New Jersey Ballet is a ballet company based in Livingston, New Jersey in the United States, founded in 1958 by native New Jerseyan Carolyn Clark and her fellow dancer, George Tomal.

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History

Carolyn Clark's mother established New Jersey School of Ballet in Orange, New Jersey in 1953 with her mother's friends who were dancers. Clark has involved in her mother's dance school operation since its beginning. She has later become a professional dancer herself. After touring around the world with American Ballet Theater and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, she had conceived an idea to create a ballet company in New Jersey with national significance. The company was finally founded in 1958 with the first performance on December 27, 1958 at the Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey. ^[1]

After thirteen years from the first season that consisted of two performances for a few hundred people, New Jersey Ballet started a production of The Nutcracker in 1971 at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey with world renowned dancer, Edward Villella, in the role of the Cavalier. The company has run Nutcracker production at Paper Mill Playhouse with Paper Mill Orchestra for many consecutive years since its debut. It also travels to bergenPAC in Englewood, New Jersey, Stafford Township Arts Center in Manahawkin, New Jersey and Middle Township PAC in Cape May Court House. ^[2]

The company started gaining wider recognition when it started the tours to Taiwan, the Soviet Union, Bermuda and Italy during 1990's. In 2004, the company staged full-length production of Esmeralda at New Jersey Performing Arts Center. It was the first company in the United State to perform full-length version of Esmeralda and it had gained national recognition. The company also visited India's newly opened National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai in 2006 with its Nutcracker production. It was the first full-length classical ballet in India. ^[3] In 2008, it traveled to Russia on a seven-city tour of mixed repertory that included Saturday Night , For Ella , Let's Go South and Belong . ^[4]

Today, the annual season consists of many performances in many venues through out New Jersey. It also includes New Jersey Ballet Matinee for Kids and Families, which is a collections of children's ballets of classic tales such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Tom Sawyer, Hansel & Gretel and more. ^[5] New Jersey Ballet has now become one of the famous ballet companies in the Americas. ^[6]

New Jersey School of Ballet

At the present time, the school offers many courses and instructions ranging from age 4 to professional. The classes include Ballet, Academic Ballet, Pointe, Jazz and Tap. The school offers intensive program for Ballet, Variations, Partnering, Character, Jazz, and Special Workshops by audition only. The classes are held in three locations; Livingston, New Jersey; Somerville, New Jersey; and Morristown, New Jersey. Each year, more than one hundred students who pass auditions have a chance to perform in New Jersey Ballet's Nutcracker professional production. Advanced students are included in New Jersey Ballet Matinee for Kids and Families productions. ^[7]

New Jersey Ballet's Junior Company is the school's pre-professional program for students with carrier track in dance. Students have opportunities to work with professional dancers, for example, being cast members when the Bolshoi performed at the Metropolitan Opera. ^[8] Many alumni have performed with or are current dancers of American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, The Joffrey, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and other major companies. ^[9]

Artistic Staff

Artistic/Executive Director

• Carolyn Clark

Assistant Artistic Director

• Paul Hilliard McRae

Resident Choreographer Emeritus

• George Tomal

Artistic Advisors

The artistic advisors are three of the most famous dancers of the 20th century:

• Eleanor D'Antuono, former principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre
• Leonid Kozlov, former principal dancer of the Bolshoi and New York City Ballet
• Edward Villella, former principal dancer of New York City Ballet

Ballet Mistresses

• Marina Bogdanova
• Luba Gulyaeva

Repertory Coaches

• Carolyn Tener Brown
• Natasha Girshov
• Rosemary Sabovick-Bleich

Performers

New Jersey Ballet has gained international recognition and has attracted performers from other countries around the world including Argentina, Bulgaria, Colombia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tatarstan, and Zaire. The following is the list of current performers. ^[10]

Sergio Amarante Tuvshin Bold Albert Davydov Konstantin Dournev Michelle de Fremery Tatiana Iatsenko Andrei Jouravlev

Era Jouravlev Kotoe Kojima Andres Neira Gabriella Noa-Pierson Saule Rachmedova Vladimir Roje Mari Sugawa

David Tamki Christina Theryoung Gleidson Vasconcelos Vitaly Verterich Julia Vorobyeva

References

1. ''New Jersey Countryside'' magazine, November/December 2008
2. http://www.njballet.org/about/history.asp
3. New Jersey Ballet presents Tchaikovsky program. ''New Jersey Herald.'' - accessed on March 28, 2009
4. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2008/04/new_jersey_ballet_dances_off_t.html
5. http://www.njballet.org/season/season_info.asp
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballet_company
7. http://www.njschoolofballet.com
8. Nash, Margo. Jersey Footlights: Learning Lessons From Leaps and Bounds. ''The New York Times,'' August 7, 2005
9. http://www.njschoolofballet.com/about/default.asp
10. New Jersey Ballet 2007-2008 Season Guide