By company dancer Connie Flachs We continue our series of introductions to the famously strong female characters of playwright Henrik Ibsen that appear in Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House in Extremely Close April 12-14 at Peter Martin Wege Theatre. Here we are introduced to Rebecca West from the 1886 four-act play, Rosmersholm. Rosmersholm was almost titled […]
By company dancer Connie Flachs We continue our series of introductions to the famously strong female characters of playwright Henrik Ibsen that appear in Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House in Extremely Close April 12-14 at Peter Martin Wege Theatre. Here we are introduced to Ellida Wangel from his 1888 five-act play, Lady from the Sea. Lady From […]
By company dancer Connie Flachs We continue our series of introductions to the famously strong female characters of playwright Henrik Ibsen that appear in Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House in Extremely Close April 12-14 at Peter Martin Wege Theatre. Next, we meet Mrs. Helen Alving from the 1881 three-act play Ghosts which premiered in Chicago, Illinois. […]
By company dancer Connie Flachs Now that we’ve met the author, Henrik Ibsen, let’s meet his famously strong female characters that appear in Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House in Extremely Close April 12-14 at Peter Martin Wege Theatre. First up is Nora Helmer (played by company dancer Yuka Oba) from his 1879 three-act play, A Doll’s House, which premiered at the […]
By company dancer Connie Flachs Grand Rapids Ballet’s next production, Extremely Close, includes Ibsen’s House, a ballet by Val Caniparoli (the choreographer of our production of The Nutcracker). This piece features a collection of literature’s most dramatic, complex, and emotive female characters including Nora from A Doll’s House, Hedda from Hedda Gabler, Rebecca West from Rosmersholm, […]
By Grand Rapids Ballet Apprentice Jade Butler The Nutcracker is simultaneously the most enjoyable and exhausting part of any professional dancer’s season. Growing up at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, I performed in The Nutcracker for a decade straight. Over those 10 years, I danced in two separate productions: those choreographed by Stowell & Sendak and […]
By Jade Butler The countless intricate details in The Nutcracker all come together seamlessly every December to create West Michigan’s favorite family holiday tradition seen by over 50,000 people since its premiere in 2014. • This season, there are 14 performances including four shows at Midland Center for the Arts in Midland, Michigan and 10 at DeVos Performance […]
Festival of the Arts is excited to announce its honorary co-chairs for the event’s 50th year – Glenn Del Vecchio, Executive Director for Grand Rapids Ballet and James Sofranko, the new Artistic Director for Grand Rapids Ballet. The two were selected to celebrate the link to the very first Festival of the Arts when the […]
By Jade Butler As our 2018-2019 season draws closer, we’d like to introduce you to the newest additions to this growing company. We are so excited to expand our ranks, and continue to bring excellent dance to West Michigan as the stat’es only professional ballet company. First up we have company member, Alexandra Meister-Upleger from […]
By Jade Butler, Grand Rapids Ballet Apprentice Often daunting, always exciting, summer intensives are of the utmost importance for the training of a pre-professional dancer. Most are between three and five weeks, jam-packed with learning, dancing, and making new memories. All professional dancers started as students much like you, attending summer intensives and feeling excited […]
