Benicia Ballet – A New Chapter

Genevieve Hand

After calling the Arsenal home for 34 years, Benicia Ballet has officially moved. Facing the imminent loss of half of their studio space, they opted to find a new home at 390 Military East, where Stage One Dance Center used to be. They’ve also undergone a recent leadership change; Teresa Taylor, who has worked with Benicia Ballet for a number of years has taken up the helm of Artistic Director and now presides over the school.

In a recent interview with Taylor, she expressed regret at having to leave their studio in the Arsenal, but also gratitude for the new space. “It’s great; the building is already set up for use as a dance studio and we have greater visibility now, being right out there on Military East.” Of course, they haven’t been able to use the interior of the building for much other than broadcasting virtual classes, so far. But they have been able to partner with their neighbors at Benicia Jazzercise to create an outdoor studio in Jazzercise’s fenced-in back parking lot. The outdoor studio features a canopy for shade and lights for the evening classes. Taylor reports that the dancers seem to thoroughly enjoy being able to come together (socially distanced, masked, and after being COVID-screened) and dance in the outdoors. However, on smoky days with poor air quality, Taylor closes the outdoor studio and reverts to virtual classes for the safety of her students and faculty.

With all this change and the strain of COVID, Benicia Ballet is currently offering about 30% of their normal classload, but has retained roughly 50% of their students and is now seeing growth in new registration. Taylor commends the students for their dedication to their craft through these hard times. She describes a moment in the outdoor studio when a student was auditioning with a particularly challenging variation. “Even when she got winded (we’re all a little out of shape these days), she dug deeper. In that moment, we saw her become a dancer.” Of course, Benicia Ballet Theatre’s annual live Nutcracker performance is cancelled. Instead, in a collaboration with BBT faculty, as well as local videographer with 7DC Studios and BBT dad, Louis Dela Cruz, Taylor is crafting “Nutcracker ReImagined,” an artfully edited video version of the production. The students are rehearsing for this production and will be filmed in small pods to limit exposure risk. The final product will be available for viewing on December 26th, 2020. More information can be found on their website beniciaballettheatre.org. Taylor started out dancing with the State Ballet of Oregon and has taught at Boston Ballet and Berkeley Ballet Theater. Hailing from southern Oregon, Taylor hopes to one day work with the City of Benicia to produce something like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but in the genre of ballet, with “Ballet in the Park.” For now, however, she is just appreciative of the support she has received from the City and County so far.

If you would like to help support Benicia Ballet Theatre, a 501(c)(3), there are a number of ways you can do so. You can contact Benicia Ballet Theatre about their current fundraiser (at the time of this writing, it is a popcorn sale), you can buy BBT attire, and you can shop on Amazon.com/smile (be sure to select Benicia Ballet Theatre Inc. as your charity of choice). Photo: Outdoor studio Courtesy Benicia Ballet

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