Ballet Yuma Embarks Upon Pacific Festival
Steven Hennig
May. 6th, 2010

Ballet Yuma, Arizona’s sole representative as an Honor Company in the prestigious national organization Regional Dance America, will be participating in RDA’s Pacific Region Festival in Richland, Washington, May 12 through 15. Ballet Yuma’s company dancers will perform twice at the festival, take classes in various disciplines from top professionals, attend seminars, and have the opportunity to audition for a number of highly regarded schools, companies, and programs.
Directed by Jon Cristofori and Kathleen Sinclair, Ballet Yuma will be presenting The Orchid by Daniel Marshal and David Arce’s Don’t Be Late, as an emerging work. Dancers performing Marshal’s piece will be Taylor Owens, Brooke Frandsen, Andrea Hennig, Carina Gresham, Jacey Sims, Kacey Turner, and Alexandria Urias. Arce’s work will feature Brooke Frandsen, Taylor Owens, Jacey Sims, Alexis Gresham, Carina Gresham, Ariane Guthrie, Mara Mejia, Kacey Turner, and Alexandria Urias.
Regional Dance America is a national organization of approximately 100 companies, which endeavors to elevate the level of dance nation wide by establishing and maintaining rigorous standards in education and performance for its member companies. These standards are assessed through annual adjudication and at regional festivals. It is through its participation with RDA that Ballet Yuma is recognized as one of the best preprofessional ballet companies in the country.
Ballet Yuma has a history of performing well on the regional and national level. Last year at RDA’s Pacific Festival held in Provo, Utah, the company’s dancers received a number of honors: Chelsea Estes and Carina Gresham received full scholarships and Dominic Gizzi Mercer received a half scholarship, for tuition, room and board, to attend the RDA Summer Intensive featuring the Craft of Choreography Conference at the Pacific Northwest Ballet Francia Russell Center in Seattle Washington. Brooke Frandsen was awarded a full tuition scholarship to Ballet Nouveau Colorado for summer study, and Kacey Turner received a full tuition scholarship to Ballet Magnificat! for summer study. Andrea Hennig was awarded a half tuition scholarship to attend Utah Regional Ballet's Summer Intensive program.
Attending the RDA Pacific Festival is, of course, a very expensive undertaking, and Ballet Yuma, like most non-profits, is currently struggling to make ends meet. As part of it’s fundraising efforts, it is hosting a benefit golf tournament sponsored by Barkley Ag Enterprises. The “Pointe & Putt Classic”, featuring cash and raffle prizes will be held at Mesa del Sol Golf Club on May 22. To participate as a player or Tee Sponsor, go to www.balletyuma.org or call (928) 271-1226.

 

Past Releases	Pub. Date
Barkley Ag's First Annual 'Pointe & Putt' Classic	May 7th 2010
Ballet Yuma Embarks Upon Pacific Festival	May 6th 2010
Award Winning Choreographer Featured	Mar 5th 2010
Ballet Yuma Presents Giselle	Feb 19th 2010
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