By Taylor Beck
In a June 2012 performance at London’s Royal Opera House, a troupe of Virginia dancers received a standing ovation – from one of the ballet capitals of the world.
This overseas success of Richmond Ballet followed fast on the heels of multiple performances at the Joyce Theater in New York. And there’s more success for RVA ballet on the horizon: The Kennedy Center’s biennial Ballet Across America series in June will bring the talents of just nine U.S. ballet companies to Washington D.C., one of which is Richmond Ballet.
On top of it all, Richmond will soon host its own celebration – a full week of ballet-related events to commemorate the recent international successes of our hometown troupe. Richmond Ballet’s Leap Week, as it is being called, will be an all-out “celebration of all that is Richmond Ballet.” The program, which reads like a Ballet Tour of RVA, includes a film series of dance-related movies at the newly opened Criterion Cinemas, at Movieland at Boulevard Square; a special dinner at Can-Can restaurant in Carytown, with Richmond Ballet dancers; and a “Backstage at the Ballet” opportunity to watch classes at The School of Richmond Ballet. In addition, there will be an exhibition of visual artwork portraying Richmond Ballet dancers, called Assemble, by five local artists and suburban performances at locations in Stony Point Fashion Park and Short Pump Town Center, known as Ballet in the ‘Burbs, by the Minds In Motion dance team. There will also be a performance with London’s Royal Ballet School graduate students, Cocktails at Page Bond Gallery followed by dinner at the unique Richmond space Try-Me, and a final matinee performance by Richmond Ballet and The Royal Ballet School in the Richmond Ballet studio.
The breathless week of fun is being funded by a variety of Greater Richmond companies. The main sponsor of Leap Week, Altria, is the same company that gave Richmond Ballet its original donation 40 years ago. The other major sponsors include Dominion, Audio West Broad, and Health Diagnostic Laboratory (HDL, Inc.). Thus, Leap Week has united Greater Richmond businesses – from the established to the new – to showcase the art of Richmond dance. It’s commerce and culture merging to celebrate the success of RVA.
Richmond Ballet’s status in the world of dance is apparent when you look at the tour schedule for The Royal Ballet School’s one-week visit to America. The London dancers plan to make only two stops on their trip. The first is in New York City, undisputed international capital of ballet. The second? Our very own river town, Richmond, Va.