As our 40th Season unfolds, we’ll be sharing stories, interviews, photographs, and more to commemorate BBT’s milestone anniversary. We hope you follow along as we look back on four decades of ballet and beyond to Berkeley Ballet Theater’s future. Submit your stories and photos to be featured on the blog by emailing info@berkeleyballet.org.
“BBT was a second home to me for practically my entire childhood and teenage years. I will always hold the relationships and memories I made at BBT close to my heart, and I will always remember the satisfying feeling of going home after a long Saturday sore and tired.” - Ruby
Read More“The role requires stamina not only for the dancing but also for the acting. I remember Zoe and I meticulously thinking through the emotions communicated in every gesture, every exchange. I was lucky to dance Fritz alongside one of my greatest friends…The challenge was to translate that organic friendship into moments that read effectively for the audience…” - Nicholas Rio
Read More“I really appreciated all Sally and BBT did to encourage their young company and if it wasn’t for these early performance opportunities I never would have followed my dreams to both SFB School and Oakland Ballet!” - Cristina
Read More“I am grateful for the wonderful performance opportunities Berkeley Ballet Theater has provided.” - Vinny
Read More“In perfect unison, we turned to face one another creating a synchronized flurry of ribbon across the floor. It felt effortless. Then it felt stuck…Locked in a swirling storm of tangled ribbons, my perfectly rehearsed moment to shine became an improvised display of on-stage survival.” - Helen
Read More“The most magical experience of my younger years.” - Vanessa
Read More“I studied composition with Julian and he told me after the performance that the combination of music and movement was greater than the sum of their parts. So true. And Miss Sally has provided so many opportunities for students and audiences to experience that magical synergy.” - Tienne Lee
Read More“When I moved back to the Bay Area as an adult, it was such a joy to share the BBT Nutcracker with my son. He was just 2 years old when he first attended, but he sat through the entire show quietly, utterly transfixed!” - Hella
Read More“Although humbled by the discipline, BBT has given me another world of artistry to master and add to my performance capabilities.” - Richa
Read More“When I first moved back to the Bay Area in 2009, I found BBT, and classes with Ms. Sally immediately made me feel like I was home.” - Marika
Read More“Going on stage for the first time changed me on a molecular level and gave a whole new meaning to dance for me.” - Megan
Read More“When I dance, I can mostly forget my limitations and be caught up in focused, mindful music and specifically helpful exercise—at the best of times in a state of ‘flow’ that fully engages me.” - Alan
Read More“I remember how excited Nina felt learning how to do barre work in her first pair of pointe shoes. She didn't want to take them off!” - Karen
Read More“Finding a dance ‘home’ that embraces both of these aspects of my personality has been one of the biggest blessings of my life.” - Ciana
Read More“But what gave it staying power was the push-pull of Sally’s pure dances against the warmth and ideas of Robbie’s dramaturgy…As the New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay put it in an admiring review ten years ago: BBT gave ‘a Nutcracker experience in some ways fuller – more touching, more about human connections – than San Francisco Ballet’s.’” - Paul Parish
Read More“Over the past five years at BBT, I have made lifelong friends, laughed, cried, shattered personal boundaries, and as many others have, found an outlet to express myself creatively as an artist.” - Savanah
Read More“Susan and her associate instructors, with wonderful and inspired live piano musical accompaniment by Chris and Gerry, got us gently and slowly moving. By the end of class, we were all energized, laughing, socializing, moving better, and amazed at some of the things we had been able to do in class.” - Mike
Read More“But at BBT, there is a spirit of support and love for each other…There is a great deal of friendship with dancers during and before class. There is a lot of respect for the instructors and each other.” - Isabelle Burgess-Corkins
Read More“The only thing I don’t miss was going up in the JMTs rickety lift, thankfully future generations will be spared that rite of passage.” - Matthew
Read More“Ballet became her anchor and salvation. In her words, ‘I am 26 years old and I am in love with ballet.’” - Shantee
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