Preview of "Orphan Train"

On Tuesday, July 31, CBT gave a sneak peek of "Orphan Train" to select guests at the Alvin Ailey studios.  Below are a couple of clips of the event.

Clip 1:  We are introduced to Charles Loring Brace, the founder of the NY Children's Aid Society, as he is preaching on the streets of New York in the 1800's. He encounters masses of children who are homeless, neglected, and poverty stricken. It is here that we see three stories unfold. Bessie is the younger sister of Frank who is the leader of a small pick-pocket gang. All she wants is her brother’s approval, but is met with bullying. Susie and Dorothy are the two young daughters of a drunken widower who deals with his personal pain by inflicting abuse on his girls. And finally, there is Mamie, a sad, lonely child who desperately wants the affection of a selfish and cold mother who leaves Mamie in the care of her grandmother.

 

Clip 2: Moved by the stories he sees, Brace is inspired with an idea to find families for these children so they may have a better life. He approaches the families of these children to ask if they are willing to give them up. It is here we watch a heart breaking scene of shame and sacrifice.

Clip 3:  Brace brings his young wards to the station to board a train headed west.  Here we leave them, excited, and joyous to begin a new chapter in their lives.

To see the FULL ballet and watch the complete stories of these children and find out what happens to them when they make it out west - come see us at the New York International Fringe Festival.  Tickets are on sale now at FringeNYC.org.

Beginning in 1854, 150,000 abandoned and neglected children boarded trains bound for the new West in search of a HOME.  Follow Reverend Charles Loring Brace as he crafts a future for Bessie, Mamie and sisters Susie and Dorothy.

This is their story....

Visit our Orphan Train ballet website at www.orphantrainballet.com

 

What a rainy day for a walkathon

Happy humid rainy Wednesday everybody!

On Saturday, we had our first rescuethon. Our dog walk-a-thon. Our doggiethon. We held it at Marine Park. If you never visited the park and are ever in the South Brooklyn area, you should visit it. Its the borough's largest park. Its great. It has tennis courts, multiple baseball fields, a cricket field, exercise stations, a soccer field, basketball courts, and it has a launch site for kayaks. 

Anyway, back to our walk. It was a great success and it was a ton of fun. Thank you for everyone who came to participate. The school was there are 8 AM but the walk itself started at 10AM. We had dogs from all walks of life. And they all got along great. If you're a dog lover, this was your paradise. A somewhat rainy paradise though.

After the walk, members from our Junior Company performed a few pieces from "Doggone". 

We also had a dog walkathon in Marla's homestate - HAWAII!! Here are some photos from that walk.

To see all the photos go to http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3827773383121.160813.1541413225&type=3&l=7d34a02c75

Covenant Ballet Theatre's Rescuethon

Boy! Are we happy that the weather is warming up! No more scarves and gloves. Time to put those shorts on and start walking those dogs.

Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn (CBT) invites dogs and their owners of New York City to sign up for the dance academy’s first rescuethon event on Saturday, May 5^th, 2012. During hard economic times, arts programs are usually the first to be eliminated from funding. Animals are also often to be the first to be neglected and discarded.  The rescuethon is to help raise money for both the academy’s scholarship program and the Sean Casey Rescue center. Sean Casey is a rescue center that takes in unfortunate animals and tries to give them a higher quality of life. The animals are cared for and/or rehabilitated until they are brought home to live a happy and healthy life. Unfortunately, like most rescue centers, Sean Casey needs money in order to be able to stay true to their mission. Artistic Director Marla Hirokawa became involved with Sean Casey when she was looking to adopt another dog. She immediately liked the center and wanted to help them out. Through the rescuethon, she is bringing her two loves – dogs and dancing – together and helping them out. The rescuethon will be a walk-a-thon for both humans and dogs. Registration for the event is $25. The fee covers one (1) owner and a maximum of two (2) dogs. Walkers do not have to have a dog to walk. All who sign up will receive a “doggie goodie bag”.

Registration may be done at CBTBRescueathon.EventBrite.com. All registration must be done prior to the event. Check-in for the event is at 9 am. Check-in will take place near the Marine Park Avenue U parking lot. There will be at least three (3) viewing stations along the path for spectators and supporters to watch and cheer.

After the event, members of CBT’s Junior Company will perform company repertory. There will also be raffles sold for a “Pet Portrait” (estimated value $300-$350). The portrait will be a one-of-a-kind creation of the winner’s dog by artist Carla Brandberg.

Sponsored by

Kings Bay Veterinary Hospital

Pets in Paint

DANCE REVIEW of Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn’s production of Cinderella

by Lawrence Lam

Brooklyn is known for having a vibrant art community as diverse as the ethnicity of its population. Good dance performances are not only found in downtown Brooklyn but also in the often-ignored South Brooklyn neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. The well attended performances of Cinderella performed by Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn (CBT) are solid proof that many dance lovers are glad to fill the seats of a good performance anywhere in Brooklyn. The show took place on Saturday, March 24, 2012 at Kingsborough Community College Leon M. Goldstein Performing Arts Center.

Almost everyone knows the story of Cinderella. A young lady is a maid to her evil stepmother and stepsisters. When she is prohibited to go to the Royal Ball, her Fairy Godmother steps in to help her get to the ball. At the ball, she falls in love with Prince Charming and loses her glass slipper. In the end, she escapes her horrid life when the Prince finds her and they live happily ever after. It is a classic fairy tale that is universally loved. It is one of the reasons why Cinderella was CBT’s Artistic Director Marla Hirokawa’s first full-length ballet. Though it is her first full-length ballet, Marla has 10 narrative ballets of her own under her belt.

CBT principal dancer Theresé Miyoshi Wendler made a beautiful Cinderella. She was the kind young soul with a loving heart. She also portrayed herself as an elegant princess that captured everyone with her beauty and graceful dancing. Her dancing with Royce Zackery, CBT’s Prince Wesley, was like a fine liaison made in heaven. Their Pas De Deux was one of the highlights of the show. Other highlights included the hilarious pair up of the Princes' friends (danced by Matthew Westerby and CBT's delightful newcomer Vincent Marra) with the not-so-graceful stepsisters (danced by Rebeccah Brann and Helene Parker). The ballet featured Allison Jay Baber as the elegant and loving Fairy Godmother, CBT Junior dancers as the season fairies, and many cute young dancers from the academy. If you missed this wonderful production of Cinderella, look out for future performances by Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn, one of the finest professional ballet companies based in Brooklyn.

 

all photos by Jonathan Fazio

The Royal Ballet - Cinderella

We are less than a month away from our premiere of "Cinderella"! Here is a clip of The Royal Ballet performing Cinderella from a few years back

Inside Cinderella Rehearsals Pt. Deux

Fairy Godmother	Pas de Deux
Grand Ball

Covenant's History - The first 10 years.

Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn (CBTB) was founded by Marla Hirokawa in order to bring ballet to South Brooklyn. After dancing in Hawaii, California, and NY, Marla moved to Brooklyn. She saw that there were no serious ballet schools in Brooklyn so she decided to open one. With the help of the Schlissel family, Covenant Dance Studio was created in 1987.

        Snapshot of the company     

The first year was hard but by the end of June 1988, the studio had about 50-75 kids. In 1989, Marla realized that she needed to give her students a chance to dance in a performance. She wrote her first ballet entitiled "Heirloom Doll" and incorporated her professional dance friends and the kids of the academy into it. The ballet was performed at Bay Academy, a local middle school .Soon she began choreographing on her professional dance friends and Covenant Dance Theatre was born. Marla wanted to have her students dance alongside professional dancers so her students could learn a bit more on what it is like to be a professional dancer. In 1989, Marla's new work "A Divertissement" was chosen to be performed  in the Choreographers on Pointe Showcase.

"Heirloom Doll"

The company's life was marked every two years by a new ballet, each one created by Marla. In 1991, it was "The Patroness" in which Roberta Solomon starred in the title role. Roberta, or Bert as she was affectionally called, was a former dancer. She reignited her dancing career with Covenant and became a wonderful asset to the company.

1993 Marla continued her storytelling with "A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance" - in honor of her father who had passed away that year.

That year  Bert's husband, Max came on board and performed the title role in "A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance". It was his first performance in over 40 years! Soon after, he took on a main role working backstage. He was a master at props and a great resource for music.

 Bert and Max in "A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance"

"Couleurs D'Amour" premiered in 1995, set to the music of Debussy and Satie (It was the precursor to Marla's recent "Van Gogh" ballet).

"Couleurs D'Amour"

"Couleurs D'Amour"

"Couleurs D'Amour"

In 1994, the academy began to expand with Rebeccah Hope Brann joining the staff. She had been with the academy since she was six years old. But now she started to teach the pre-ballet classes. The next year, Sheila Ledgin joined the staff as the academy's primary creative movements and pre-ballet classes teacher. Suzanne Lemmon became the academy's modern dance teacher. Lucie Santoro joined the academy in 1997 as a volunteer. Soon enough she would become the project manager.

Before you know it, the company and academy was marking its 10 year anniversary.



                                               Stay tuned to read about the next 15 years.

Inside Rehearsals for Cinderella

Take a look at what is happening behind the studio doors, inside a CBT rehearsal for our March 24 performance of Cinderella.  The first clip is our enchanting Fairy Godmother, Allison Jay-Baber.  The second is our wonderful students of ballet levels 3-5 during the ballroom sequence.

Yay! We finally have a blog!

Welcome to Covenant Ballet Theatre's official blog! This is your one stop to get behind-the-scenes of what happens at our studio, when we're on stage, and much much more.

Please check back often for entries that include clips from our upcoming performance of Cinderella, exclusive photos, and interviews.

For now, you can visit our official website at http://covenantballet.org/

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