Oregon Ballet Theatre

The East Coast usually claims to be the leading patrons of the arts, especially that of the ballet variety. Boston and New York have borne themselves out as the hubs of this institution and have spawned entities such as New York City Ballet and Boston Ballet that have garnered a worldwide reputation. However, in the last two decades, the West Coast has seen the rise of ballet contenders, most prominently Oregon Ballet Theatre. The company has been serving the Portland community and beyond for over two decades now, enshrining the legacy of Joffery Ballet courtesy its founder James Canfield who was formerly a principal dancer with the latter ballet entity. Oregon Ballet delivers a rich five-program season each year and all the performances are the result of countless hours of training, screening and concept development. Secure some cheap Oregon Ballet Theatre tickets to behold a cornucopia of ballet works this winter and beat the chill with artistic warmth.
 
During the 1980s, founder James Canfield was working with Pacific Ballet Theater after having been part of Joffrey Ballet as a principal dancer. When Pacific Ballet Theater merged with Ballet Oregon to form Oregon Ballet Theatre, James was taken on as its first Artistic Director and served till 2003. During his tenure, James built up the repertory of his ballet company to include over 80 ballet pieces that constituted an eclectic mix of both classical and contemporary works.
 
In 2003, Christopher Stowell leveraged upon his 16-year career within the San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer to secure the post of Oregon Ballet Theatre's Artistic Director. Christopher comes from a family that seems to have ballet in its blood, what with his parents Kent Stowell and Francia Russell being the founders and the first Artistic Directors of Pacific Northwest Ballet. However, it seems that Christopher has paid his dues and incorporated his influences of George Balanchine's work within Oregon Ballet Theatre's repertoire. Additionally, he has worked with world renowned choreographers such as Wheeldon, Robbins, Tomasson and Balanchine himself in bringing works of famed composers to the Oregon ballet stage. Contemporary choreographers such as Julie Adam, James Kudelka, Nicolo Fonte and Trey McIntyre have also been engaged by Stowell. He has also added his personal choreographic touch to classics such as Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Sleeping Beauty and Carmen and materialized them as premiers for his company in the past five years.  
 
The Oregon Ballet Theatre has performed at various locations around the nation as well as some international ones. In the US, stages of venues such as The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, New York's Joyce Theater and City Center and of events such as Chicago Dancing Festival, Savannah Music Festival, Laguna Dance Festival, Summer Dance Festival and Celebrate Seattle have all been graced by Oregon's premier ballet company. The Oregon Ballet Theatre has even notched a performance in Seoul, South Korea. The company of dancers has also clinched a number of prestigious international awards that include a quartet of gold medals, a silver and bronze medal as well as a pair of two honorary awards. The principle dancers have also been featured as guest dancers with leading touring companies that include Complexions, Morphoses and the Trey McIntyre Project.
 
The company of dancers with the Oregon Ballet Theatre ingrains considerable ethnic, gender and LGBT diversity. Four of the seven principal dancers are of Asian descent, namely Xuan Cheng, Yuka Lino, Haiyan Wu and Yang Zou. Furthermore, three of them are male, as are those from the soloists' lot. A dozen company artists and six apprentices round up the dance company. Even the workshops and training sessions that are conducted entail an age range of four to seventy years. Over the years, the Oregon ballet company has evolved from being purely a dance company entrenched in the traditional nuances of this dance form to incorporating more contemporary influences so as to connect with a more diverse set of demographics and not just the elite. Claim your cheap Oregon Ballet Theatre tickets now to behold ballet bravado laced with stylistic elegance and incisive brilliance.