Delaware State of the Arts - First State Ballet Theatre

Unlock the future of ballet in Delaware with our special guest, Joan Beatson, from  First State Ballet Theatre. Learn how Delaware's only professional ballet company is revolutionizing the local arts scene, with their academy ranking in the top 5% of U.S. Ballet Academies. Discover the magic behind their intimate "Up Front on Market" series, offering a unique close-up experience for both dancers and audiences, and get an inside look at their dynamic team of choreographers who are set to bring fresh, innovative productions to the stage next season.

We also explore the theatre's commitment to expanding community access to ballet, from providing platforms for new choreographic works to opening a satellite location in Middletown. Hear about the rigorous routines of professional dancers and the importance of proper training for young students, underscored by the theatre's adoption of the Beau Biden Foundation Shield for safety and well-being. Plus, get a sneak peek into the exciting upcoming productions, like "Romeo and Juliet" at Copeland Hall, and learn how First State Ballet Theatre is enhancing Delaware’s cultural landscape—making world-class ballet accessible without the need to travel to larger cities. Don’t miss this enriching conversation about the vibrant future of ballet in Delaware.

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is committed to supporting the arts and cultivating creativity to enhance the quality of life in Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Learn more at Arts.Delaware.Gov.

Delaware State of the Arts is a weekly podcast that presents interviews with arts organizations and leaders who contribute to the cultural vibrancy of communities throughout Delaware. Delaware State of the Arts is provided as a service of the Division of the Arts, in partnership with NEWSRADIO 1450 WILM and 1410 WDOV.

Chapters

• 0:08 First State Ballet Theater Expansion
• 9:59 Expanding Community Access to Ballet
• 18:36 Future of Ballet in Delaware

Transcript

Andy Truscott: 0:08

We're Delaware State of the Arts. I'm Andy Truscott. My guest today is Joan Beatson, with First State Ballet Theater. First State Ballet Theater, delaware's professional ballet company, has written an unparalleled charter of artistic, educational and financial achievement in Delaware's dance history and presents a statewide season with regular performances in theaters and schools in all three counties from Wilmington to the beach. In September of 2008, first State launched Delaware's only professional ballet company and have grown the roster every year to their current 20 dancers. Today we'll speak about their upcoming 2024-2025 season and their expansion of their dance school into the town of Whitehall. Let's kick it off a little bit. Tell us how First State Ballet Theatre's 23-24 season went and what you're most excited for in 24-25?.

Joan Beatson: 1:05

We just came off a great season at the Grand. We're seeing a lot of growth, increased ticket sales after COVID, new dancers, new choreographers. Our school was recently named in a nationwide study by Northeastern University as one of the top 5% US Ballet Academies in the country. So things are going great.

Andy Truscott: 1:31

So for those that may not be intimately aware of First Dates season, it is not just what you see on the stage of the Grand, but also you guys produce and perform performances in other locations, such as schools down at the beach, but also kind of in a more intimate studio up there at the Grand. Talk a little bit about how those smaller performances provide opportunities for your dancers that then lead to kind of the big stage.

Joan Beatson: 2:00

Every season we do a performance that we call Up Front on Market. It's in Studio One in the Baby Grand and it's about 75 seats and it's an opportunity for the audience to sit very close. Different experience than being in a Copeland Hall, in a big theater, where you're looking more at the big picture of the proscenium and what the production looks like and in this case you really get to see the dancers up close. And it also provides the dancers an opportunity to perform very challenging work, maybe push themselves out of their comfort zone. A lot of times we hire choreographers to create new pieces for the company and it's something that dancers really look forward to. It's also one of the goals of our artistic director to develop the talent of these young artists, so by giving them roles that they might not get to do on that big stage, they're having the opportunity to grow as artists and performers.

Andy Truscott: 2:57

You've got a core group of dancers, but I'm imagining that your choreography team kind of rotates throughout the year so that not every performance is choreographed by the same individual. Would that be a fair statement?

Joan Beatson: 3:10

Yes, that's true.

Andy Truscott: 3:11

Many of times guest artists, guest choreographers, come in. Any of those this upcoming year.

Joan Beatson: 3:18

Yes, we work frequently with Viktor Platnikov and he's a choreographer that's very well established and very creative and sets the bar really high for the dancers and the audiences. His work really speaks to our audiences and he's done a few full-length ballets story ballets we call them full-length where there's a story like Dracula We've done that ballet of his and then he also sets shorter pieces on the company. He will be doing a piece for us this year for our triple bill in next February, and we're also opening our season with his full length production of Romeo and Juliet. So he's someone that we work with a lot. We also are working with a really exciting up-and-coming choreographer, zachary Capellick. He's a former dancer with Ballet X, which is a contemporary ballet company in Philadelphia. Zach is a super talented, creative, young choreographer who the dancers love working with because he really pushes them to do new things. He's going to be creating our new production, the world premiere of A Midsummer Night's Dream, next April.

Andy Truscott: 4:28

When patrons think about ballet or just dance in general, unlike theater, where you come to the table with an already written script, in some cases an already written score, it's my assumption that some of the performances they would see at first date ballet theater, this is one of the only times an audience member may see this kind of exact piece on stage, because every choreographer has a different take on each kind of performance.

Joan Beatson: 4:54

Yeah, I think it would. There's always a framework in the classical ballet, the classical ballets that First Aid Ballet Theater presents. The choreography is has been set, but there are always different versions and tweaks that are done for individual dancers and companies, based on, you know, the individual. If it's a principal role, you know, maybe there's a strength of that particular performer that that the artistic director would want to bring out. And it's also based on the number of dancers you have. You know, if we're doing a production of Sleeping Beauty and we have, you know, 12 female corps de ballet dancers, we're going to be using 12. Whereas if you go to American Ballet Theater you're going to see, you know, 40.

Joan Beatson: 5:38

So there's always going to be some variations within that classical framework, but we try to to stick to the historical if possible, because that's what that's kind of our specialty. Our director trained at the Vagadam Academy in St Petersburg, russia. So he that history is in his bones, so he's passing that along to the next generation and, you know, a direct connection to the history that he grew up with.

Andy Truscott: 6:07

As you think to why it is that you love dance and ballet. What is it that you think is important for families with young, maybe aspiring performers or dancers, or even just the general public? Why is something like having a first aid ballet theater in Delaware so important?

Joan Beatson: 6:27

Well, if you think about it, everybody loves to dance. I mean, every as soon as a baby can hear, they react to music. It's something that's innate in all of us, as is a response to music. We all respond to music, and I think for me it's very rewarding in my role at First Aid Ballet to have the chance to talk to a lot of people who bring their children to the ballet, but also people who have never been to the ballet before, and you know their experience. Coming to see us in the theater, it opens up a whole new world for them. They might not think they would like ballet because they've never really been to the ballet, or they equate it with, maybe, somebody's dance recital, which is not the same thing at all. So I think if you're a person that has experiences art, live performance you will understand there's nothing like being there while the art is being created, to draw you into that other world as well as connect you to the other people that are experiencing something in that moment.

Joan Beatson: 7:30

You know, obviously I have a passion for dance. I grew up as a dancer and most all of us that work at First Aid Ballet feel the same way, but we really enjoy sharing that with the audience, because we get so much great feedback from the people that come that are new and that people that come back year over year and our audience continues to grow. If we can educate people, put it in front of people. That's why we try to do so many community performances, free performances up and down the state, in schools, in community centers, in the library. We're performing at the Delaware Art Museum in a few months, their Sculpture Garden Happy Hour, just to get in front of people and help them see that they can enjoy it.

Andy Truscott: 8:11

One of the performances we haven't talked about quite yet, and maybe the most popular, is your annual production of the Nutcracker in December. Talk to us about what a performance like that does, not only for your audience growth but for your growth of the school, your growth of the company, acquiring either interested dancers in the company or even just community support.

Joan Beatson: 8:36

Well, you're right about Nutcracker it's very popular, it's the cornerstone of every American ballet company because it's their biggest selling production of the year and it's a gateway into the world of ballet. But I it was interesting I was writing an article about it for the news journal and I interviewed some of our students who've been in it. Some were new to the production and some had been in it for a number of years and what they said surprised me. They all said they enjoyed the Nutcracker. So I'm looking forward to it so much because of the sense of community holiday spirit, being with friends and family.

Joan Beatson: 9:13

It wasn't really about the dancing, it was about what it represented coming together for the holidays, and that's the spirit that we see in the audience and it just, it just lifts people up and that's on, you know, the performers and the audience, the performers feel that too. So it's a special. It's a special thing we really enjoy doing. You know, even if it's not the ballet that might be the most challenging for an artist, it's an experience that's joyful and that really kind of defines the holidays for the dancers.

Andy Truscott: 9:48

And then, kind of right on the tail end of those, in February, you've got your triple bill coming up which talks about launching three world premiere pieces by choreographers. Talk to us about why First State finds it so important to provide that opportunity for choreographers to premiere or present their new work.

Joan Beatson: 10:08

You know it's important to keep the art alive by presenting, giving artists an opportunity to present their work. You know we've had a number of choreographers that have gone on to great careers that started at First Aid Ballet Theater on a smaller scale, and that's something that we're proud of. Matthew Neenan is a very well-known, successful choreographer. He first did a piece way back when on First Aid Ballet. We feel like Zach Capellach who is doing our Midsummer Night's Dream. He's going to have a tremendous career. So it's new work for the audience.

Joan Beatson: 10:42

It's a challenge for the dancers again as an opportunity to grow as an artist, and some of our audiences, you know, prefer more contemporary work as opposed to classical. What's really cool to me, andy, about our audiences is that they start to kind of follow particular dancers and feel like an ownership in that artist's growth and then an ownership in the company. So they really enjoy coming to see what the artists are going to do. You know, differently in a different performance. I always compare it to like a baseball team and people think I'm crazy, but it's like okay, you have the Phillies. Like you have your favorite players, you're always going to see their games. You want to see what they do. That's how I like to think of First Aid by Light in our community.

Andy Truscott: 11:24

So talk to us about what a typical day looks like for one of those professional dancers in your company. I'm assuming it is not just them showing up to a night rehearsal and then the rest of their day they're just kind of hanging out. I'm sure there's some level of pedagogy and training that goes with it. So clue us in a little bit about what their day might entail.

Joan Beatson: 11:45

Okay, well, for a dancer, you know they have to, they have to dance every day they're. They're also athletes, and I don't like to stress so much the athleticism because it is an art form. At the end of the day, you know, they're making the audience feel things, but their medium for expression is classical ballet or ballet and it is extremely athletic. So they have to fine-tune their body every day. The first thing they do is have a daily company class with our artistic director or some of our faculty, and that's basically keeping their body fine-tuned, developing their skills over time and keeping up their strength. They'll have rehearsals for a few hours, maybe till two or three o'clock in the afternoon, for usually for the what's coming up.

Joan Beatson: 12:36

But for example, when we have Viktor Platnikov coming to the studio in August, his piece won't be performed until February, but that's, he was available in August. So to the studio in August, his piece won't be performed until February, but he was available in August. So he's coming in August, the dancers will work with him. Then that continues through the season, the weeks of the performances. There are rehearsals in the evening in the theater, but basically they're here for five, six hours, five days a week, dancing five, six hours, five days a week dancing, and we are able to offer a contract just for the season. In the off season they have to stay in shape themselves and most of them work other jobs, which is often the case in a ballet company, unless it's one of the major, major ballet companies.

Andy Truscott: 13:21

And, with that being the case, some of their other jobs could quite literally be for either other ballet companies or other arts organizations.

Joan Beatson: 13:26

Yeah, yeah, a lot of them teach. Some of them teach at our school or other schools up and down the state of Delaware. Some of them work at area restaurants. You can see them anywhere in your travels. But a lot of them work in restaurants because of the hours. You know they're working evening hours because they're in the studio during the day.

Andy Truscott: 13:48

You know I mentioned the school and that was a perfect tee up, so thank you. Let's talk a little bit about what the school at First State Ballet Theater looks like and what people may expect from either sending their child or sending themselves there to learn about the artwork.

Joan Beatson: 14:03

We are very fortunate to have three studios at the Grand Opera House. They're pretty much state-of-the-art and we're right in the building on the third floor. We can literally pop downstairs and go perform. It's a wonderful facility for dance training and I think Delawareans are really lucky to have this resource. We start ballet training at about age four in our studios at the Grand Ballet is a wonderful art form for children. It teaches them discipline, poise, teamwork, cooperation. There's so many benefits, as everybody knows, to physical activity, but there's something about dancing that really creates a sense of poise and self-confidence in young children. We also have open classes, which means that you know adults of any age training background can come and take the class. It's great exercise. It's a great way to take a mental break for an hour and listen to beautiful music, and the school's been in the Grand Opera House since 2003.

Joan Beatson: 15:08

This coming fall we're very excited that we're going to be opening a satellite location in Middletown in the town of Whitehall. We've been working closely with EDIS, who's the developer of the town of Whitehall. It's a large planned community right outside of Middletown and they're working hard to make it a really livable, wonderful community for families. So we're super excited about that. We'll be able to reach a lot more people, because we've heard from a lot of people that they would love to have access to our training but they're, you know, in Dover or downstate and couldn't you be closer? And so people outside of Wilmington, southern Newcastle County and Kent County soon will have great access to our training, and we believe it's really important to train children correctly physically and socially, emotionally for children.

Joan Beatson: 16:08

The first performing arts organization in the country to adopt the Beau Biden Foundation Shield of Protection, creating policies to prevent child abuse, and this is something that is really really, really important to what we do. I can't say enough about their program. It's essential. Every youth-serving organization should be doing this program. If you're not familiar and you're listening to this, please go to their website and check it out. That's something we take very seriously and all parents should kind of look at that when they're choosing their child's dance education. You know what kind of policies are there for children.

Andy Truscott: 16:46

Part of that expansion and that move is about quite literally making the ballet form more accessible to the broader audiences. Are there any other programs that First State does that you think also kind of couches itself into that ability to make the art form just more accessible to a Delawarean statewide?

Joan Beatson: 17:05

Absolutely. I mean, you know, as any arts organization will tell you any, any leaders in the arts. You know you have to keep the art form alive by creating awareness and developing the love for it in your community. I think you can talk to any artist and they can tell you exactly when they fell in love with their art. You know we take that really seriously because that's what keeps the art thriving. You have to see it in person. You can watch it on TV, not as good.

Joan Beatson: 17:37

We've been performing downstate at the Freeman Arts Pavilion. This will be our 16th year that we're going down. We always go down around Labor Day. It's a free performance and last year we had over 1,000 people. This program started with maybe about eight people, maybe I don't know. But if you're not familiar with that organization, check it out. They've done an absolutely incredible job down there. They're down in Selbyville. We do that every year. We're performing in a community event outside of Dover at Loblolly Acres, another wonderful outdoor venue, up-and-coming venue. We try to do as many pop-ups as we possibly can. I mentioned the Delaware Art Museum. We love working with them. That's a fantastic collaboration. We go to libraries, community centers, schools and offer as many free performances as we can to help expose people to the art and let them know we're here and come and check us out. Hopefully they'll come and check us out at the grant.

Andy Truscott: 18:36

As you think about not only First State Ballet Theater but maybe the craft of ballet overall, where do you see the future of it heading? And or maybe what are you most excited for in the next, say, one to three years planning for the organization?

Joan Beatson: 18:52

Well, we're really excited about this school that we're opening because we know we're going to be able to reach a lot more people. It's a very thriving community in Middletown, obviously a lot of young families and exposing people to ballet training and the best, you know, performances that we can offer we feel is going to really strengthen, not just for state ballet but the love and appreciation of the art form. You know I always think of it like like I go back to the Phillies Okay, well, they're Philadelphia. But I mean, why can't we be the beloved institution of Delaware where Delawareans have pride in what we offer?

Joan Beatson: 19:35

As I mentioned before, we're in the top 5% of US Ballet Academies. That's a pretty big deal in my opinion. So I think Delawareans we want Delawareans to be proud that they have this resource here. You know it's just really exciting for children. You know it gives them so many opportunities and just people to enjoy the arts in their own backyard. Yes, we can all go to New York and DC and Philadelphia, but you know we hear feedback from our patients I go. It's so great I don't have to drive to Philly, I can go right here.

Andy Truscott: 20:08

For our listeners. A reminder their season opens with Romeo and Juliet on Saturday and Sunday, october 19th and 20th of 2024, over at Copeland Hall at the Grand, with then performances coming in the middle of November, the middle of December, end of February and beginning of April in 2025. If you'd like to learn more about First State Ballet Theatre, visit firstaidballetorg. Delaware State of the Arts is a weekly podcast that presents interviews with arts organizations and leaders who contribute to the cultural vibrancy of communities throughout Delaware. Delaware State of the Arts is provided as a service of the Delaware Division of the Arts in partnership with News Radio, 1450 WILM and 1410 WDOV. The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is committed to supporting the arts and cultivating creativity to enhance the quality of life in Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. To find out more about the Division, visit artsdelawaregov.