the Toledo Ballet school director. So I'm moving in a full circle kind of thing,” Lang said.

Raised in Toledo, Lang left to study ballet in New York City at age 18. Through years of performance, Lisa studied under David Howard, internationally toured with renowned ballet principle Gen Horiuchi, and studied under Mikhail Baryshnikov. After dancing her way into various ensembles, producers from the musical comedy “The Fantasticks” offered her a lead role.

“It was the first time I was cast using voice instead of my dancing ability,” Lang said. “It was pretty exciting to be a part of the longest running show in history.”

While cast in Broadway's “Beauty and the Beast” in 1998, Lang met future husband, actor and dancer Michael Lang. Along with stage shows, some of Lisa and Michael's television credits include “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee,” “The Rosie O'Donnell Show” and the CBS drama “Cold Case.” After having two children, the twosome retired from Broadway and television and moved back to the Toledo area last September. Joining Lisa at the Toledo Ballet, Michael is the school's marketing and outreach coordinator. He also teaches classes.

“Toledo Ballet has mainly been a pre-professional ballet school for years. We're trying to expand that horizon and bring in pre-professional musical theater and jazz,” he said.

Toledo Ballet's new semester starts April 9 with registrations currently in progress.

Article written by Michael Punsalan, Toledo Free Press Staff Writer (Toledo Free Press 03-23-07)

Lisa and Michael (among others) will be doing multiple workshops this year.

Lisa and Michael (among others) will be doing multiple workshops this year. The first set of workshops, to be done sometime in February (still working on the exact date), will be a focus on different aspects of performing in Musical Theater and Broadway. Much excitement has been expressed to us from those we have met so far here in the Toledo area about the idea of us sharing our knowledge and insight with their children from our years of Broadway experience.

Lisa will be teaching original choreography from a particular show that she has performed on the "Great white way" itself! Two of the shows that Lisa is considering are Kiss Me Kate or Wonderful Town. These two particular shows, which Lisa performed in, were choreographed by Kathleen Marshall who is a top Broadway Choreographer and Director in NYC. Kathleen can currently be seen on the new TV reality show, "You're the One That I want" which is holding nation wide auditions to find the next Stars of the Broadway show "Grease."

Michael will be teaching a workshop that uses the original choreography from A Chorus Line which was the longest running show for many years just recently surpassed by Cats and now Phantom of the Opera. This will be a two day workshop, which focuses on approaching dance in musical theater from an acting perspective. The workshop will be filled with relaxation techniques essential to the acting process; acting exercise derived from Sanford Meisner's techniques; improvisation; character analysis; character building; and then taking all of this and putting it into your dance so that your dance actually comes from a real place and creates depth to your performance. At the end of the workshop there will be a special surprise!

(01-15-07)

Davies Chosen To Lead The Toledo Ballet

The Toledo Ballet School is proud to announce Mari Davies has been selected to serve as the organization’s Executive Director. Davies had been acting as the Interim Executive Director since June and was the organization’s Development Manager prior to that position.

"The Toledo Ballet is thrilled that Mari has agreed to lead our team," said Marilyn Sheperd, president of the Toledo Ballet School Board of Directors. "Her passion for the arts and dedication to our community are but two of the strengths that Mari brings to The Toledo Ballet."

Davies past roles have included positions as an educator, a writer, a fundraiser and a community leader. She has taught at both the university and high school levels, most notably as a Holocaust education instructor at Bowling Green State University and an English teacher at Bedford High School and Maumee Valley Country Day School. She is a published writer with essays in The Toledo Blade and The Aspen Times among others as well as a community activist who has worked on countless arts education programs through organizations such as The Toledo Community Foundation, the Toledo Rotary and The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo. Davies holds a bachelor of arts degree in English and a bachelor of education degree in secondary English, both granted by The University of Toledo.

The Toledo Ballet School’s mission is to increase interest and support of the arts through dance. This is accomplished through community education, studio instruction and major performances, including the longest-running annual performance of The Nutcracker in the nation. Our mission is also accomplished as we maintain, promote and develop the Toledo Ballet School which is dedicated to providing the highest quality of training, from the earliest stages and progressing through the pre-professional level, by blending the discipline of classical ballet with the respect for the entire spectrum of dance.

(10-03-06)

Ballet founder returns to ‘Nutcracker'

For 64 years, the Toledo Ballet has brought to the stage the wintertime favorite "The Nutcracker." As dancers perform complex, classical movements with ease and grace, the performance will mark the longest-running production of this holiday ballet in the United States.

The Toledo Ballet's founder and current board member, Madame Marie Vogt, has come out of a 10-year retirement to serve as Toledo Ballet's Artistic Director Emerita. The Ballet's first "Nutcracker" production, in 1940, was under her creative direction.

"In the first production, there were just a few dancers presented and we had piano music as accompaniment," Vogt said, noting that a full score wasn't even available from Russia in the early years. "In 1949, the symphony took the stage, and they were literally on the stage."

Vogt remembers the production being held in the now-extinct Paramount Theater.

"We filled it up with 3,000 people and had 1,000 in the aisles. We turned 1,000 away," she said.

This year, Vogt promises the ballet will have distinct differences from recent productions.

"The choreography is from St. Petersburg Ballet Company, strictly a Russian approach with witty, lovely arm movement, or Port de Bras," she said. "There will be changes in the scenery as well."

While the famous Peter Tchaikovsky score will be used, the ballet will strive to use different parts of the composer's long scores throughout the production.

"It's amazing music," she said. "Through the years, the music never ceases to amaze me. In the snow scene, you can hear the brittle icicles and feel the cold air. And don't ever underestimate the ‘Waltz of the Flowers.' "

Vogt has traveled the world, and has brought a little of those travels back with her for the production.

"I am bringing back the 42-foot long Chinese dragon," she said. "And I have brought clothing back from China," she said.

Vogt said her joy is in watching the dancers grow and progress through productions such as "The Nutcracker."

"Ballet is music, dancing, art and literature," she said. "I try to impart that to my dancers. I watch the dancers feed off their own performances, because they want to do their very best."

"Because of Madame Vogt's passionate commitment to the Toledo Ballet and its dancers, generations of Toledoans have fond memories of her close attention to them as they danced," said Mari Davies, development manager for Toledo Ballet. "While many have long ago tucked away their ballet slippers, they have taken with them the life lessons Madame Vogt imparted appreciation for great music, focus, discipline and integrity."

Vogt will be joined this year by Arkadiy Orohovski as the Ballet's artist-in-residence and interim school manager. Orohovski is a native of Ukraine and has been a professional dancer since 1988.

Guest artist Soili Arvola will stage this year's "Nutcracker," with choreography by her husband, Leo Ahonen. From Finland, Arvola has received numerous awards.

More than 150 performers will take part in the production, which will be performed at 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 10 and 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Dec. 11. A special children's version will be performed at 11 a.m. Dec. 9. For tickets, call the Stranahan Theater at (419) 381-8851.

Article written by Myndi Milliken, Toledo Free Press Managing Editor - (Toledo Free Press 12-7-05)