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Toledo, Ohio Permit 1143
Westfield Franklin Park 5001 Monroe St., Suite R20 Toledo, OH 43623 419.471.0049 FAX 419.471.9005 www.toledoballet.net
Marie Bollinger Vogt, Founder, Artistic Director Emerita
Westfield Franklin Park
Fall 2011
5001 Monroe St., Suite R20 Toledo, OH 43623
If you have a disability which requires an accommodation, please advise the business office, 419-471-0049. TTY/ TTD 1-800-750-0750
BECCA BROOKOVER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED October 14 will always be a special day to Toledo Ballet and the family of Becca Brookover. It is Becca’s birthday. When Becca lost her battle with leukemia last December, Toledo Ballet established a scholarship fund in her memory. The first annual award, also partially funded by the Toledo Ballet guild, was issued to Toledo Ballet dancer Bethany Trumbull on what would have been Becca’s 17th birthday. The recipient of this award is recommended to Becca’s parents by Executive Director Mari Davies, School Director Lisa Mayer and spring production Artistic Director Michael Lang. “Bethany has had her own struggles over the last two years,” Ms. Davies explained. “Her
Faculty
Steven Brown Kristin Del Verne Frances Fu Bradley Hashim Jeanie Bugert-Hayward Ann Heckler Sean Howe Caitlin Hudson Kathy Humphrey Barbara Kandalski Victor Knighten Michael Lang Lisa Mayer Armon Miller Beverly Robinson Chardae Snowden Ariel Warrick Michael Warrick
Staff Mari Davies
Executive Director
Lisa Mayer
School Director
Michael Lang
Artistic Director, Spring Production
Elizabeth White
Business Coordinator
father has also battled leukemia and it has taken a huge toll on the family. Yet through it all,
Kelby Sodeman
Bethany has remained focused and positive in her dance studies. She manages to balance
Condessa Croninger
her academics, family issues, and her dance with grace and really positive energy.” Mr. Lang added, “In the last couple of years, Bethany has made vast improvements in her dancing. What I am impressed by the most is that her progress in dance is taking her far beyond just the physical. The emotional quality she is starting to tap into allows her dance to come from a place of pure honesty. This type of artistic epiphany, which is rare at such a young age, is helping her to create and discover organic and profound expressions of movement. For me, this is when dance becomes powerful and can actually help one ponder and discover one’s own inner truth.” Please consider making a donation to this fund by going to toledoballet.net or make checks payable to Toledo Ballet and in memo, write “Brookover Scholarship Fund.”
Grants Coordinator Educational Outreach Coordinator
Margarita Dobbins
Administrative Assistant
Anthony Piercefield
Administrative Assistant
Jessica Prchlik
Administrative Assistant
Dawn Trumbull
Administrative Assistant
Brittany Scheckelhoff Webmaster
THE NUTCRACKER DECEMBER 10 • 2 & 7 P.M. & DECEMBER 11 • 2 P.M. Toledo Ballet is counting the days until it welcomes its 71st annual Nutcracker guest artists. One is familiar to Toledo Ballet and one will be new to the Stranahan Theater stage. Russian prima ballerina Olga Pavlova graced the stage in our 2006 Nutcracker production and is pleased to return. A graduate of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, she has toured over thirty countries, worked with world renowned choreographers, and danced principal roles in fifty four ballets. Last year, Dance Magazine called her “The New Pavlova,” drawing an impressive comparison to the famed Anna Pavlova of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She was named DFW Weekly Critics Choice for Best Ballerina in 2007 and 2008, and Best Duet with Alexander Vetrov in 2006. One dance critic wrote “...everything her feet touch turns to gold.” Andrei Jouravlev is new to the Toledo Ballet’s Nutcracker. He studied at the famed Perm State Choreography Academy in Russia and went on to become a Principal Dancer in the Perm State Opera and Ballet Theatre. He toured internationally with the “Stars of the Kirov” and Bolshoi Ballet, and with American Ballet Theatre Principal Nina Ananiashvili in Japan and South Korea, where he danced Espada of Don Quixote. After the Jackson Ballet Competition he joined the New Jersey Ballet as a Principal Dancer where he danced with the “Stars of American Ballet” during a 1997 China summer tour. Mr. Jouravlev has performed the ballets of George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, Paul Taylor and many more. He has danced over thirty principal roles in classical and contemporary repertoires including Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Spartacus, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, Coppelia, Cinderella, La Sylphide, Carmen, Who Cares and others. We will miss our Miami City Ballet family members who were not able to be released this season due to their hectic schedules, but it is always fun to expand our family and bring fresh, exciting energy to our audiences.
RECONNECT: TOLEDO BALLET PRESENTS – The Toledo Ballet Board of Trustees recently hosted its inaugural scholarship gala, Keep Them Dancing, October 15, at Inverness Club. Board President Rob Koenig welcomed the nearly 130 guests to the evening affair which featured a quiet auction, dinner and musical entertainment. Special guests MaryBeth and Rick of 101.5 The River kept everyone in stitches with their humorous anecdotes of personal experiences with Toledo Ballet Nutcrackers past and present. Rick Wodell, who has performed the role of Mother Ginger every year since 2007 and is truly “the Mother of all Mother Gingers,” made a grand entrance in his Mother Ginger bonnet. Kudos to chairwoman Yolanda Mora-Calderon and her committee of dedicated volunteers for a seamless evening. Musical guests included the Toledo School for the Arts Jazz quartet, Quartet Bernadette Trio, and our very own Heidi Clausius on the piano. A special thank you to event sponsors Medical Mutual, KeyBank, Meijer, and 101.5 The River for their generous support. The event raised more than $15,000 in scholarships for deserving dancers. Many thanks to all of you who supported this worthwhile fundraiser.
CLARAS 2011 Real Name: Sophia Brodin Grade: Freshman School: Notre Dame Academy Your favorite role / piece you have danced and why it is your favorite: Snow variation with TB Nutcracker because it is so demanding and challenging yet beautiful, and because it makes me a better dancer. Why is dance important to you? Dance expresses me in ways that words cannot; it is my exit into an imaginary place where I can live out a different life, I love it so much and it’s what I love to do! What do you like to do when you are not dancing? If I ever have time off, I really enjoy spending time with family and friends and going snowboarding!! What do you want to be when you grow up? First, a dancer with a world famous professional ballet or contemporary company, then a doctor specializing in cancer research. What are three words that come to your mind when you think of dance? Physical, Elegant, Expressive. What famous dancer would you like to meet? ABT’s Paloma Herrera!
Real Name: McKenzie Beaverson Grade: Freshman School: Toledo School for the Arts Your favorite role / piece you have danced and why it is your favorite: Lead Angel, because I got to perform with the younger dancers that looked up to me. It was also a role that was so pretty and the choreography was fun to do. Why is dance important to you? Dance is important to me because it is a way of expressing myself. While I’m dancing I can forget about everything and enjoy every movement and learn how to get better. What do you like to do when you are not dancing? When I’m not dancing I like to be with my friends. I also like running. What do you want to be when you grow up? I would like to be a professional dancer when I grow up, but if I don’t end up as a dancer I would like to be a math teacher for elementary and middle school students. What are three words that come to your mind when you think of dance? Graceful, Skill, and Enjoyable
Michael Lang, Lisa Mayer, Marie Vogt, and Mari Davies enjoy the evening.
What famous dancer would you like to meet? I would like to meet Natalia Makarova
ALUMNA MOLLY MCINTYRE ROMANO Molly danced with Toledo Ballet for about 10 years. Upon graduation from high school, she attended and graduated from Hillsdale College and earned her Masters Degree in Communication Arts from Eastern Michigan University. She went on to obtain certification in Event Planning from George Washington University in Washington D.C. Molly and her husband Eric, a vice president with Hellmuth, Obata, Kassabaum Architects, live in Webster Groves, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. They have three children: Gabriella (sixth grade), Christian (third grade), and Alexandria (Alexis) (first grade) as well as two other family members, Hershey their chocolate lab, and Max, their Australian tree frog. She is involved with her community’s annual production of “Nutcracker on Ice,” in which Gabriella performs. She says her title is still in the formative stage, but feels more comfortable on the artistic side. “Every year when I hear the Nutcracker music for the first time, I still get (happy) tears in my eyes.” What first drew you to dance? I believe my mom put me in dance in my hometown of Monroe, MI at age 3 or 4 for grace, elegance and coordination. I stayed with it because it became my passion and continually challenged me. What are some of your fondest TB memories? My first Nutcracker was in 1975 when I was 9 and a mouse. The costume completely covered us, with ears and a mask that covered our mouth and nose. You couldn’t recognize any of us! We all got to put a special color bow on our tails so that our parents could tell which one we were! Can you recount an anecdote that still makes you smile all these years later? One of my favorite was from when I was a Snowflake. We wore a head piece with wires sticking up from it with snowflakes on the tips. While we were doing the last few steps of the number, my head piece got entangled with another dancer’s and we were stuck! I jerked my head forward and then felt an extra head piece dangling down my back. Thank goodness we were all in the process of exiting the stage!
Officers
Robert A. Koenig President James Hill President-Elect Judith Leb Secretary Damian Rodgers Treasurer
Trustees Stacey Butts Stephanie Cihon Carleen Cincala Dawn Coleman Stephanie Dames John Gorun Jeanette Grzeszczak Kathleen S. Hanley Stephen L. Hanley Mike Hennig Anne Izzi Kathleen Jones Darren LaShelle Gail Mirrow Yolanda Mora-Calderon David Saygers Deann R. Gorun-Trobaugh Marie Bollinger Vogt Bruce Works
When you think of Madame Velta Cernonok, what are three words that come to mind? Disciplined, strict, sense of humor. When we kept our knees pulled up she’d take a piece of chalk and draw a smiley face on our knee caps! In what ways did Madame Vogt influence you? She always expected a lot from her dancers but was understanding and compassionate. Her sense of philanthropy and community involvement was exemplary. Her influence still reveals its effects on my life. Young dancers often aspire to be like the advanced dancers. Which Toledo Ballet dancers do you remember wanting to emulate, and why? Armon Miller and Lisa Mayer! I got to “fight” Armon in the battle scene when I was a mouse and I was thrilled to be her mouse. Lisa and I are close in age but her dancing was light years ahead of mine. Lisa had the whole package; not only was she talented and pretty, she was also very nice. What do you feel dance gave you that has lasted a lifetime? Grace, poise, discipline, body awareness, determination, good posture, a great work ethic and something I’ve appreciated more as I get older... great legs! You went on to compete in and win a number of pageants. What drew you to them and how did your ballet training help with these competitions? I competed in my first pageant at the age of 20 and I admit I did it on a dare! I had so much fun competing that I
was hooked. The scholarships I received by winning my local twice, my state pageant and competing at Miss America paid for my entire Masters Degree in Communication Arts. My ballet training was integral because the Miss America Pageant is a scholarship program based on talent. How has your ballet training influenced your life as an adult? A dancer incorporates hard work, discipline, a good work ethic and patience, all with a smile on her face and making it all look so easy, all of which have served me well as an adult and especially when I became a parent.