Marin Ballet Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary This Saturday

This Saturday, April 13, Marin Ballet presents its 50th Anniversary Reunion Performance, featuring current Marin Ballet students performing alongside professional dancers who studied at Marin Ballet. The evening’s program features new works by established choreographers and the return of some favorite works from Marin Ballet’s archives.

Since its founding in 1963, Marin Ballet has been a leader in promoting the art of dance, in providing exceptional dance training, and in nurturing career-aspiring and recreational dancers alike.

This Saturday's program includes Trois Gymnopedies, Ronn Guidi’s work set to music by Erik Satie, first performed by Marin Ballet in 1967, when it was performed by Marin Ballet’s current artistic director Cynthia Lucas. This performance will feature alumnae Mila Lavoie of the Sacramento Ballet and Jessica Wagner, who dances with the dawson/wallace DANCE project, as well as Travis Bradley of Memphis Ballet.

Students from Marin Ballet will also perform new works by Robert Dekkers and Casey Thorne, a remount of Amy London’s Pardoname Signore Green, and an excerpt from George Balanchine’s Raymonda.

The second half of the program features Julia Adam’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring students from Marin Ballet performing alongside guest artists Pierre-François Vilanoba, a principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet, and John Speed Orr and Jonathan Mangosing, both of whom dance with Smuin Ballet.

The evening will also feature an archival display focused on Marin Ballet's earliest years, featuring photos, playbills, costumes, and memories of Marin Ballet's founding era.

Founded in 1963 by Leona Norman and now under the artistic leadership of Cynthia Lucas, Marin Ballet is nationally recognized for preparing young dancers to succeed and instilling in its students a lifelong appreciation for the arts. Students who have trained at Marin Ballet have gone on to perform or choreograph for such renowned companies as San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Houston Ballet, Smuin Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet, among others. Alumni from Marin Ballet have also gone on to pursue studies and careers in many other areas of the arts, and to serve their communities in a wide range of important fields.

If You Go

Marin Ballet's 50th Anniversary Reunion Performance takes place Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 pm at College of Marin, 835 College Avenue in Kentfield. Tickets are $50 and can be ordered by visiting www.marinballet.org.

Photo courtesy Marin Ballet