alessa rogers

Saying Goodbye To Atlanta Ballet’s John McFall

May 20, 2016 by 4dancers

John McFall with dancers — **John McFall and dancers from Atlanta Ballet. Photo by Brian Wallenberg.**

Dear John,

You are stepping down as Artistic Director of Atlanta Ballet this month after 21 years. How to describe what your tenure accomplished? How to distill such a career?

I could talk about the numbers. How the budget has nearly tripled since 1994 or the 1200 students enrolled in the school. I could talk about how Atlanta Ballet has transformed in your two decades from a regional dance troupe to a world-class institution. About the exciting collaborations- Big Boi from Outkast, the Indigo Girls. Or about the world premieres- Twyla Tharp’s first full length ballet, Helen Pickett’s Camino Real. I could talk about the tour to China, the opening of a beautiful new building, your own choreography including the record-breaking Nutcracker. I could talk about the cutting-edge choreographers like Ohad Naharin, Alexander Ekman and Jorma Elo that you convinced out of a sheer doggedness and passion for your dancers to come to a city in the Southeast and bring their work to us.

These things are astounding, valid and commendable. But you know all these things already.

And this letter isn’t about what you’ve done for Atlanta Ballet. It’s what you’ve done for me and your dancers. So I’d rather talk about the joy. [Read more…]

Atlanta Ballet Presents “Twyla Tharp’s The Princess and the Goblin”

April 13, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

Atlanta Ballet performs "Twyla Tharp's The Princess and the Goblin." Photo by Kim Kenney. Dancers, from left to right: Peng-Yu Chen, Yoomi Kim, Alessa Rogers, Lisa Barrieau, Rachel Van Buskirk. — Atlanta Ballet performs “Twyla Tharp’s The Princess and the Goblin.” Photo by Kim Kenney. Dancers, from left to right: Peng-Yu Chen, Yoomi Kim, Alessa Rogers, Lisa Barrieau, Rachel Van Buskirk.

by Rachel Hellwig

There was once a little princess whose father was king over a great country full of mountains and valleys. – George MacDonald

A heroine’s quest to save her sisters from goblins comes to life through the choreography of the legendary Twyla Tharp as Atlanta Ballet brings The Princess and the Goblin to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre from April 15-17.

Created in 2012 for both Atlanta Ballet and Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The Princess and the Goblin takes its inspiration from George MacDonald’s 19th-century fantasy story of the same name.

“Princess Irene is the oldest daughter of a mostly absent father,” explains Alessa Rogers, who is performing the part. “When her two younger sisters and other children of the kingdom are kidnapped and taken to the underworld, Irene must find the strength within herself to rescue them. She is aided along the way by her friend Curdie and by a mysterious presence.”

No stranger to the role, Rogers performed as Princess Irene in Atlanta Ballet’s 2012 production. Originally cast as the understudy, she was put into the part right before a studio performance. “That was my first lead role ever and I will always have a soft spot for it,” says Rogers. “It’s wonderful to revisit it now after 5 years. I recognize the ways in which I’ve grown and changed as a dancer since its premiere. A lot of opportunities sprang from this ballet. It’s been a crazy, surreal ride but The Princess and the Goblin gave me so much. I will always be grateful for the experience and for Twyla for believing I could be a princess.”

John Welker will also revisit a role he performed in 2012–Princess Irene’s father, King Papa. “His self-centered ways inadvertently lead to the abduction of his daughters,” Welker explains. “He then goes on a desperate search to find them. They, however, are saved by a young man named Curdie, whom he dismissed earlier in the story as a lowlife. Through the innocence of his children and the grace of Curdie, King Papa experiences a transformation and realizes the beauty of family and life.”

Welker especially identifies with King Papa because of his real-life role as a parent. “I enjoy and relate to this character due to my experience of being a father to a frustrating and very adorable three year old,” he says. “Through my son’s eyes I get to experience being a child again, along with all the joy and wonder life holds.”

The cast of The Princess and the Goblin includes 13 students from the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education. Tharp explained to The New York Times in 2012, “My mission was to find movement [for the young performers], which they could really do that was not something they were straining to reach at […] But that would not just be running and skipping and hopping and chaos. First thing I did was to get them out of their ballet shoes and put them in street shoes. Next thing was: ‘Girls, get your hair out of the buns. Now let’s be who you are, and let’s figure out how you move.’ ”

Twyla Tharp’s The Princess and the Goblin is set to compositions by Franz Schubert arranged and orchestrated by Schubert scholar Richard Burke, as well as original music by Burke. The score will be performed live by the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JvoVpfC10E&nohtml5=False

Tickets start at $25. Purchase here or call 800-982-2787.

From Atlanta Ballet’s website:

“Run time is approximately 1 hour and 24 minutes. This program is performed without an intermission.”

Preview: Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker

December 5, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

Alessa Rogers and Brandon Nguyen as the Snow Queen and King in Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker. Photograph by Charlie McCullers. — Alessa Rogers and Brandon Nguyen as the Snow Queen and King. Photograph by Charlie McCullers.

by Rachel Hellwig

This year’s Nutcracker season is both an exciting and bittersweet time for Atlanta Ballet. It marks the 20th anniversary of artistic director John McFall’s version of the beloved holiday classic as well as his final Nutcracker with the company. After leading Atlanta Ballet since 1994, he will retire at the end of the 2015-2016 season.

Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker, which runs from December 11-27, will be performed at the historic Fox Theatre and accompanied by the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra led by principal guest conductor Gary Sheldon. The Georgia Youth Choir will sing during Act I’s Snow Scene

Atlanta Ballet’s Alessa Rogers, now in her ninth year performing as Marya (the production’s Clara/Marie equivalent) began portraying the part as a student. A couple of years later, McFall decided to change Marya into a role for a company dancer. “I think when he choreographed the updated Marya, he definitely considered his own feisty young daughters,” says Rogers, “He also took a lot of input from company dancers who were performing the role. We all bounced ideas off of one another. Atlanta Ballet has a very open and collaborative environment so we really molded the role together. But each Marya retains the right to tweak things and interpret the part in the way that makes the most sense to her.”

In McFall’s Nutcracker, Marya plays a more active role up than she does in other interpretations. “She has a lot more to do than stand around and open presents,” explains Rogers, “In the first act she has a bit of a flirtation with Drosselmeyer’s nephew. At the end of the battle scene, she takes the initiative to defeat the Rat King using a sword she steals from a rat.”

In that climatic scene, the Rat King’s costume increases his height to a towering eight feet and the Nutcracker wears a two-pound mask as he combats against him. “Dancing with the giant sword isn’t easy with a lot of people on stage,” says Miguel Montoya, who is debuting as the title character this year, “But those moments are still fun parts that make the scene more interesting and the role more challenging in a good way.”

Alessa Rogers at Marya and Rachel Van Buskirk as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Photograph by Charlie McCullers.

Also making a role debut this year is Yoomi Kim, who will be dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy. “This has been my dream role since I was a little kid,” she says, “I used to watch The Nutcracker with my parents during the Christmas season and I was fascinated by the magical Sugar Plum’s kingdom. Ever since I started dancing the role, my love for Sugar Plum has grown deeper.”

In Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker, the Sugar Plum Fairy dons an unconventional burgundy tutu and shares her iconic solo with Marya. “Sugar Plum is like a role model to Marya and that is illustrated through the choreography,” says Kim, “Each movement of the variation is mirrored by Marya, which makes for a very beautiful and special moment on stage between the two characters.”

The choreography for the variation of the Prince, the Sugar Plum Fairy’s dance partner, also has a unique twist in Atlanta Ballet’s version. “McFall grants us permission to make our own variation,” says Jacob Bush, who has been dancing the role of the Prince for six years, “You can challenge yourself. It’s fun!”

As with any production that’s presented annually, The Nutcracker offers its performers new challenges and opportunities for growth. How do dancers build upon roles they’ve revisited for many Nutcracker seasons? Bush focuses on enhancing movement quality and artistry. “I have been dancing with the same Sugar Plum Fairy, Tara Lee, for a while now,” he says, “Each year, we talk a lot about how we can finesse the movement so we are as calm as possible. I think that gives it the regal look we both want the characters to have.” For Rogers, it’s about dramatic content and recreating seasonal enchantment. “The challenge of doing any role for nearly a decade is keeping the interactions spontaneous,” she says, “Especially because Marya is a young girl, I have to remember the feeling of Christmas morning when I was a child–that effervescence, that joy and exuberance and sparkle. But Marya is such a joy-filled character and performing for those people in the audience who have never seen a ballet before–that is a magic that keeps me motivated.”

Tickets start at $25.00. Purchase here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ysb2elWK2E

Remember To Breathe: Stepping Up Your Stamina

July 22, 2015 by 4dancers

You can practice breathing techniques anywhere! Doing this has helped me in other pursuits like hiking mountains!

by Alessa Rogers

Effortless grace.

That is what people think of when they think of ballet. And that is what we strive to be, with our tutus and tiaras and sweat and…wait what? Yes, dancers sweat, and we also curse sometimes too. Ballet is hard work after all!

But–back to effortless grace.

Yes, that is what we are. At least- that is–until halfway through Tharp’s In the Upper Room or maybe David Parson’s Caught or the Don Quixote third act pas de deux, when we are gasping for air like a fish out of water, with a variation and a coda left to go (and don’t forget those pesky bows that are next to impossible after a three hour long ballet).

No one wants to be that dancer that is visibly out of breath and increasingly out of control, making the audience worry if they need to call a doctor. But dancers for the most part tend to forget about stamina, focusing instead on technique and shape and choreography and musicality–and even injury prevention. These are all very important to consider, of course, but if a dancer is too exhausted to get through a piece then technique just isn’t going to be useful. Actually, as a dancer gets more tired, technique gets sloppy, choreography becomes harder to learn, and it’s definitely the time when injuries happen.

So a few years ago I set out to consciously improve my stamina. It was mostly out of necessity; a high-profile world premiere was looming where I would be onstage for all but four minutes of the entire full-length, no intermissions, ballet (and those off-stage minutes were for stressful costume changes!). A lot of the work was running and jumping. The first time I ran through the full ballet in the studio I went home and passed out at about 7 o’clock. I knew I had to get myself in shape.

Wouldn’t it be nice if dancers had trainers the way professional sports stars and Olympics athletes do–with scientists, analysts, nutritionists and trainers at our disposal? But we don’t. We only have ourselves, and our acute sensitivity to our bodies, to decide what works for us individually and what doesn’t. We have only ourselves to maintain accountability, to customize a plan that works for us and turn our bodies into fine-tuned machines.

Fast forward a few years and I’d say my stamina is now one of my strengths as a dancer. Other dancers often note how when they are bent over and panting I am still standing up and smiling. None of what I do now is scientifically proven–but they are the practices I’ve discovered that work for me.

See for yourself if some of these work for you: [Read more…]

Becoming Juliette

January 28, 2015 by 4dancers

Some insight on being fully immersed in a role, creating a character, not comparing yourself to the past 400 years of Juliets, and kissing your co-workers…

Alessa Rogers as Juliette — Christian Clark and Alessa Rogers in Romeo et Juliette. Photo by Charlie McCullers.

by Alessa Rogers

“Let love drive you.” These are not the words of Shakespeare but of stager Giovanna Lorenzoni as she attempts to mold me into a Juliette Capulet worthy of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s stunning ballet. They are the words that have been driving me since I was first cast as Juliette in October 2013, through the intense rehearsal process that led to the first time Atlanta Ballet performed the ballet last year and now, as I prepare for an encore round of shows February 6-14. As I prepare for my second shot at what has become my favorite ballet, I reflect on the process, on remembering that opening night is just one night, and how the genius is in the details.

DIFFERENCES

For me, being cast as Juliette was a dream come true. But as is the case with most dreams, reality was a little different than I imagined. First of all, this version, which was choreographed in 1996 for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, is a departure from the classical versions I grew up with. This is a stripped down, more contemporary version. Third Act I am barefoot. There are no lavish sets, cumbersome period piece costumes, and nary a sword or a vial of potion to behold. Instead, the story is told through the movement and the musicality only. As such, every step is vitally important. Nothing is thrown away or meaningless. There is text in every gesture, tension is every moment of stillness.

Juliette herself is different too. She is older than she is normally portrayed, closer to woman than girl. She is fierce and fearless and knows a thing or two about the world. She knows herself and what she wants. She takes the lead in the budding romance with Romeo, demarcating their boundaries or lack thereof. The streak of mischief in this Juliette is part of the reason why I got this role in the first place. Early in the process one of the stagers from Monte-Carlo came upon me in the hallway, shoving a piece of cake into the mouth of one of the other dancers. That, she said, is exactly what Juliette would do. [Read more…]

Some insight on being fully immersed in a role, creating a character, not comparing yourself to the past 400 years of Juliets, and kissing your co-workers…

DIFFERENCES

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