Instead of looking back, as one might do when celebrating a 25th anniversary, Ron Cunningham of the Sacramento Ballet seems always to look forward. The latest ballet company production is Modern Masters Proteges, in which Cunningham invited three former dancers with the Sacramento Ballet to create new works for it. Jared Nelson, a Yuba City native who, after a stint with the local company, has danced for about a dozen years with the Washington Ballet; Ilana Goldman, who danced several seasons in Sacramento before moving on to the Trey McIntyre Project and then to the University of Washington where she’s soon to graduate with an advanced degree; and Amy Seiwert, who became resident choreogr

Besides giving you the opportunity to sip an adult beverage and sit hardly more than inches from the dancers, the Sacramento Ballet's "Beer & Ballet" lets you see how creative these dancers are at making dance, not just doing it. All the pieces on the program are new works created by members of the troupe, and, for the most part, they show a solid command of dance vocabulary and syntax and a maturity of style. "Beer & Ballet" opens Saturday after a couple of recent private performances, one of which I saw for review. Of the 11 dances, there probably are half a dozen really fine ones. Take, for example, the wonderful duet "Scars Never Seen" created by Nicole Haskins and danced by Ava Ch

The Sacramento Ballet returned to the Mondavi Center at UC Davis on Thursday to star in one of only a handful of "events" in the inaugural season of the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre's Studio Dance Series. The program, "An Evening of Solos, Duets and Trios," will be repeated at 8 tonight (Friday) and Saturday. Co-artistic directors Ron Cunningham and Carinne Binda have assembled a program of 10 dances representative of the company's breadth and depth. They chose four dances choreographed by the brilliant George Balanchine (from among 18 in the company's repertory); one by former company member Nicole Haskins, currently dancing with the Washington Ballet and recently selected for the prestigi

The words "spectacle" and "spectacular" come from the same Latin root meaning "unusual, notable, entertaining, striking and sensational." Both terms apply to The Sacramento Ballet's current program, which opened Thursday and continues through Sunday at the Community Center Theater. The program features an unlikely pairing of George Balanchine's "Western Symphony," a celebratory hoe down that fuses American folk dance with classical ballet, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Sacramento Ballet co-artistic director Ron Cunningham's take on Shakespeare's comic fantasy. "Dream" is a spectacle, with its shimmering forest backdrop and colorful costumes, not to mention a stageful of children dresse

“Who Cares?,” George Balanchine’s lively interpretation of George Gershwin’s 1920s Broadway show tunes, is a perfect accompaniment to the Sacramento Ballet’s world premiere of Ron Cunningham’s “The Great Gatsby.” “Who Cares?” opens the program with some of Balanchine’s classic moves – precision ensemble dancing, elegant extensions and intricate patterning. The ballet company’s talented cast of dancers performs extremely well, bringing energy, humor and artistry to the choreography. Standouts include Christopher Nachtrab’s “Liza,” Amanda Peet’s “Fascinatin’ Rhythm,” Pett and Stefan Calka’s intimate “The Man I Love,” Alexandra Cunningham and Oliver-Paul Adams’ elegant “Embraceable You” and