Los Angeles Ballet

Description

FROM THE SOUNDSTAGES of Hollywood to Disney Hall, from the gardens of the Getty to Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles is a land of plenty.

Now, the one missing gem in the city's cultural crown is here, and Los Angeles finally sheds its distinction as the only major city in the world without a professional ballet company to call its own.

This is Los Angeles Ballet, the city's professional ballet company built upon the foundation of an acclaimed local school, and the only permanent Southern California showcase for the gifted dancers who learned their art here. It is Los Angeles Ballets's desire to establish an artistic collaboration that brings together all genres for an exciting era of innovation.

"Local audiences have strongly supported quality ballet presented by visiting companies, and they deserve their own home team," says Thordal Christensen, who serves as LAB co-Artistic Director along with his wife Colleen Neary. "We want to captivate Los Angeles with ballet at its best, and to make what was long missing indispensable." Christensen is former Artistic Director of The Royal Danish Ballet, and Neary is a current répétiteur for The George Balanchine Trust. Yvonne Mounsey, a former New York City Ballet principal dancer is Artistic Adviser to LAB, and Julie Whittaker, a former soloist with The Royal Winnipeg Ballet serves as Executive Director.

Los Angeles Ballet has arguably been in the making since Mounsey established the Westside School of Ballet in the 1960s as a training ground for the dancers of the future. Westside School of Ballet, whose alumni grace the stages of major companies worldwide, now becomes the official school of Los Angeles Ballet. The school's performing arm, Westside Ballet, known for its high-caliber Nutcracker and spring repertory programs, is also affiliated with the company.

Los Angeles Ballet debuts with an inaugural gala and the first of many seasons of ballet made fresh, alluring and entertaining ... an exquisite reflection of the city in which it grew up. World-class ballet has finally come home to Los Angeles.