Eugene Ballet

Eugene Ballet Company
General information
NameEugene Ballet Company
Year founded1978
FoundersRiley Grannon, Co-founder
Toni Pimble, Co-founder, first Artistic Director, and Resident Choreographer
LocationEugene, Oregon, USA
Websitehttps://eugeneballet.org/
Senior staff
Executive DirectorJosh Neckels
Ballet Academy DirectorSara Lombardi
Artistic staff
Artistic DirectorToni Pimble

Eugene Ballet is an American ballet company based in Eugene, Oregon. A resident company of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, it performs a repertoire of full-length classical ballets, contemporary pieces, and operates a ballet academy. For more than 20 years, the National Endowment for the Arts has funded Eugene Ballet performances throughout the Pacific Northwest and nationally.

History

Eugene Ballet opened in Eugene in 1979, performing The Soldier's Tale. In 1982, the company toured and performed in Taiwan. Other highlights of the company's early history include their 1990 performance of Ken Kesey's Little Tricker the Squirrel meets Big Double the Bear, their first performances of Swan Lake in 1992, and Arts America international tour funded by the U.S. Information Agency in 1995.[1]

The company performed with Pink Martini in 2006 and 2018.[1][2] Eugene Ballet joined in performance with San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theatre at Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon in 2008.[1] The company has also performed in the Oregon Festival of American Music and the Oregon Bach Festival, as well as with the American Symphonia, Oregon Mozart Players, and the Eugene Opera,[1]

Eugene Ballet's Suzanne Haag is the Resident Choreographer. She was given this role in 2018 after performing with the company for 15 years. [3]

Programs

Repertoire of classical ballets

Eugene Ballet performed Firebird at the 1982 opening of the Hult Center.[4]

The company received a $15,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant in 2018, "To support the premiere of Peer Gynt, a multimedia ballet by choreographer Toni Pimble based on Henrik Ibsen's fairy tale play, Peer Gynt."[5]

Other classical ballets in the company's reperetoire include Swan Lake,[6] The Nutcracker,[7] and Schéhérazade.[8]

Eugene Ballet Academy

The Eugene Ballet Academy begin offering lessons in 1964, "To provide a sound education and inspiring opportunities in dance that nurture, motivate and instill an appreciation of the art of classical ballet and dance repertoire."[9] It serves dance students from age three to adult.[9] Eugene Ballet Academy and Eugene Ballet Company have Pre-Professional and Aspirant programs.[10]

Financials

Revenues in 2018 exceeded USD $2.78 million, and total assets more than $3.630 million.[11]

Awards, grants

  • Governors Arts Awards for Excellence in the Arts, 1996[1]
  • In 2017, the Eugene Weekly reported EBC had received NEA grants for 20 years.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "History". Eugene Ballet. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "Eugene Ballet performs to the music of Pink Martini Wednesday at OSU". Corvallis Gazette Times. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "Suzanne Haag". Eugene Ballet. October 1, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  4. ^ "Ballet tickets selling fast". The World. September 18, 1982. p. 31. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  5. ^ "National Endowment for the Arts, Fiscal Year 2018, First Round" (PDF). January 31, 2018.
  6. ^ "An evening on 'Swan Lake'". Corvallis Gazette-Times. March 6, 2009. p. 49. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  7. ^ "Christmas-show tickets ready". Corvallis Gazette-Times. November 26, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  8. ^ West, Martha Ullman (January 1, 1970). "Eugene Ballet Company - 1999". Dance Magazine. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Academy". Eugene Ballet. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  10. ^ "Aspirants". Eugene Ballet. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  11. ^ "Cause IQ profile, Eugene Ballet Company (EBC)". 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  12. ^ "Trump Endangers NEA Funds for Local Arts – Eugene Weekly". Retrieved September 25, 2020.