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COLLABORATORS

Daniel Duell

Founder and Artistic Director

Ballet Chicago

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Patricia Blair

Co-Founder, Associate Artistic Director, School Director

Ballet Chicago

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Ann Crosset

Artistic Director

Kompagni B

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Henriette Muus

Head Ballet Coach

Kompagni B

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Benita Bünger

Faculty

Ballet Chicago

DANCERS

Ballet Chicago Dancers

Alyssa Kantner

Brianna Moose

Mia Thompson

Ruby Sindelar

Brooklyn Winter

Kompagni B Dancers

Claire Adrian

Sophie Andersen

Niclas Bech

Emil Eisted Hansen

Lukas Helt

Sylvester Jønson

Phillip Katsnelson

Wilma Li

Sarah Pedersen

Mads-Cornelius Rav

Herman Schultzer

Joel Hall Youth Dance Company

Lalah Brown

Charles Coulter

Liza DeWhite

Niyah Ferris

Mariah Hackett

Talia Howard

Ruby Levin

Julia Multer

Bri Nourie

Georgia Powless-Martindale

Solveig Preus

Lucy Shapiro

Sneha Shirhattikar

Darriea Wedgeworth

ABOUT BALLET CHICAGO

...where artistic excellence and content of character forge the next generation

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Co-founded in 1987 by acclaimed dancer / choreographer Daniel Duell and former ballerina Patricia Blair, Ballet Chicago’s mission is to educate and inspire young artists through the study of classical ballet, and in so doing, to lay a foundation of life skills that empowers each one to realize their full potential.


It is a place where the beauty of one’s character is as important as the beauty of one’s tendu, a place where diversity is intentional – where inner city, foster children, middle-class and those of great fortune stand side-by-side, although we will never tell you which is which.


It is a place where young people learn to celebrate their triumphs and weather their disappointments with equal grace, where high-achievement is the norm, and where delivering moments of truth becomes a way of life.


With a curriculum based in the Balanchine Technique ©, and through a special arrangement with the George Balanchine Trust, Ballet Chicago provides an accelerated performance program where members receive years of on-stage experience, building confidence under pressure, camaraderie, community, and an array of skill sets that translate to any arena. New works join masterpiece repertoire reserved solely for professionals and only the most accomplished students worldwide, producing outstanding performance resumes. Ballet Chicago has two primary scholarship programs. The Philip and Marsha Dowd Merit Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to gifted dancers with serious career aspirations and makes it possible for our students to learn from world-class guest teachers, répétiteurs, and choreographers. The Dance for Tomorrow Program provides children of all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds the opportunity to study ballet through tuition-assisted scholarships. Ballet Chicago is a home, it is a family; it is a launching pad for exemplary youth.

Square Dance Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust.

Photography by RonMcKinney Photography

ABOUT KOMPAGNI B

"If only I had the same opportunities when I was training to become a ballet dancer." - Nikolaj Hübbe, Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Ballet

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Established in 2008 by Royal Danish Ballet School and artistic director, Ann Crosset, Kompagni B became the world’s first children's ballet company “for, with and of” children.


It is still the only ballet company in the world that prides itself on performing ballet for children and teens, with ballet and choreography created by the teen dancers themselves and performed by young dancer's themselves. Kompagni B's 23 young dancers from The Royal Danish School of Ballet in Copenhagen, Denmark are aged between 14-16 years old and are all students at the Royal Theater. This season, 11 of these dancers received the opportunity to travel and work in Chicago as part of their development.


Kompagni B was established to develop and refine the dancers' ability to perform as a soloist and an ensemble members. Members of Kompagni B are personally responsible for defining the company’s policies and values and for proposing and developing its repertoire and performance venues. They create, direct and choreograph the performances. Known as young ballet-ambassadors with talent and heart in Denmark and throughout the world they have also inspired other artists. Helle Pagter's film “Travels to the Dance Within" documents Kompagni B's work in China and the book, “The Royal Danish Ballet School's Super Stars of the Future" written by Eva Hammershøj, with the english edition edited by David Lyman, follows an entire season of Kompagni B development. Each season Kompagni B reaches out to inspire and empower over 10,000 children and teens with their interactive workshops, residencies and performances.

ABOUT THE EXCHANGE

INCREASING INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING

In order to deepen the knowledge of all participants involved, the collaboration begins months before the dancers arrive. Over the internet and social media, the dancers solve choreographic assignments, create costume designs, and share individual goals so that they are ready to teach, perform and explore each other's worlds as soon as they meet. It is an honor and a privilege for Kompagni B to work with 5 dancers from Ballet Chicago and 14  dancers from Joel Hall Dancer Youth Company as part of DENMARK in the ARTS in Chicago.

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Past International Kompagni B Exchanges include:

Kompagni B - Qiajuk Studios, Greenland 2018

Kompagni B - Beijing Dance Academy, China 2016

Kompagni B - Arong/Farvella Cultural Center, Brazil 2014

 

KIDS TEACHING KIDS

Kompagni B offers Kids2Kids workshops in which the essence of ballet - concentration, respect for ensemble work, and traditions - are taught. Kompagni B's dancers work to inspire and empower every child participating. Hundreds of these workshops have been given throughout Denmark and the world. In Chicago such workshops will be given at Fuller Elementary School, Woodson Regional Library, as well as Toman and Whitney Young Jr. Branch Libraries. The workshops are given by the young dancers alone and are often taught without words.

 

REACHING AUDIENCES IN UNSUSPECTING LOCATIONS

The dancers of Kompagni B define art as something wonderful that lifts a person's everyday life. Since 2009 Kompagni B has explored performing in various venues; in shopping malls, "home visits", in museums and at retirement centers. In Chicago, Kompagni B dancers and Ballet Chicago dancers will work with young basketball players and present EXHIBITION GAME PERFORMANCES at South Side YMCA, Avalon Park and Piotrowski Park. All are free of charge and open to the public!

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