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While dance in a traditional theatre setting is thrilling, hearing the dancers’ breath and shoes on the floor, and watching them prepare in the “wings” between each entrance gives audience members at Up Close performances enchanting insight into the physicality behind this powerful art form.

Featuring world premiere of Derek Brockington's Starburst

Saturday, March 9 at 2pm & 7pm; Sunday, March 10 at 2pm

The final, and newly added performance of BTC’s intimate, mixed-repertoire performances, Up Close: Spring will be presented March 8-10, 2024. Up Close: Spring will feature Resident Choreographer Derek Brockington's (Dance Theatre of Harlem) world premiere, Starburst, a piece that explores three main themes: joy, profound loss, and rediscovery.


"I’ve challenged myself to use music composed by black artists," explains Brockington. "I find that the music tells another side of history with personal stories that influence the sound. The music for the first movement is composed by Jessie Montgomery, a prominent new black female composer. This music is bright and full of vitality, representing joy for me. The second piece is composed by William Grant Still, a prolific artist with over 200 rarely used works. As we begin to create the other movements, we will delve into the other themes."

PURCHASE TICKETS

Featuring Apres Degas

Friday, January 26 at 7pm; Saturday, January 27 at 2pm & 7pm; Sunday, January 28 at 2pm

The second of Ballet Theatre Company’s intimate, mixed-repertoire performances, Up Close: Winter will be presented in the Ron and Nancy Compton Studio, January 26-28, 2024. With four performance opportunities, Up Close: Winter offers the unique chance to view Ballet Theatre Company’s resident dancers and advanced students of the Junior Corps de Ballet at close range, giving a completely new perspective on ballet appealing to new and returning audience members alike.


The program will feature “Apres Degas,” a comedic ballet choreographed by Marguerite de Anguera of the Connecticut Valley Regional Ballet in 1975 and later reconstructed and restaged on BTC by Tracy Dorman. “Apres Degas” is a comic spoof on the ballet paintings of Edgar Degas. The ballet depicts a day in the life of the Paris Opera Ballet during the Romantic Era of the mid-1800s; daily class is enacted including barre and center, followed by rehearsal. 


Alongside “Apres Degas”, BTC will present several excerpts from the vivacious ballet
Don Quixote.

Featuring Sleeping Beauty

Friday, September 29 at 7pm; Saturday, September 30 at 2pm & 7pm; Sunday, October 1 at 2pm

The first performance of the season is Up Close: Fall, presented in the Ron and Nancy Compton Studio of West Hartford, will be held September 29-October 1, 2023. Crafted to be an intimate, mixed-repertoire performance, Up Close: Fall offers the community four performance opportunities to view Ballet Theatre Company’s resident dancers and advanced students of the Junior Corps de Ballet at close range. 


The program will feature the “Christening Scene” from the ballet classic,
Sleeping Beauty, highlighting the six, unique and enchanting fairy variations. Sleeping Beauty was first premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1890 featuring choreography of Marius Petipa and music by Tchaikovsky. Did you know? Sleeping Beauty was the second of Tchaikovsky’s three ballets and his second-longest work in any genre.


In addition to the
Sleeping Beauty excerpt, an excerpt by BTC’s Resident Guest choreographer Derek Brockington (Dance Theatre of Harlem), will be performed.

See photos below from rehearsals with Anna Laghezza. Photos by Kai Whalen


a group of people are posing for a picture in front of a wall with balloons .

Pictured above are BTC's professional dancers with Resident Choreographer Derek Brockington

Derek Brockington

BTC is thrilled to welcome to welcome Derek Brockington as a Resident Choreographer for its 25th Anniversary Season. Derek is contracted to set a piece on the professionals that will premiere in BTC's Up Close Winter. An excerpt will also be featured in Up Close Fall. Derek will travel in from NYC to work with the company professionals throughout the season.

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Photos from past performances

Photo credit: Michela, Semenza, Kai Whalen & Tracy Dorman

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