Central Indiana Dance Ensemble Prepares For Ballet Alliance Festival In Spokane, Washington

Central Indiana Dance Ensemble (CIDE), located in Carmel, takes their first step toward The Ballet Alliance Festival in Spokane, WA on February 13. CIDE will take approximately 25 of their senior level dancers to the Festival during the first week of May.  

CIDE provides education and dance training, with the goal to provide a nurturing environment where children are taught the principles of dance. CIDE is also the Resident Company of The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. CIDE is committed to providing cultural and educational enrichment to the Central Indiana Community by giving students the opportunity to perform and train with other pre-professional and professional dancers and teachers.

As part of their mission, CIDE is a member of The Ballet Alliance. Alliance member companies such as CIDE value rigorous training methods, and innovative choreography, which directly benefit the technical and artistic development of dancers.

Members of The Ballet Alliance host an annual 4 day Festival where dancers take master classes from renowned instructors, participate in dance-related seminars, perform for their peers, and forge new relationships. During the Festival, member dancers are seen by recruiters from world-class ballet schools, professional dance companies, and college & university dance programs. It is common for dancers to be awarded scholarships to summer intensives, early acceptance to higher education dance programs, and receive apprenticeships or professional contracts from Artistic Directors.

An Evaluation process precedes the Festival. On February 13, Ms. Susan Brooker, Festival Artistic Director, will evaluate the CIDE students and dances and choose a piece for them to perform in Washington. She will teach a Master Class and rehearse with the dancers.  

Booker is the Artistic Director of the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) William J. Gillespie School in California. She was the Director of the Preparatory Dance Program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for several years and has taught in schools in the USA, Europe, Canada and Japan. Students of Ms. Brooker have won prestigious international dance competitions including the Prix de Lausanne and are dancing with companies in the U.S., South America and Europe.

On February 13, two pieces of choreography will be evaluated. The first is Morpheus – a contemporary ballet piece by choreographer Mauro Villanueva. Villanueva is a 2022-2023 School of American Ballet National Visiting Fellow and is dedicated to creating inclusive dance spaces through his work as co-director of The Joffrey Workshop. As a member of the Joffrey Ballet, he danced ballets by world renowned choreographers. He has also worked for Barak Ballet, Ballet San Antonio, The Jacksonville Symphony and others. He sent the piece back in 2019. CIDE is restaging the dancers again this year. It was performed in 2021, as well (see photo).

The second piece will be Khachaturiana, a classical ballet piece choreographed by Lisa Slagle. Slagle received her early dance training in both southern California and Texas and began her professional dancing career at the age of 11 when she appeared as a solo dancer in the Elvis Presley movie, “Clambake”. Upon graduation from high school, she was offered a position with the Joffrey Ballet in New York. Upon her retirement from dancing, she started teaching ballet in the Dallas area, and in 1999 became the founding director of the Ballet Academy of Texas. Ms. Slagle was asked to be on the Advisory Board for American Ballet Theatre's National Training Curriculum in 2007.  For the next 12 years she taught with ABT as a Master Teacher for their various Summer Intensive workshops, and as an Artistic Coordinator for their Young Dancer Workshop in Dallas in 2018 and 2019. 

Ashley Jacobs, Co-Artistic Director of CIDE, is excited as The Ballet Alliance Festival looms closer. As Jacobs, along with her students, wonder which of the pieces they will ultimately be performing, they will continue their hard work in anticipation. This is an annual event that gives the students an opportunity to spread their wings to a larger audience, to meet and work with a broader range of dance professionals, and to possibly receive opportunities they've been dreaming of.

View photos and get additional information on The Ballet Alliance Festival at  https://theballetalliance.org/festival/

To learn more about the Central Indiana Dance Ensemble, including their mission, history and upcoming shows, visit their website at https://www.cidedance.org/.

 

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