NCBC debuts season with ‘At Twilight’

Ballet company’s gala event to feature ‘Don Quixote’ and more|

Dusk. Evening. Nightfall.

Twilight.

That, appropriately enough, is when North Coast Ballet California (NCBC) will be holding its third annual “At Twilight” gala fundraising event, on Aug. 18, beginning at 6:30 p.m. This will mark the opening of the 37th season for the pre-professional dance company, long affiliated with the Petaluma School of Ballet.

According to artistic director Ann Derby, approximately 30 dancers from the company and school will perform pieces learned in NCBC’s summer dance intensive. The evening show will include excerpts from “Don Quixote” and “Coppélia,” as well as a new work by NCBC’s co-artistic director Zoura O’Neill, in collaboration with four of the company’s advanced dancers.

“At Twilight” is much more than a dance concert, however. The program includes live music, an art exhibit, and catered food and wine. As of press time, tickets are still available.

“The format of the event has worked beautifully the past two years,” said Derby. “Our volunteers love doing this show.”

Live music will be provided by Sonoma Strings and the jazz duo of pianist Neil Fontano and sax player Johnny Bones. The art exhibit will include work by local artists Mary Fassbinder, Kristin Acuña and Mimi Dolcini Bundesen. Catering will be provided by JavAmoré Café in Penngrove, as well as treats from Lombardi’s Gourmet Deli and BBQ, Bump City Bakery, Supreme Sweets, and Sift Dessert Bar. Wine will be served courtesy of several local wineries, including Kastania Vineyards and Hafner Vineyard.

For the first time, the event will be held at the recently remodeled Hotel Petaluma.

“I danced there as a kid,” Derby said. “They’ve done a beautiful job of renovation.”

The ballet “Don Quixote” debuted at the Bolshoi in Moscow in 1869, with choreography by Petipa and music by Minkus. “Coppélia” is a comic ballet first performed in Paris in 1870, with choreography by Saint-Léon, music by Delibes, and libretto by Nuitter.

“One of our alumni, Allissa Dolcini, will dance in the program this year,” said Derby. Dolcini is an instructor in the dance school.

After kicking off the 2018-19 season with “At Twilight,” the company will move on to its fall show that Derby describes as a “trio of tales,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Peter and the Wolf.”

For the holiday season, the company will stage its traditional “Nutcracker Suite” at Person Theatre at Sonoma State University.

“This is a really big show, with about 120 dancers, including all of our company members,” Derby said. Derby will fill out the cast by hiring seven or more male dancers from San Francisco.

In the spring of 2019, the company will put on “Snow White” at Spreckels Performing arts Center.

NCBC, Derby explained, has a twofold training program.

First, there are workshops for students age 10-15, where they learn performance skills, and also production values, technical training and classical repertoire. Second, when students are ready to move on to the dance company, they begin as trainees, then move up to apprenticeship, and graduate to “senior” status.

The school employs ten instructors and serves approximately 300 students.

“Our purpose is to bring the art of dance to the Northern California region,” Derby said. “We promote dance and the experience of the arts to a wider audience, including youngsters, by offering professional performance opportunities for dancers and the creators of dance.”

Derby credits a large team of volunteers for the program’s success.

“We have more than thirty volunteers and they are wonderful to work with,” she said. “When I send out an email asking for help, I get many immediate responses.”

Derby also has high praise for her staff of teachers.

“We have a fabulous staff, highly educated in dance,” she said. “They love what they do, and the students respond to that.”

The school accepts students age two through adult. Classes are offered in ballet, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, and tap. Ballet. Derby pointed out, is an art form requiring both female and male dancers.

“We have a male teacher, Phil Amer, for the boys,” Derby said. “He currently has about six students age four to nine, and of course we welcome more.”

The instructors receive periodic curriculum training to enhance their skills in teaching dance to students of varying ages and experience. Derby began her own training in Petaluma under Mary Paula, then director of the school. She continued her studies at San Francisco Ballet, dancing with Marin Ballet, Rhebus Modern Dance Company and Sonoma County Ballet Company. She has taught dance for many years in Sonoma County, purchasing Petaluma School of Ballet in 1982 and becoming director of NCBC in 1985.

“I am so blessed in what I do,” she said. “I have so many ‘dance daughters,’ and I’ve seen many young people find focus for their lives and a path forward through dance.”

One of Derby’s former students, Laurel Lynch, now dances with the famed Mark Morris Dance Group.

“She still visits us and takes classes. Our students look up to her,” Derby said.

Another former student, Karen Wing, is with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio.

“Ticket sales for this season-opening benefit support our ballet company and help us to keep ticket prices low for our other shows,” said Derby. “We greatly appreciate the community’s support.”

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