FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                Contact

January 3, 2005                                                                                    Cindy Reynolds

                                                                                                                Communications Manager

                                                                                                                (714) 541-8314, ext. 19

Saint Joseph Ballet to Perform at REDCAT

                Santa Ana, Calif. (January 3, 2005) - Saint Joseph Ballet and the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, REDCAT, will present three performances danced by 39 Saint Joseph Ballet students and alumni on January 13, 14 and 15 REDCAT in Los Angeles.  This production is sponsored by JPMorgan Private Bank.

                “We’re so happy to have an opportunity to bring this exhilarating performance to new audiences,” said Beth Burns, Saint Joseph Ballet’s Founder and Artistic Director.  “Saint Joseph Ballet has many friends and supporters in Los Angeles.  We’re thrilled to be able to share the model of Saint Joseph Ballet’s mission to a wider world”. 

            In conjunction with performances at REDCAT, Saint Joseph Ballet’s Connect with LA Community Initiative enables it to reach out and share its proven model of integrated dance, academic and family programs – programs that awaken creativity, nurture the soul, and inspire youth to aspire to build healthy futures.  Through generous support from the Boeing Company, this project allows Saint Joseph Ballet to partner with several Los Angeles area youth organizations to provide at-risk youth and families with complimentary tickets to see Saint Joseph Ballet perform at REDCAT.  Q&A sessions following performances will allow young audience members and their families to engage with Saint Joseph Ballet students and alumni. 

                Works performed will be Presence, an original piece by nationally recognized choreographer Mark Haim that was premiered by Saint Joseph Ballet in June 2004 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, and A Seed choreographed by Burns in 1990.

                Presence conveys a sense of happiness that transcends age.  The piece begins with conversations Haim had with students and parents about sounds, smells, tastes and sights that make them feel happy.  With these recorded conversations, composer Alan Terricciano created a sound collage that includes parts of  a Bach Magnificat as well as new composition featuring the Orange County Women’s Chorus.  Laugh out loud funny and tenderly personal, Presence builds in waves that fill the senses with happiness and joy.  Mark Haim has created works for many dance companies in the US, Europe and Asia including the Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet Frankfurt and the Limón Dance Company.  Haim is a Julliard School graduate and was named a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographers Fellow.

                A Seed is like a primal ritual.  This work features live percussion performed on indigenous and pre-Columbian instruments.  A Seed expresses a reverberating, irrepressible energy.  Saint Joseph Ballet alumni from New York, Seattle, New Orleans and Tucson re-unite to perform this signature work. 

Performances will take place Thursday, January 13, through Saturday, January 15, at 8:30 p.m.  Tickets are available through the REDCAT Box Office by calling 213-237-2800 on-line at www.redcat.org.   General Admission tickets are $24 and student tickets are $12.   

Founded in 1983, Saint Joseph Ballet has touched the lives of more than 50,000 youth with its mission to empower low-income youth from diverse backgrounds to strengthen self-esteem, self-discipline and a sense of accomplishment through dance, academic and family programs.  Saint Joseph Ballet offers students up to nine years of continuous and progressively challenging artistic, academic and family service programs.  Youth who enter Saint Joseph Ballet with few resources leave with the tools and skills to build a future for themselves, their families and their community.  Saint Joseph Ballet is based in Santa Ana, a city that tops the nation in urban hardship. 

                Saint Joseph Ballet contributes to the positive development of at-risk youth through quality dance training and performance opportunities.  Committed to high production standards and working with professional artists, Saint Joseph Ballet enables young people to engage passionately in the artistic process and to develop their own individual artistic voice.  As a model arts-for-youth program, Saint Joseph Ballet couples quality arts training with academic and family service programs to meet the critical developmental needs of low-income youth.  Within the dance program, respected professional artists bring a high level of experience and expectations to Saint Joseph Ballet’s students.  As these young artists are respected and expected to behave as professionals, they learn to view themselves and the world differently.

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