This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's flagship professional ballet company took root within the University of Utah's dance department in the 1950s and '60s under Willam F. Christensen's guidance. But Ballet West and the U. dance department went on to develop separately during ensuing decades, occasionally falling out of step.
A resurgence in cooperation between the ballet powerhouses is under way, and one evidence of that collaborative spirit is the Summer Intensive ballet program, co-sponsored by Ballet West and the U. dance department for the second year.
Before last summer, each group had its own summer program. Now they strengthen each other.
"It was kind of like a marriage of two needs," said Maggie Wright Tesch, a former principal ballerina at Ballet West who teaches in the U. dance department. Wright, the U.'s liaison to Ballet West, said the university previously had a for-credit summer ballet program that wasn't well-attended. At the same time, Ballet West Academy's summer program was growing and needed a venue.
Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute and U. dance department interim chair Bené Arnold agreed to combine efforts, creating a program that draws national and international dancers.
Summer Intensive is designed for motivated preprofessional dancers ages 12 to 26, and offers tomorrow's ballet stars training in pointe-work, partnering, repertoire, conditioning and nutrition, jazz and contemporary dance. There are even seminars on hairstyling and stage makeup.
Qualified university students who take the full eight-week program can earn a semester of college credit. That's a draw for the program and a boon to incoming freshmen in the U.'s dance department.
"They get exposed to the Ballet West artistic staff and to guest teachers that teach at both the U. and Ballet West Academy," Tesch said. "It's a good way to break into life at the university and a great marriage of the two programs."
Ballet West Academy director Peter Christie said nearly 400 dancers auditioned for the 2011 Summer Intensive; 214 were selected. Of those, about 80 are from Utah, including students from Ballet West Academy and other local ballet schools. The rest come from all over the country, as well as Ukraine, New Zealand and China.
Jane Wood Smith, a former Ballet West principal dancer who is now transplanted to Oklahoma, conducted auditions for the Summer Intensive in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Lynchburg, Va.; and Houston.
Smith said the reach of the Summer Intensive program is shining a spotlight on Utah's strong ballet tradition. "People sometimes don't realize what a great ballet company and good school we have in Utah," Smith said. "We have to get the word out."
A strong faculty lineup for the Summer Intensive is one of its attractions. Visiting guests include Smith, along with Joffrey Ballet alumni Calvin Kitten and Charthel Arthur, and New York City Ballet alumnus Michele Gifford.
Sklute also will teach during the sessions, as will the rest of the company's artistic staff, the teachers of Ballet West Academy and professors of dance from the U.
Another reason the Summer Intensive is becoming a destination event for aspiring dancers is that attendance is proving to be a stepping stone toward a professional ballet career, just as Sklute intended.
He will be looking for students he judges to be eligible to join BW Academy's preprofessional company. Of this year's 18 trainees, Sklute said, nine have gone on to professional and preprofessional companies — including four dancers who were invited to join Ballet West II.
Sklute welcomes interest in Ballet West's programs from outside Utah, but he's just as intent upon the development of career dancers within the state. While working to warm Ballet West's relationship with the University of Utah's ballet department, he's also striving to strengthen connections with Utah ballet studios.
It pleases him that students from a number of Utah dance schools take Summer Intensive sessions or attend Ballet West's preparatory summer programs before returning to their home studios in the fall. "I like to keep an eye on what all of the schools are doing," Sklute said. "I want to maintain a nice relationship with the schools that are doing so much wonderful work."
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Summer of ballet
Summer Intensive program • Ballet West and the University of Utah dance department host a program of intensive ballet instruction for preprofessional dancers ages 12 to 26 on the U. campus this summer. Auditions were held at various locations around the nation last fall and spring for the program, which features a prestigious faculty of top dancers and instructors hailing from New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, the U. and Ballet West.
Pre- and Less-Intensive programs • Ballet West also hosts a program for advancing dancers ages 12 to 16 and one for dancers ages 4 to 11 at its Capitol Theatre studios.
Info • Openings may be available for the pre- and less-intensive sessions. For dates and information, call 801-869-6912 or visit http://www.balletwest.org/Academy/PreAndLessIntensive.