The Alexandra Ballet is a pre-professional ballet company in St. Louis, Missouri, founded in 1949, that cultivates top dance talent.Your Training: The Hometown Advantage , Point Magazine, Oct/Nov 2011. The company regularly performs classical ballets including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pas de Quatre, Les Sylphides, and an annual performance of The Nutcracker. Many guest choreographers have worked with Alexandra Ballet including Marek Cholewa, Petrus Bosman, and Kennet Oberly.
History In 1949, Alexandra Zaharias first opened the Alexandra School of Ballet at Olive and Boyle in the city of Saint Louis. Prior to 1949, there were few ballet schools or ballet teachers in St. Louis.Raising The Barre, St. Louis Magazine, July 2006. Alexandra Zaharias decided to go to New York to study under George Balanchine after seeing legendary ballerina Alexandra Danilova dance Swan Lake at the Kiel Opera House. When she returned to St. Louis, she opened the Alexandra School of Ballet.
Alexandra School of Ballet As a pre-professional ballet school, Alexandra Ballet focuses exclusively on classical ballet. Established in 1949, Alexandra Ballet is the only St. Louis ballet school to continually provide pre-professional ballet training in Vaganova (Russian), Paris Opera (French), Enrico Cecchetti (Italian), Balanchine (American), Bournonville (Danish) ballet techniques. Dance classes range from creative dance and pre-ballet for young dancers just starting out to technical training in academic ballet, pointe work, variations, pas de deux, character, modern, and men's classes, all designed for the serious ballet dancer. All of the school's faculty has been selected with great care and is led by Alexandra Zaharias.
Today The company is an early member of Regional Dance America (RDA), achieving RDA's highest ranking of "Honor Company" status, and has been host to the Mid-States Regional Dance America Festival.Kristen Lewis. America’s Training Ground , Pointe Magazine, Jan 2006. Currently, the company has over 30 dancers that regularly win scholarships and awards each year.Trish Wallace Alexandra Ballet youth one of nation's best, Suburban Journals, December 3, 2008. The company performs at the Purser Center of Logan University in Chesterfield, Missouri, as well as at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center of University of Missouri-St. Louis in Saint Louis, Missouri. Its repertoire consists of both classical and contemporary pieces, as well as its annual December performance of The Nutcracker.
Professional alumni
Andrea Lucas Antonio Douthit Chavo Killingsworth Cheryl Balbes McIlhon Christa Bross Dillon Malinski, Newsmagazine Network, Mar 2011. Elizabeth Farrell Ellen d`Hemecourt Emily Stephenitch Eugenia Hoeflin Jaha Vanderford Jane McGary Jennifer Deckert Jennifer Reed Jessica Ruhlin Lisa Wolfsberger Louise NadeauAn Interview with Louise Nadeau, Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancer, Ballet Dance Magazine, Jan 2004. Makenzie HoweSpotlight...Makenzie Howe , Russian Pointe, May 2011.Paul Povse. Ballerina prepares to leap off local stage, St. Louis Beacon, May 18, 2010. Mariko Kumanomido Mary-Jean Cowell Megan Buckley Philip Gardner Rachel Peppin Rodney Hamilton Sara Stockman Sarah Little Sarah Megel Sharon Lampros Susan Checkett Heidemann
Past performances
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1993, 1999, 2006, 2013 Alice in Wonderland 2003 Ballare 1989 Charminade 1986 Cinderella 2009 Concerto 1988 Concerto Polonaise 1993, 1999 Coppelia 2001, 2008, 2014 de l'innocence 2007 Don Quixote Suite 2010 Elagiague 1997 Esmeralda 2005 Fete Polonaise 1987 Horra Tango 2009 The Firebird 2007 Flute Fantasy 1999 Frescoes 1997 Giselle 1990, 1999, 2010 Good Gracious, Gershwin! 1994 Diana and Actheon Pas de Deux 1992 Happy Ending 1991 Harlequinade 1999, 2005 Kermes in Bruges 2010 Konservatoriet 2008 L'Audition Impromptu 1994 La Bayadere (Kingdom of the Shades) 1993, 2005 La Fille Mal Gardee 2002 Larks and Follies 1987 Le Corsaire (Pas de Deux) 2005 Le Jardin Animee 1996, 2013 Leib der Tanz 1991 Les Patineurs 2008 Les Sylphides 1994, 1999, 2009 Moldavian Suite 2007 Nutcracker (annually) Napoli 2007 Odyssey 1990 Origami 1993, 2000 Pagosiana 2005 Paquita 1991, 2006 Pas de Quatre 1985, 1988, 2000, 2007 Peter and the Wolf 1990 Pezzi per Ametisto 1993 Pollaca Guerriera 2008 Quartet 1989 Reflections of Childhood 1992 Rinforzando 1991 Rodeo 1998 Rumors 1995 Sinfonetta 1990 Swan Lake 1996, 2005 (Pas de Deux, Act II) Symphonic Danse 1991 The Sleeping Beauty 1998, 2004, 2012 Totenlieder 1987 Triangulum 1992 Trio For Four 1989 Unplugged 2010 Untitled for Unaccompanied Cello 1989 La Vivandiere 1994
References
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