The Cleveland Ballet – Fostering the Expressive Art of Dance in the Cleveland Community
Ballet is both an entertaining and dedicated form of expressive art. It is one of the most difficult dance skills to master. Those who perfect their talents are revered around the world. Most associate the highest levels of ballet with Russia.
There is a direct tie between some of Russia’s most-renowned ballet dancers and ballet in Cleveland. Let’s take a look back at the history of ballet in Cleveland, plus how the Cleveland Ballet continues to foster a strong relationship with the community.
Cleveland’s Ballet History
In 1935, the original Cleveland Ballet Company was founded. The early company only lasted for a few years. Dancers from outside the Cleveland community staffed many of the initial ballet performances at the venues within Cleveland’s Playhouse Square.
Cleveland’s most impressive exposure to the professional ballet was probably during the early 1900s. A renowned ballerina named Anna Pavlova performed in Cleveland five separate times over a 12-year period, the first in 1910.
The Diaghilev Ballets Russes performed in Cleveland in 1916 as part of the company’s tour of the United States. The Russian ballet company returned again in 1917. One of America’s earliest and most famous ballet dancers was Isadora Duncan.
While Russian dance companies were providing riveting performances across the United States, Duncan was doing the same in Russia. She actually had a dramatic influence on the style of Pavlova and other female Russian ballet dancers at the turn of the century.
Early in the 1920s, Cleveland’s appreciation for balled developed. There was enough support to open the first ballet classes and dance school in the city. Pavlova added Russian-born Sergei Popeloff to the instructor staff.
The pair started teaching ballet at a private studio inside Cleveland’s Carnegie Hall. While never denoted as an official ballet school, the pair of famous Russian dances continued to offer professional ballet instruction for over twenty years.
Popeloff was responsible for founding the first professional ballet company in Cleveland, the original Cleveland Ballet; however, most knew the company as the Popeloff Ballet. The last classes at the Popeloff’s Cleveland Ballet were taught in 1942.
The Second Cleveland Ballet Today
The association with the famous Russian ballet dancers made it hard for many in the local dance audience to appreciate the company as the Cleveland Ballet. While there were hundreds of performances beginning in 1935, the original company ended in 1942.
However, ballet dance in Cleveland continued to thrive. Throughout the period between 1940 and 1970, various ballet dance schools were very successful in Cleveland and surrounding communities.
Austrian dancer, Mme Bianca, a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, opened a school in downtown Cleveland in the late 1930s. A former Popeloff student, Marguerite Duncan opened the Cleveland Civic Ballet Company in 1945.
There were a number of outstanding ballet companies and dance schools in the Cleveland area through the 1950s and 1960s. However, one would have the largest eventual impact of the future of ballet in Cleveland.
As part of the Ballet Russe, Alex Martin came to Cleveland. He opened his first dance studio in 1958, the Cleveland Ballet Center. Martin would instruct hundreds of aspiring Cleveland dancers.
In 1973, Martin was still teaching and performing across Cleveland and around the world. He was a renowned member of the Ballet Guild of Cleveland. It was in 1973 that he began to focus more of his attention on his newest school ambition, the Cleveland Institute of Dance.
It was a year earlier that a Martin protégée, Ian Horvath, united with Dennis Nahat to form the School of Cleveland Ballet. The company worked jointly between Cleveland and San Jose, California.
During the period between 1985 and 2000, the company was known as the Cleveland San Jose Ballet. Through a number of lucrative investments, most of the company’s focus shifted to California.
In 2011, Nahat was removed. Now operating exclusively out of California, the company’s name was changed to the Silicon Valley Ballet. The second Cleveland Ballet was officially disbanded in 2016.
The Cleveland Ballet Today
The Cleveland Ballet we know today was founded in 2014. Gladisa Guadalupe and Michael Krasnyansky are responsible for the third Cleveland Ballet, and the current. Guadalupe graduated from the School of American Ballet.
He is the Cleveland Ballet’s artistic director, while Krasnyansky continues the tradition of Russian influence on ballet in Cleveland. Krasnyansky is the president and CEO of the current Cleveland Ballet.
The company started small, Originally it had only five members. Today, there are 26 dancers in the Cleveland Ballet from 11 countries. In 2019, it was marked as one of the fastest-growing ballet companies operating in the United States.
In 2017, the Cleveland Ballet became the resident ballet company at the Playhouse Square. At the end of its first official season as a member of the Playhouse Square, the company performed a riveting performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The performance was wildly popular with Cleveland residents and helped to generate funds to expand available space and add events to the company’s schedule. The Cleveland Ballet started regular holiday performances of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Nutcracker. It has become a seasonal tradition in Cleveland.
This is also the first regular performance at the Playhouse Square by a Cleveland dance company since 1999. The fourth season for the Cleveland Ballet proved even more successful. In addition to The Nutcracker, they performed the Fall Collection and Coppélia. In 2019–2020, the Cleveland Ballet grew once again, adding five new dancers to reach 25.
Last year, there were 12 Cleveland Ballet performances of The Nutcracker at the Hanna Theatre. Though performances have limited over the last few months, the Cleveland Ballet has continued to provide an avenue for aspiring new ballet dancers in Cleveland.
The School of the Cleveland Ballet
Dennis Nahat originally founded his Cleveland Ballet as a school for ballet instruction. A ballet company by the same name started in 1935, but only lasted a few years. While the company soon began offering full ballet performances, the instructional focus has also been a huge part of the Cleveland Ballet.
The School of the Cleveland Ballet has a vast curriculum of ballet classes for all levels. However, the primary mission is to provide an environment to foster the development of future professional dancers.
There is an extensive list of individual courses focuses on this primary purpose. Instructors motivate their students to reach their maximum potential as ballet dancers. The School of the Cleveland Ballet is dedicated to helping talented young dancers reach their potential.
Instructors follow a consistent syllabus of courses to help build a solid foundation for advancement. There is a consistent focus within the educational outlines to foster an appreciation of ballet history.
Nahat insisted that it was virtually impossible to have a successful ballet company with an accompanying ballet school. His insight has proven accurate through the success of the Cleveland Ballet Company, many having started at the school.
Not every member of the School of the Cleveland Ballet will become a professional ballet dancer. However, each has an equal opportunity of reaching the pinnacle in ballet. Instructors are dedicated to enriching the student’s ballet experience.
There is a direct reflection between this love of ballet and real-life learning experiences. The direct instructor to pupil relationship at the school helps to foster honesty and integrity, blended with world-class ballet instruction.
The School of Cleveland Ballet is an integral part of Cleveland’s cultural arts. Many of the teachers at the School of the Cleveland Ballet are company members. They relate well with the younger students, teaching basic to advanced ballet technique.
The course curriculum also builds a strong appreciation for music in general. The instructors strive to instill an understanding of how music plays a critical role in the art of dance. Ballet is the priority, but achieving a well-rounded understanding of the performing arts is also important.
The School of Cleveland Ballet participates with schools and community organizations to offer special performances. There is a community outreach program to attract new students to the program. The goal of the School of the Cleveland Ballet is to foster diversity in the local ballet audiences. Along the way, there will be another world-class ballet dancer created.
Ballet has evolved in Cleveland across the years. Throughout its history in the area, the Cleveland Ballet, in all its forms, has prioritized developing an attraction between one between the art of dance expression and the community.
While the spectacle of live, professional ballet performances is at the heart of each ballet company, the Cleveland Ballet has always strived to community awareness of the art. One way to help build this relationship is by offering expert instruction to young, aspiring dancers.