Dances Among the Roses
Purchase Tickets for Dances Among the Roses A Holt Ballet Conservatory collaboration with St. Joseph’s Cultural Center presents Dances Among The Roses: An Outdoor Celebration of Dance, June 19, 2021. We will revive material from Holt Ballet Conservatory’s repertory and perform in the rose garden surrounding St. Joseph’s Cultural Center in downtown Grass Valley. The program for the performance is available here. A dance performance in the rose garden is our response to the challenges presented by restrictions associated with the Covid-19 virus. We look forward to exploring the possibilities involved with site-specific choreography. We hope you all want to be a part of this fun and challenging experience. All dancers train with Holt Ballet Conservatory, and range from age 6 through adult. Rehearsals have been underway since March. Glorious music from Vivaldi, Prokofiev, Deldevez, Minkus, Kanneh-Mason, and Chopin will accompany the dancers.Each of the performances will be approximately 40 minutes long with seating limited to 28 chairs, arranged in a single line. Seating is around the perimeter of the lawns, behind a trimmed hedge. The setting is a rustic garden and path, with gravel, packed dirt, and some sections of old, weathered concrete. The audience will be moving through the garden area, with the performers, and three separate seated locations will be provided. We will endeavor to accommodate special accessibility needs, and request that any special needs be identified in advance.Since the performance will be outside in the open air, we will be subject to the variables of the early summer weather conditions. We advise audience members to bring a broad brimmed hat, to protect from direct sun. Typical temperatures for this date have been in the low to mid-80s.The Historic Rose Gardens have over 200 rose bushes, some over 100 years old. There are crepe myrtle trees, old holly trees, a rare white pomegranate tree, yew and other old-fashioned garden...
Read MoreThree Acts
Three Acts Holt Ballet Conservatory Spring Season 2016 presents Three Acts, a collection of outstanding moments in classical ballet. Three ballets from HBC’s repertory – Midsummer Night’s Dream, Giselle, and Don Quixote – will be performed by professional, pre-professional and amateur dancers. Expertly guided under Director Yelena Holt’ oversight, HBC dancers offer inspiring talent and delightful entertainment. The performance brings to life Act I of each ballet. The sets, music, costumes, and expertly crafted dancing embody the exuberance of the original choreography. Titania and Oberon’s battle for power (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Giselle’s innocence and trust, Kitri’s sassy courtship (Don Quixote), unfold with joy in each 30-minute act. HBC welcomes back to the stage professional dancers Amy Frost Schultze and Kermit Allen. Ms. Frost Schultze has danced professionally for Southern Ballet Theater, FL; Charleston Ballet Theater, SC; Roanoke Ballet Theater, VA and Northwest Florida Ballet, FL and most recently was a principal dancer with Northwest Florida Ballet. Ms Frost Schultze is compelling in the title role of Giselle. Her pointe work and acting ability attack the choreography with vigor and finesse. Mr. Allen danced with Ballet Austin and Diverse Space Dance as well as Sacramento Ballet, performing in Stars and Stripes, Firebird, Carmina Burana and the Nutcracker. Mr. Allen’s Oberon commands center stage with his powerful stature and skillful partnering. These incredible artists are on staff with Holt Ballet and contribute greatly to the training and accomplishments of the conservatory...
Read MoreWhy Ballet?
Ballet is one of the most beautiful and inspiring art forms in the world. To see what the human body can accomplish when the human heart is determined and devoted teaches all of us over and over that persistence overcomes limitation every time. And yet ballet goes far beyond the awe of physical accomplishment. For most of us who love ballet, it goes deep inside, to our hidden spaces. Those spaces that get covered up with growing up. those spaces that were real in childhood and completely out of reach in the adult world. Those spaces that not only believe in magic, but know that magic is alive in the world. Ballet is magical! The beauty of the dancer’s body and its liquid movement, the music and its choreography, the costumes and sets, and the exchange of human energy — audience and dancer. I once had a dancer, under the pressure of filling in for the injured lead three days before opening, victoriously perform the role. When asked how she did it with so little time to prepare, she said, “I was so scared, but so excited, too; and even though I often couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do next, somehow I just was able to do it. Some how I just knew what to do!” Magic! But this magic is accomplished with some real ingredients: “Real” hard work; “Real” good training; “Real” choices; “Real” commitment. It starts young, too. Choosing a good school with excellent teachers who have credible training practices and policies. Working hard in class. Choosing a healthy lifestyle that includes right eating, getting sleep, keeping a balance of outside activities with dance activities. And at some point, choosing to go to class rather than go to something else. There will be conflicts and opportunities from which choices must be made. The dancers we see on stage who inspire us to dream or believe, are the ones who walked that narrow road and chose ballet at every turn. But is ballet right for you or your child? Well, it’s not a choice made all at once. It’s lots of little choices, all along the way. First, want to take that dance class. “Mommy, can I take ballet lessons?” When the child asks over and over, then it’s time. Or, maybe the other way around and it’s mom or dad who say, “Let’s go see Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker. I’ll bet you’ll like ballet.” Many a child has been transported by the grace of Aurora or The Sugar Plum Fairy and dreams of someday being that beautiful creature herself. Or sometimes it’s just that the best friend is taking ballet lessons and now your little child wants to take them too. And so, the ballet journey begins! Know that the excellent accomplishment of ballet is in the foundation. In the beginning of the journey. In the first five years. Those years when you are still making little choices as you go along. The correct instruction at the barre with plie´, tendu, dégagé, rond de jambe, etc. will develop the muscles, tendons and bones, much like braces move teeth, slowly but surely, into a beautiful smile. You want a knowledgeable and experienced teacher just like you want a knowledgeable and experienced orthodontist! Because whether you choose ballet for one year or you choose it for life, you want a proper foundation so you do have a choice! A choice to keep on going if ballet becomes the thing that motivates and inspires the youngster to achieve past all ostensible limitations! Not all students fall in love...
Read MoreCoppelia
Holt Ballet Conservatory is dedicated to classical ballet training for every student, and offers the opportunity to perform classical story ballets. Coppelia offers a complete learning experience for performers. Each dancer is coached on an individual basis to meet his or her goals as a performer. An HBC dancer also learns the skills of mime and acting; being a dancer also means being a performer. Learning the variations of the great classical ballets helps a young dancer understand the traditions of ballet. The art of ballet is a study in athleticism and beauty. The well trained dancer’s heart and body combine to communicate to the audiences the emotions of each story. The magic of ballet beings with the music, is brought to life by the imaginations of each dancer, and enjoyed by the audiences! Ensemble work, solo work, and partnering is offered with Holt Ballet...
Read MoreChosing a dance training style….
From time to time I get an email similar to the one below. This email contains a very important question and one that needs a careful answer. “Dear Mrs. Holt, My daughter enjoys your ballet classes tremendously, and she says they are really helping her. But I have a concern: My daughter is hoping to get into the intermediate dance level at her high school next year as a freshman. She wants to continue taking your class throughout the spring, but some people have mentioned that Jazz classes would better prepare her for the high school audition than ballet classes. Maybe both would be best, but sometimes class times conflict. …..what is your opinion on this?” I am an expert on public school dance programs. I created and developed outstanding programs at three comprehensive high schools. For nearly 30 years I helped students aged 14 though 18 work towards making their dance dreams come true. If a dream is modest, and only entails being part of a beginning level quality high school program, or at best an intermediate level program, then basic ballet and a good dash of jazz (contemporary, fusion) spiced with some hip hop from a credible jazz based community dance studio might do the job. If the dream is ambitious, and entails competing for entrance into state and national critically acclaimed universities with a major in dance, or entrance into a pre professional or professional ballet or modern academy, then outstanding classical ballet training from a talented and experienced teacher must be the foundation and continued focus of study. O.K. Now to the email and its question: What is your daughter’s dream? How big is your daughter’s talent? Are you ready to “set that course” now or do you want to “buy some more time?” I opened up a classical ballet conservatory because as a high school teacher I saw too many dance dreams destroyed. Students were lead to believe that recreational ballet or jazz and hip hop were all they needed to “be a dancer.” Even in an average quality high school dance program, the best-trained dancers will always be the ones who “get used” or get featured. And if the program is jazz based and doesn’t focus on ballet, then it’s a dead end for dance dreams beyond high school. Classical ballet is the foundation for building the dancer’s body. Jazz will give the dancer aggression, hip-hop is great for rhythm, but ballet builds the muscle structures that create line, strength, flexibility, musicality, and artistry. Since I am a professional classical ballet instructor, I will always advise a dancer to keep up the quality ballet lessons. But if your dream is to “just have fun,” then by all means, give up the ballet and focus on the jazz. But be prepared to see the more serious dancers get front and center every time a new dance is...
Read MoreHBC Contact Information
Holt Ballet Conservatory
400 Providence Mine Road, Building N2
Nevada City, CA 95959
(530) 278-5131
Holt Ballet Conservatory offers outstanding classical ballet training for youths through adults by following a comprehensive syllabus endorsed by American Ballet Theatre's national curriculum, the Vaganova training method, and the California State Framework for the arts.