Mendocino Ballet

Mark your calendars now for an evening of fine food and dancing on April 30th. Our Annual Dinner/Dance, “An Evening in Paris” will feature authentic French cuisine, local wines and beer, scrumptious desserts, coffee and tea, with dancing to live music afterwards. Dancers from the Mendocino Ballet Company and the “C” Levels will perform French-inspired pieces, including the authentic “Can-Can” as performed during the Cultural Exchange Project last summer in France.

A Silent Auction and Raffle for weekend getaways, gift items and more will also be held. This promises to be an enjoyable evening of food, entertainment and dancing! Don’t forget to bring your checkbooks to bid on the many wonderful items in the Silent Auction!

WHEN: Saturday, April 30
TIME: 6:00 - 11:00 pm
WHERE: Ukiah Valley Conference Center
TICKETS: $35 per person

Tables of 8 can also be purchased for $250. Tickets are now available in the office or from Ballet Guild and Board members. Seating is limited so get your tickets early!

We love our main studio downstairs to dance in, but we often have trouble hearing the music and the teacher. Please make sure that when you enter the door into the building, you remain quiet and walk along the back wall to get to the office or classrooms upstairs.

Our waiting area upstairs gives families a place to wait, but we would appreciate it if you would keep conversation low and younger children quiet, so students and instructors in all classrooms can hear. Also, no one should be sitting on the stairs, please. We need to keep them clear.

CLASSROOM: Please do not enter the classroom or interrupt the instructor during a class. Our main goal is to provide an enjoyable class, full of learning, for the student. If you need to talk with the instructor, or with the director, please call the studio to make an appointment, write a note, or set up a meeting between classes. Parents are welcome to view classes at the invitation of the instructor ONLY. This keeps distractions to a minimum and provides for a quiet, focused class.

Hélène Darroman and 10 of her dancers, along with her husband, 4-year old daughter and a violinist, will travel from Valence d’Agen, France to Ukiah this summer for a dance workshop and cultural exchange from July 8-18th. Dancers from the Mendoicno Ballet spent 10 days in Auvillar and Valence d’Agen last summer as the first part of this very special cultural exchange with dancers from France.

Classes for this workshop will be offered in Classical Ballet, Modern/Jazz and Tap. Students must have at least 3 years of Classical Ballet experience and be at the intermediate level to participate. An informal performance will be presented at the end of the workshop showcasing dances both groups have learned prior to the workshop as well as pieces learned during the workshop. This is a great opportunity for our students to study with dancers from another country and a different culture.

If you are interested in helping to fundraise, or provide housing, food, etc., for the dancers, please contact Trudy in the Mendocino Ballet office at 463-2290.

Attitude Dance and Active Wear, a new store featuring dance, yoga and workout clothing, dance shoes, gift items and more will open in early summer. The shop will be located at 108 West Clay and will be run by volunteers from the Mendocino Ballet. All profits from this venture go back to the Mendocino Ballet to enhance and support our dance programs and performances.

If you would like to volunteer to help in the store, please contact Trudy in the office at 463-2290. You can also fill out a volunteer form, available on the table in the front of the studio.

Enter the magical world of an enchanted toyshop and delight in the dancing dolls crafted by a world-renowned doll maker in “The Fantastic Toyshop”. Get ready to enjoy an exciting evening of dance performed by members of the Mendocino Ballet under the direction of Artistic Director, Trudy McCreanor. Set in southern France in the late 1800’s, dancing poodles, marionettes, and beautiful dolls from different cultures entertain customers who travel from England and America to see the magic unfold. Trouble erupts when the customers and their children want to split up the prized can-can dolls. An enchanting and ethereal Fairy and a surprise ending will captivate audiences of all ages. Included in this evening of dance is a pre-show featuring original classical and contemporary ballet performed by Mendocino Ballet Company dancers and Young Dancer Ensembles.

“La Boutique Fantasque” (The Fantastic Toyshop) was first presented in London in 1919 by the internationally famous Ballets Russes. The ballet was choreographed by Leonide Massine and arranged and orchestrated by Respighi to the classic Rossini score, filled with familiar melodies.

WHEN: Saturday, May 21, 2005 at 7:00 pm ONLY
WHERE: Mendocino College Center Theatre
TICKETS: $15 for Adults, $12 for Seniors 65 and older, and $8 for children age 12 and under

Tickets can be purchased at the Mendocino Ballet or Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah, Goods’ Stamp Shoppe in Willits, Catfish Books in Lakeport, and Harvest Market in Fort Bragg.

There will also be a special children’s production of “The Fantastic Toyshop” on Wednesday and Thursday morning at the Mendocino College Center Theatre at 10:00 am. This is a shortened version of the evening performance, with no pre-show, especially geared for young children. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased by calling Lisa at COMEX at 468-3063.

Esther Edwards, a 16 year old student at Ukiah High and a Mendocino Ballet Company dancer, has been accepted to study at the prestigious Summer Dance Intensive Program with American Ballet Theatre, one of the best dance companies in the world. Esther will spend four weeks in Detroit, where she will take daily classes with Master Teachers and professional dancers from the ABT Company. Students stay in the dorms at Wayne State University and perform at the Detroit Opera House. Students from all over the country audition to be accepted into the ABT Program.

We are very proud of Esther and her accomplishments and are asking for your support to send her to this Dance Intensive Workshop. We have created a “Send Esther to ABT” fund to help her out. She needs to raise $3000 for housing and tuition in addition to airfare. Your donation is tax-deductible as determined by the law. If you are interested in making a donation to Esther, please contact Trudy or Esther at the studio.

The Fantastic Toyshop (La Boutique Fantasque) Saturday, May 21, 2005 at 7 pm at Mendocino College Center Theatre. Great entertainment for the whole family! Tickets on sale NOW!

“Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes” Sat. June 4, 2005. Our year end show features our young dancers in a whimsical show that brings Mother Goose to life! “C” Level dancers, teens, and adults will also perform! Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children under 18.

Summer Classes start June 20th. Classical Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Modern Dance, and Flamenco for ages 6-Adult; Creative Dance for ages 3-5, Special Tumbling & Dance for Boys ages 6-11, Pre-professional Ballet for the serious dancer ages 8-18 and a special Musical Theatre Dance Workshop for students age 10-15 which includes jazz, tap, musical theatre dance with ballet as the foundation. This is a great workshop for students who want to learn a variety of dance styles for perfomance. “Scenes from SWAN LAKE” is our theme for our DANCECamp for children ages 7-11. Call us at 463-2290 for more information and a summer class brochure.

Cultural Exchange Summer Dance Workshop. July 8-18. This is a special workshop geared for the intermediate dancer age 12 and older. Dancers will have the opportunity to study with Helene Darroman, Professor of Dance in Valence d’Agen, France and her dancers. Call Trudy McCreanor, Artistic Director of the Mendocino Ballet, at 463-2290 for requirements and information.