RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 7, 2011, Cover Stories, Dance, Local Arts News
Todd Bolender Center celebrates grand opening
As the new home for the Kansas City Ballet, the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity welcomed dancers of all ages and experiences for a week of free classes and performances. Troupes from Kansas City and around the world joined in celebrating all things dance during the Center's festive opening.
The Kansas City Ballet is celebrating the opening of its new building, the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, named for former Kansas City Ballet artistic director. Furthering its mission to make Kansas City a destination for dance, the company invited the community for a week of free classes and performances for all ages.
Saturday’s open house, KC Dance Day, brought local modern and ballet companies together for a series of performances in support of the new building including Störling Dance Theater, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Wylliams-Henry Contemporary Dance Company and many more. The Kansas City Ballet presented an open rehearsal of several upcoming ballets for their inaugural season at the Kauffman Center.
Sunday celebrated World Dance Day featuring two programs of dance from around the world. Showcasing the talents of young dancers from the area in traditional costuming and dance, the programs highlighted countries from nearly every continent. To cap off the celebration on September 2, the center will host First Friday-Art That Moves! Beginning at 5:00 p.m. for a meet-and-greet with studio teachers and followed by an open rehearsal with the KCB company and a group class led by the company.
The new locale, formerly the Powerhouse Building, has been elegantly restored complete with a Texas skylight that floods the multilevel building. Visitors are welcomed into the center by The Tatiana Dokoudovska Library for Dance, a pictorial history of the Kansas City Ballet. The Michael and Ginger Frost Studio Theater, the largest of the rehearsal spaces, incorporates the history of the building including the original gantry crane among the floor to ceiling mirrors and dance space the size of the company’s performance stage. Students and spectators can enjoy the performances, lectures or rehearsals from an observation window or from the ample seating within the theater.
Generously supported by donors across the area, the new Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, is a welcomed addition to the downtown restoration movement for dancers and patrons alike.
Kansas City Ballet
Grand Opening
August 22–September 2, 2011 (Attended Sunday, August 28th)
Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity
500 West Pershing, Kansas City, MO
For information about events online: www.kcballet.org
Top Photo: Members of the West Africa Traditional Music Society (Photo by Brett Pruitt)
Film, Theatre Contributor
Calli Parker studied film production and English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After working on various projects in Kansas City, she relocated to Los Angeles where she served as a production manager and assistant director on short and feature films. Currently residing in Kansas City, Calli continues to collaborate with the talented filmmakers and artists of the emerging arts community.
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