Performances

Wisperfal, October 2010
Our first Lobero Theatre residency took place over three days in October, 2010, performed free of charge for over 1300 school children from Santa Barbara. Two works by Carrie Diamond were created especially for this residency: Wisperfal, a ballet inspired by Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, choreographed to music by Eric Valinsky, also inspired by Vivaldi, and Haringduet, a duet choregraphed to music by Daniel Levitan. A community performance on Wednesday, October 20, featured the two works, a demonstration by third grade participants of Moving To Learn from the Roosevelt School, and a tribute to our late board member, James Buchanan.

A New York Perspective, March 2008
Running for three days at Center Stage Theater, Ballet Santa Barbara's Fifth Season was an evening of works originally presented in New York mostly by the New American Ballet Ensemble. They included the West Coast premiere of Carrie Diamond's Concerto Allegro, set to Prokofiev, Diamond's Serenade, Diamond's Sueños Castellanos Lizabeth Skalski's Midnight Tangle, and Benjamin Harkarvy's Premonition. The performance of included guest artists Carlos Fittante and Robin Gilbert Campos, two of the original dancers in the New American Ballet Ensemble. Fittante recreated his original role in Premonition and Gilbert Campos, her original role in Sueños Castellanos. The duo also performed in Fittante's duet, Eden.

Les Petits Ballets Santa Barbara, September 2007
Ballet Santa Barbara's Fourth Season, at Center Stage Theater, featured four works including three world premieres and a West Coast premiere. The world premieres included Carrie Diamond's Eternity, Desire, and Other Predicaments set to music by José-Luis Greco, Brian Carey Chung's Ah, Love! Let Us Be True to One Another to Fauré songs sung live by Stephanie Sivers, and Lizabeth Skalski's Rendezvous au jardin, to a Mozart flute quartet, also performed live. Carlos Fittante presented the West Coast premiere of Wayang Blues, a theatrical duet with puppets to Etta James. Interspersed through the program were three solo variations based on Ravel's Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn, each arranged by Eric Valinsky for a different combination of instruments: one was choreographed by Skalski, one by Chung, and one in collaboration by Diamond and Fittante.

Fandango and Other Fantasies, March 2007
Ballet Santa Barbara's Third Season, at Center Stage Theater, featured guest artists Carlos Fittante and Aida Amirkhanian with a company of seven dancers, all from Santa Barbara. The two-day run included the world premiere of Remember Me (Silent Voices), choregraphed by Susan Shaberman to music by Benjamin Lees, performed live, and West coast premieres of Fittante's solo Fandango Fantasy and Carrie Diamond's Serenade. Rounding out the program were Horwitz's Slowdance, Diamond's New Step Rag, and Persevere, a solo by Aida Amirkhanian.

Second Season, November 2006
Featuring returning guest artists Carlos Fittante and Juliana Bertelsen, the two-day run at the Marjorie Luke Theater included seven local dancers. World Premieres included Down Town Time, a semi-improvisational work choregoraphed in collaboration by Carrie Diamond and Melinda Horwitz and Ms. Horwitz's Slowdance, both to music by Kenji Bunch. In addition, the season included West Coast premieres of Fittante's Baroque solo La Folia, Benjamin Harkarvy's Frames to music of music director Eric Valinsky, Carrie Diamond's Sueños Castellanos to music of De Falla and a reprise of Diamond's Terra Incognita with new costumes by Anne Bruice.

Debut Performance, March 2006
Featuring guest artists Carlos Fittante and Juliana Bertelsen, the two-day run at the Marjorie Luke Theater included six local dancers, two talented students, and the World Premiere of Terra Incognita by Carrie Diamond, performed to Chopin played by music director Eric Valinsky, as well as the West Coast premieres of The Triumph of Terpsichore (Buxtehude arranged by David Noon) and New Step Rag by Diamond (music composed and performed by Valinksy), Midnight Tangle by Lizabeth Skalski, Amantes by Carlos Fittante, and Premonition by Benjamin Harkarvy. The performance was presented in memory of Helen Valinsky, Leal Anne Mertes and Benjamin Harkarvy