From Our Artistic Dir

From NBT Artistic Director Roy Kaiser

Friends of NBT,

I hope today finds you well and safe as we all continue to navigate and adapt to the changes around us. I’m delighted to be able to connect with you once again.

You’ve probably noticed a new tag line appearing on some of our recent materials, a lively invitation to Dance On with NBT. And while that sounds like a completely appropriate thing to do with a ballet company, what does it actually mean?

Dance On with NBT is a new paradigm being embraced by everyone at NBT as we make our way through these challenging times. While we know in our hearts this quiet period for us is only temporary, we also know that our survival and prosperity rely heavily upon our ability to find partners as determined as we are to ensure NBT emerges from this current crisis with renewed strength and passion.

And that’s where you come in. We can’t think of a better partner for this dance than you – our fans, our supporters, our cheerleaders. You are the reason everyone at NBT works as hard as they do each and every day. And there’s no one we’d rather lock arms with to Dance On towards tomorrow.

As you Dance On with NBT we will humbly ask you for help with the most pressing need currently facing us: financial support. Maintaining a world-class arts organization is an expensive and extraordinary challenge in normal times, let alone our current world. Projections show NBT will suffer a $2.6 million loss of revenue in the wake of the pandemic. That impact is staggering, but we know we are resilient, particularly with partners like you at our side.

With your support, our Company Artists will return to the rehearsal studio and the stage as soon as we’re able to safely do so. And as we prepare to resume classes in our affiliated Academy with limited sessions both in person and virtually, your support will keep students safe by helping us cover the increased costs of reopening our building. With your assistance, we can also continue to provide opportunities to thousands of Clark County students through our life-changing Education and Outreach programs. At a time when their education is more precarious than ever before, your contribution has never been more meaningful.

While we work together diligently to build our future, we will be sharing with you some new and innovative ways to enjoy our art form. If you haven’t already, please visit our new NBT@Home page filled with content from NBT’s past and present, available for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own home. Plus, in the coming weeks we will be announcing new initiatives that will take you inside the world of NBT in entertaining and distinctive ways.

But for now, we invite you to Dance On with NBT and help ensure our ability to work tirelessly for you, to make Las Vegas a more joyful place to live, grow and prosper.

-Roy

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Serenade choreography by George Balanchine. ©The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Virginia Trudeau.

NBT Artistic Director Roy Kaiser invites you to enjoy his conversation with Donato Cabrera, Music Director of the Las Vegas Philharmonic. 

As you may have seen, NBT’s dancers have been making weekly appearances on NBT’s social media feeds–sharing photos, videos, and teaching free (and virtual of course) ballet class to our fans and followers. I’m excited to have been a recent special guest on Donato Cabrera’s weekly Facebook LIVE series, entitled #MusicWise.

It was a pleasure to spend time with Donato talking about music and dance and how each has impacted both of our lives. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

NBT Artistic Director Roy has a recommendation for those looking to explore music as an outlet for happiness during these unusual times:

I know many of us are doing our best to stay positive during this strange time; some are revisiting hobbies, virtually reconnecting with friends and family, and getting in shape by running, taking Pilates, practicing yoga, or our personal favorite, participating in online dance classes.

Music is such a wonderful (and necessary for some people) accompaniment for these activities; and so, I thought this would be the perfect time to share one of my favorite classical music albums with you: A Balanchine Album by New York City Ballet Orchestra, conducted by Robert Irving.

I’ve made the link available to you here via my Spotify account:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tb0IGyLoCYC9idQMFqpe3?si=g_CaJulDRIu4lT5F72cq5A

Spotify is free and can be accessed via your web browser or by downloading the app onto your mobile device.

Hopefully, you will recognize the music from a couple of the ballets that NBT has performed including Serenade (Peter Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings), and most recently, The Four Temperaments (Paul Hindemith’s The Four Temperaments). The music for Emeralds (Gabriel Fauré Pelléas et Mélisande and Shylock) is also featured, part of Balanchine’s famous triptych ballet, Jewels–which NBT presented in 2012 as a first-ever collaboration between three companies: NBT, Ballet West and Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB). Lastly, the album features Agon, (Igor Stravinsky’s Agon) which I hope our company will present in the future.

As Mr. Balanchine once said, “See the music, hear the dance.”