Boston Ballet

In 1979, Boston Ballet opened the Nervi Festival in Italy, and in 1980 was the first American dance company to perform in the People's Republic of China. The Company made its London premiere in 1981, with a full-length production of Swan Lake. In 1983, Boston Ballet presented Don Quixote on Broadway with Rudolf Nureyev as special guest artist, after touring the United States, Mexico, France, and Italy. Boston Ballet collaborated with choreographer Mark Morris for the first time in 1986, performing his Mort Subite at the PepsiCo Festival in Purchase, New York. The following year Boston Ballet was the first ballet company to perform at the BESSIE Dance and Performance award ceremony at New York City Center. Boston Ballet was the first major dance company to commission works from contemporary choreographers Mark Morris, Susan Marshall, Ralph Lemon, Elisa Monte, and Helen Pickett.

In May 1990, Natalia Dudinskaya and Konstantin Sergeyev, along with then-assistant artistic director Anna-Marie Holmes, staged a new production of Swan Lake featuring Boston Ballet dancers performing the leading roles with dancers from the Kirov Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. In recent years, the Company has added James Kudelka’s Cinderella, George Balanchine’s Coppélia, Jewels, and Midsummer Night’s Dream, the American premiere of Jirí Kylián’s Black and White and John Cranko's Onegin, The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet to its repertoire.

Boston Ballet made its debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, in January 1990. In July 1991, Boston Ballet toured throughout Spain. During the summer of 2007, the Company completed a second tour of Spain to audience and critical acclaim. Boston Ballet’s most recent touring has included appearances at the Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process series, the "Fall for Dance" festivals held at New York City Center and Orange County Performing Arts Center, as well as back-to-back performances at the Spoleto Festival USA and the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America series in Spring 2008. Boston Ballet embarked on its first tour to Seoul, Korea in the summer of 2008, presenting a range of works by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, and Christopher Wheeldon, never before seen by Korean audiences.

In fall 2009, Boston Ballet's sole performance venue became the Boston Opera House. Located in the Boston Theater District, this 2,500-seat theater provides clear sightlines and has a newly renovated orchestra pit.

Boston Ballet maintains a repertoire that combines classics such as Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty and August Bournonville’s La Sylphide; along with contemporary versions of classics, such as Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake, and John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet; plus with new works by contemporary choreographers including William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, Mark Morris, David Dawson, Val Caniparoli, Christopher Wheeldon, and Helen Pickett. Boston Ballet appointed Jorma Elo as Resident Choreographer in 2005. Since then, Elo has created six works for the company, including Plan to B, Brake the Eyes, and Le Sacre du Printemps. In 2009, the New York Times hailed Boston Ballet’s repertoire as “one of the most eclectic in the country”.

Boston Ballet’s The Nutcracker has been performed annually for 42 years. Over 35 performances employ the entire company and more than 250 Boston Ballet School students who join in the production every year.

Boston Ballet operates Boston Ballet School with more than 3,000 students at four locations in Boston, Newton, Norwell, and Marblehead for ages 2 through adult. The Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education offers numerous educational and outreach activities for the community. Collectively, programs include Summer Dance Workshop, Summer Dance Program, Citydance, Taking Steps, and Adaptive Dance in partnership with Children’s Hospital Boston. Boston Ballet’s outreach programs reach over 7,000 children each year.

Boston Ballet’s headquarters at 19 Clarendon Street in Boston’s South End neighborhood is designed by architect Graham Gund.

Company dancers of the Boston Ballet for the 2020-2021 season are:[2][3]

Background: Boston Ballet School, was founded in 1979 by E. Virginia Williams. The program was officially incorporated as Boston Ballet School in 1979.

The Boston Ballet School (BBS) is an American ballet school based in Boston, Massachusetts. With three campus locations, the studio serves male and female ballet students, starting at age 3, across the greater Boston area. Founded by E. Virginia Williams in 1963, The Boston Ballet School was formerly the New England Civic Ballet. [5]

"The official School of Boston Ballet and largest dance school in North America, provides unique dance experiences in a creative environment, under the direction of professional dance education experts with three convenient locations in Boston, Newton, and the North Shore." [6]

1956: E. Virginia Williams moved her ballet school from a studio in Back Bay to 186 Massachusetts Avenue, across from the Lowes State Theatre in Boston. The School at this point offered classes starting at a children's level all the way to a Professional Division. The schools “fundamental purpose" was "to provide its students with a training equivalent to that offered professional dancers by the great European ballet schools.

1958: Out of her Boston School of Ballet, sometimes called The New England School of Ballet, E. Virginia Williams created a small dance group named The New England Civic Ballet. The New England Civic Ballet primarily performed at small local festivals and venues around New England. [7]

Between 1958 and 1962: The New England Civic Ballet performed regionally, dancing various pieces such as a 3 Act Nutcracker, Les Syphides, and repertory works by E. Virginia Williams, Sydney Leonard, Lev Ianov, Jean Paige. [8]

Aug 14, 1962: New England Civic Ballet performed as part of the 30th year of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. At this point New England Civic Ballet was considered a semi-professional company, and called themselves “The Boston Ballet”. The performance was reviewed for Dance Magazine in October 1962 by Doris Hering. She stated: "The Boston Ballet dancers perform with a cohesiveness of style that one rarely encounters even in a seasoned professional company...there is no artifice. Instead there is an ease of communication between them and the audience." [9]

Dec 15, 1963: "A Ford Foundation grant of $144,000 to the Boston Ballet School has given birth to Boston's first and only professional ballet company." announced The Boston Globe on Monday, December 30,1963. The Ford Grant, which had been officially announced on December 15, was a historic $7,756,000, the largest private subsidy made to single art form at the time. In part, based on the recommendations of George Balanchine and McNeil Lowry, the grant provided for the formation of several professional ballet companies, including the Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and Washington Ballet. Balanchine was a strong supporter of this initiative, he would serve as Boston Ballet's artistic advisor for several years and as a further gesture of support gave the new company several of his works." [10]

Marblehead Boston Ballet School: Located on the second floor of the Lynch Van Otterloo YMCA in Marblehead Massachusetts, the third studio was opened in 2009. It is the smallest of the three studios. [11]

Newton Boston Ballet School: Originally based in Norwell, Massachusetts, the new Newton studio opened its doors in August of 2017.

"Designed by global architecture firm Gensler, the 26,550-square-foot facility features seven studios (two more than the previous location), expanded common areas for families, increased locker room space for students, a physical therapy room, family restrooms, and dedicated areas for studying and stretching. Boston Ballet School leadership partnered with Gensler and solicited input from more than 400 constituents to inform the design."

"In response to growing demand for high-caliber dance education and the need to ensure a long-term home in the suburbs, Boston Ballet School is expanding and relocating its Newton Studio. With a range of personas to consider (child/adult student, students with disabilities, families, and faculty) the design team considered each user’s experience and focused on how to simultaneously respect the rigor of ballet training while creating a welcoming setting for all." [12]

Clarendon Street Boston Ballet School Headquarters: The original studio location of the Boston Ballet School. The Clarendon Street Studio also acts as the Headquarters for the school and the greater company, including administrative offices and the marketing team. The Clarendon Street Studio is also home of the Pre-Professional Program. [13]

Pre-Professional Program at Boston Ballet School:

The pre-professional program at the Boston Ballet is the stepping stone to the professional company. Accepting only about 80 students a year, this program is highly exclusive and competitive. Students move from all over the US and Internationally to participate in this program and to train directly under the head of the Boston Ballet School, as well as the professional company members. [14]

Boston Ballet School and Walnut Hill School For Performing Arts

Although now put on pause, as of autumn 2020, Walnut Hill Academy for the Performing Arts will utilize Boston Ballet School’s teachers and students while offering access to Walnut Hill School’s academic curriculum, housing, and facilities. "A year and a half in the making, the new partnership focuses exclusively on Boston Ballet School’s pre-professional division, currently made up of 81 students — the school’s smallest branch. The BBS is the official school of the Boston Ballet company and is among the largest ballet schools in the United States, enrolling more than 4,000 students at locations in Boston, Newton, and Marblehead." [15]

Friends of Boston Ballet is a membership program which provides unrestricted annual operating support that funds the Company's on stage work, and its wide range of education and outreach programs.

• Official website
• "Boston Ballet announces 2012–13 season including the world premiere of the new Nutcracker". Ballet News. March 26, 2012. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
• archival footage of Plan to B in 2004 at Jacob's Pillow
• Interview with Sydney Leonard, To the Pointe: part 1, part 2