Sierra Nevada Ballet Offers an Exciting Celebratory Historic Event to Remember

Published January 24, 2025

Sierra Nevada Ballet Offers an Exciting Celebratory Historic Event to Remember

It was a very moving moment for me when SNB’s Associate Artistic Director Ananda Bena-Weber and the SNB professional company dancers (with SNB Board approval) announced that they wanted this year’s Brew, Brats & Ballet (BBB) to be a celebration of my 51 years of choreography. The dancers elected to dance this program as a “gift” and to personally work together to make this exciting event a fundraiser for the SNB company. Each dancer volunteered to contact their favorite business to help with donations in support of SNB. This generous offer by a team of talented dance artists has been very inspiring to me.

Filer image element — *Rosine Bena and Sam Weber performing during the time they created Shape Of A Pair*

SNB has always been fiscally responsible through its 24 year history. Several of us on the staff have worked very hard to keep it that way by volunteering our own work so that the dancers (and other production expenses) could be paid and paid on time. SNB has always maintained backup emergency funds as well.

In 2024 the renovations to the new Northern Nevada Performing Arts Collective building at 500 E. Moana Lane in Reno (which houses SNB) went almost $200,000 over budget. While this building houses and benefits other arts organizations, the SNB Company (along with some assistance from the Steinway Piano Gallery) has taken full responsibility for the renovation costs. Gratefully, several foundations and members of the community have come forward with donations to help offset the costs, but SNB is presently still in the financial recovery stage.

Looking back on my 51 years of choreographing, it is extraordinary for me to realize that I have created over 130 choreographic works: 90 for different professional ballet companies in different areas of the country (including 14 full-length ballets) and over 40 works for different dance schools in NV, CA, and several other states. I have been choreographing for our SNB professional company since founding it in 2001, and I was honored to receive both the Nevada Arts Council Artist Fellowship Award and the Sierra Arts Foundation Fellowship Award for choreography in 2008.

Ananda Bena-Weber is more familiar with my work than anyone as she was raised with it from birth. She has either watched it, danced in it, or helped set it. It was Ananda’s idea to do a celebration of my choreography. I am very touched by her words. Ananda told the SNB Board, “I feel Rosine Bena has created some fabulous choreography through the years and her fine quality work is the foundation and legacy upon which the SNB professional company was built. It is very important that people see some of Rosine’s best work.”

Ananda and I have agreed on 15 (of 76) shorter works that stand out to us as particularly memorable and have further narrowed that to five. Finding videos of these five within 51 years of boxes of performance videos is not an easy task. We are still trying to locate one of them. Ananda will direct the BBB celebratory program that will take place on March 15, 2025 at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson and on March 21 and 22, 2025 at the Reno Little Theater in Reno.

Ananda’s top choices are pieces that I created before she was born for the professional ballet company in the SF Bay Area, Peninsula Ballet Theatre: G.S.& R. (1979) to the music of Grieg and Shape of a Pair, a pas de deux to the music of Satie that I choreographed with ballet dancer/world renowned tap master Sam Weber in 1980. My personal top choices are pieces that I created for the SNB Co.: Gershwin Concerto (2005) to the music of Gershwin and Take Five (2006) a short piece to the music of Brubeck. Ananda and I both like Percussivelund (2007), which is a short piece to a commissioned score created by percussionist/composer Andy Heglund.

Even though some of the videos are poor quality, it has been a very uplifting experience watching some of my past work on VHS - remembering the various dancers through the years and the process of creating the pieces.

We (at SNB) started working on G.S.& R. and the first movement of the Gershwin Concerto with the SNB company dancers last week, and, to my amazed joy, the dancers are having a blast!

SNB featured dancer Davie Johnson said, “This is the most fun I have ever had learning a piece of choreography.” SNB featured dancer Valerie Thomas said, “The choreography is so incredibly musical.” Soloist Madeline Lee said, “I just love this choreography!” Ananda has also chosen to include two excerpts of her choreography on the program from the full length story ballet, 12th Night - A Ballet Noir, that SNB will perform this summer. One of the excerpts will be the children’s dance, and SNB is holding an audition for children (age 5 to 15) on February 1 from 11:30am to 1:00pm at SNB.

SNB Choreographer in Residence, Alexander Biber, danced in many of my choreographic works through the years, and he has also volunteered to create a special work for this year’s exciting BBB celebratory event.

This BBB program promises to be a historic event to remember!

For SNB ticket, audition, company or academy information, please call 775-360-8663 or visit our SNB website at sierranevadaballet.org