Charleston Ballet, official WV State Ballet was formed in 1956 by Andre Van Damme. Mr. Van Damme achieved great success in his native Belgium as the first star dancer of the Brussels Royal Opera. The company has been a pioneer among regional ballet troupes in the United States and has mounted all of the major traditional ballets including SWAN LAKE, SLEEPING BEAUTY, GISELLE and COPPELIA and annually presents THE NUTRACKER with the West Virginia Symphony at the Clay Center. Kim Pauley, the Charleston Ballet’s principal dancer and artistic director since 1989, began her career under the tutelage of Mr. Van Damme. She has also studied with such world-renowned teachers as David Howard of New York City, Kirov ballerina Irina Kulpakova and Larua Alonso, daughter of Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso. Internationally known choreographers such as Oleg Briansky, Miguel Campaneria and Saeko Ichinohe have honored her to perform original works. In 1993, she was awarded the Artist of the Year at the Fund for the Arts Mayor’s Awards and the Charleston Ballet received the Organization of the Year award in 1997. Ms. Pauley also received choreographic recognition with an Artist Fellowship Award from the WV Commission on the Arts Festival.
The River City Youth Ballet Ensemble, based in Charleston, WV, is a non-profit, preprofessional company that was founded in 1995 to give talented young dancers an opportunity to learn and grow in the performing arts. Students present annual concerts and often team with other youth arts groups to provide unique performance opportunities that include poetry, live music and storytelling. Under the direction of founder Michelle Raider, its primary goal is to provide dancers with a sound, quality dance education while giving them valuable performance opportunities. The company will host workshops with master teachers from New York City Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts and The Russian National Ballet Foundation during the summer of 2007. Choreographers for the company include Michelle Raider, Kara Duncan, Margaret Lieberman and Julie McKinney. Michelle Raider, artistic director of the company, graduated from Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts in Natick, Massachusetts with a major in ballet. Her choreography for the Ensemble includes original works as well as classical ballets. Her studies include Nicholas Pacana and the Atlanta Ballet, David Howard and L’Ecole Superior in Montreal. Ms. Raider was a member of the National Youth Ballet, an affiliate of the Boston Ballet, and the Charleston Ballet under Andre Van Damme. She has performed the principal role in several ballets including “Passing By”, staged in Boston, and “Sleeping Beauty”, staged in New York. In “Sleeping Beauty”, she was directed and partnered by Istvan Robovsky, a former premier dancer of the Hungarian Ballet. She has been chair of Dance West Virginia and has been teaching ballet in Charleston since 1993.
West Virginia Dance Company from Beckley is West Virginia’s only professional touring dance company in the history of the state. It was founded in 1977 with the purpose of enriching lives through the art of dance. The performances are a blend of entertaining and thought-provoking modern compositions that invoke enthusiasm in audiences of all ages. The members are highly trained professionals from all over the country. Many are not West Virginians by birth but refer to themselves as such because of their love of the state and in its people. Included are works influenced by our state’s rich cultural heritage. The main focus of the group is performing public concerts and to educate children and people of all ages in West Virginia and beyond. Toneta Akers-Toler, the company founder, is an accomplished dancer/choreographer who has shared her talents with our state for almost 30 years. A graduate in dance from Point Park College in Pittsburgh, she has been honored as the 2003 Governor’s Art Award recipient for Artistic Excellence, the 1989 West Virginia Woman of the Year in Arts and received a Monticello Scholarship for choreography from the National Association of Regional Ballet. She has taught workshops throughout West Virginia and in 13 other states and Brazil and most recently was the guest choreographer for the dance department at James Madison University. She also choreographs for Theatre West Virginia productions including Honey in the Rock, Hatfield’s and McCoys. The company is presently co-directed by Ms. Akers-Toler and Donald Laney. Donald Laney graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with an MFA in Dance. He has performed with the West Virginia Dance Company, Hooligan & Dancers (Miami, Florida), Randy James Dance Works (NYC) and X-Factor (North Carolina) among other companies. While attending UCI his choreography was chosen to represent the University at ACDFA in 2003 and 2004. Donald’s work with Lisa Naugle and John Crawford has produced 3 dance videos that have been presented at Lincoln Center and in dance videoconferences in Yugoslavia, Japan, New Jersey, Michigan, Arizona, and at ADF in Durham, NC. He is also a free-lance artist in teaching, choreographing and costume design and construction. The WV DANCE COMPANY, Charleston Ballet, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, Lees-McRae College, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, NC Stage Ensemble etc have presented his choreography. He has been a guest instructor in modern dance at James Madison University and is the WV Governor’s School instructor in dance.
Cost: Free
Links: www.charlestonballet.org, www.rcyb.org, www.wvdanceco.com