Nashville Ballet is a professional ballet company in Tennessee. Founded in 1986 and based in Nashville, Tennessee , it presents a repertoire of classic and contemporary works by a variety of choreographers, including Artistic Director Paul Vasterling.
22-670: The company is composed of 32 professional dancers from around the world. NB2, Nashville Ballet's official second Company, prepares aspiring dancers for a mainstage career through intensive training and performance opportunities. Nashville Ballet presents five to seven mainstage performances each year. The company performs at and is the resident ballet company at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in downtown Nashville . Nashville Ballet has performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2017 and at
44-651: A home for their professional dancers, students, and administrative offices. Nick Mullikin who joined Nashville Ballet in 2015 was officially named Artistic Director, succeeding, Paul Vasterling who is a nationally acclaimed choreographer and former Nashville Ballet Company dancer and has been with the organization since 1988. There are thirty two full-time professional dancers, recruited through annual auditions. As of October, 2022: In 2022, Nashville Ballet named frequent guest conductor Ming Luke as Music Director and Principal Conducto Tennessee Performing Arts Center The Tennessee Performing Arts Center ( TPAC )
66-585: A large-scale performing arts facility developed in 1972, when Martha Rivers Ingram was appointed to the advisory board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. , and proposed a similar center for her home city of Nashville. Ingram's proposal involved a public-private partnership that would operate within a state-owned facility. Her idea was met with considerable resistance, but she persevered for eight years and throughout
88-498: A member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847. He owned Burlington Plantation in what is now Nashville, Tennessee. An investor in railroads and real estate, Elliston entered his horses in equestrian competitions. The former plantation property was later developed as modern-day Centennial Park , Vanderbilt University and West End Park. Elliston was born in 1815. His father, Joseph Thorpe Elliston ,
110-870: A program that grooms future audiences for TPAC performances. The endowment goal was $ 3.5 million, and they surpassed it, raising $ 5 million. Today, the endowment has grown to $ 20 million. Each year, more than 100,000 students, from kindergarten through 12th grade, are brought to Nashville for performances by the Nashville Ballet , the Nashville Opera, and the Nashville Repertory Theatre, which are all resident performing arts groups of TPAC and provide year-round programming. Other companies also use TPAC's facilities for plays, dance performances, concerts, and other cultural programs. The Tennessee Performing Arts Center Management Corporation
132-429: A proscenium opening of more than 57 feet by 36 feet. Up to 112 performers can be accommodated in 14 dressing rooms, including a star suite, two onstage quick change rooms, and high-capacity choral spaces. Expansive wings, fly space, rigging and catwalks provide for productions of every size. James K. Polk Theater is amazingly intimate for its size, with a seating capacity of 1,075 seats, including 44 pit seats. The stage
154-469: Is governed by a 27-member Board of Directors. Directors serve for a term of three years. The performance venues are named for the three Presidents of the United States who hailed from Tennessee : Andrew Jackson Hall is the largest of TPAC's multi-purpose theaters with a seating capacity of 2,472 seats, including 47 pit seats. The stage is more than 130 feet wide by 53 feet deep. The stage has
176-579: Is located in the James K. Polk Cultural Center at 505 Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee . It occupies a city block between 5th and 6th Avenues North and Deaderick and Union Streets. The cultural center adjoins the 18-story James K. Polk State Office Building . In the early 1800s, the site was where the fourth mayor of Nashville, Joseph T. Elliston , lived with his wife Louisa and their son William R. Elliston until they moved to Burlington , their plantation in mid-town Nashville. The idea for
198-446: Is more than 87 feet by 50 feet, with a proscenium opening of nearly 47 feet by 30 feet. The theater features spacious wings and expansive fly space. Up to 86 performers can be accommodated in 10 dressing rooms, including one quick change room and two high-capacity choral spaces. Andrew Johnson Theater is TPAC's smallest theater, ideal for adventurous and experimental art and entertainment. The 59' x 54' center open floor performing space
220-588: Is now 20th Avenue to a line covering part of Centennial Park , and from a line well within the Vanderbilt campus today to Charlotte Avenue ", as well as 350 acres "along what is now Murphey Road, including the Acklen Park [West End Park] area." It ran across what is today West End Avenue . Elliston and his wife Elizabeth arranged to build a new mansion in 1859 to replace his father's plantation house. Elliston continued to depend on slave labor to operate
242-408: Is surrounded by three sides with banks of theater seating. With seating up to 256 configurable seats, this theater can host a variety of seating arrangements. Wing and storage space adjoin the theater, which features a 22-foot catwalk. Two dressing rooms can accommodate up to 24 performers. Designed for live theater and intimate performances, Johnson Theater has hosted a variety of acoustic concerts, "in
SECTION 10
#1732801766744264-947: The Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY in 2018. The company has performed internationally in Basel , Switzerland, and Buenos Aires , Argentina. In the spring of 2022, the company will tour Paul Vasterling’s Lucy Negro Redux to Denver, Colorado , Santa Fe, New Mexico , Kansas City, Missouri , and Norfolk, Virginia . The company presents a variety of classical and contemporary works each season. Past repertory includes works by Salvatore Aiello, Jennifer Archibald, George Balanchine , Christopher Bruce , Val Caniparoli , Jiří Kylián , José Limón , Annabelle Lopez Ochoa , Christopher Stuart, Twyla Tharp , Christopher Wheeldon , and more. Nashville Ballet collaborates with musicians across all genres for live performances. Under
286-1051: The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad , and the Tennessee and Pacific Railroad . He was an investor in the Richland Turnpike Company in Nashville as well as municipal bonds for the city of Memphis, Tennessee . He was also a shareholder in the Union Bank, the Commercial Insurance Company, the Old Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company, and the New Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company. Elliston
308-567: The U.S. Elliston married Elizabeth Boddie. She was a granddaughter of his stepmother. They resided at the Burlington mansion, which they had built in 1859 to incorporate a house built by his father Joseph. Then within a 208-acre plantation, its former site is on what is today modern-day Elliston Place. Their children included a son Elijah Boddie Elliston and daughter Lizinska (see below). Their son Elijah Boddie Elliston (1841–1879) married Leonora née Chapman (1846–1899). Among their children
330-586: The leadership of Artistic Director Paul Vasterling, Nashville Ballet has commissioned 22 original scores for brand-new ballets. The Nashville Symphony accompanies each of Nashville Ballet’s classical productions. For contemporary works, they have worked with musicians such as Ben Folds , Maren Morris , Rayland Baxter , Louis York , Sugar + The Hi-Lows, Sheryl Crow , 10 Out of Tenn, Guy Clark , Shannon Sanders , and Lockeland Strings. Vasterling’s 2019 Lucy Negro Redux in collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens examined themes of otherness, equality, and self-worth; it
352-608: The plantation. During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the Union Army used the west wing of the Burlington mansion as a base, after it had occupied Nashville . Elliston had hid "the valuables of Nashville merchants" in his basement. After the war, Elliston was among several businessmen who called for the construction of a chapel in Lexington, Virginia, in honor of Stonewall Jackson . Elliston invested in
374-653: The round" performances, readings, lectures, and video shoots. TPAC also governs the War Memorial Auditorium (1,661 seats), a historic building that anchors the War Memorial Plaza, adjacent to Nashville's capitol building and across 6th Avenue from the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. William R. Elliston William R. Elliston (1815–1870) was an American planter, slaveholder and politician. He served as
396-591: The terms of three governors. The result is the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, a three-theater facility located beneath a state office building across the street from the Tennessee State Capitol . In 1980, TPAC opened as the state's premier theater venue. Among its operations, TPAC presents a series of touring Broadway shows and special engagements, and administers a comprehensive education program. Martha Rivers Ingram and her supporters also raised an endowment to defray operating losses and to fund
418-575: Was William R. Elliston (1872–1909), named for his grandfather. He married Selene Harding Jackson, a daughter of General William Hicks Jackson . The younger Elliston was active in competing in trap shooting, with tournaments being held at private sporting clubs. Their daughter Lizinska married Edward Buford, a Confederate veteran, in November 1875. They had five children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Edward Buford III. Elliston died in 1870. His and Harding-Jackson descendants lived in
440-487: Was a horsebreeder, and he entered his stallions in equestrian competitions such as the ones held by the Tennessee Agricultural and Mechanical Association, on whose board he served until 1870. His avocation was sport shooting ; he was an officer in Nashville's Belle Meade Gun Club , and participated in many pigeon-shooting competitions. At one time he represented a rifle company in tournaments across
462-639: Was a silversmith and planter who served as the fourth mayor of Nashville from 1814 to 1817. The young Elliston grew up on Sixth Avenue in Downtown Nashville. In the twentieth century, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center was built on this site. Elliston was a member of the Whig Party . He was elected and served one term as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847. Elliston inherited Burlington Plantation from his father in 1856. The land included 208 acres in "what
SECTION 20
#1732801766744484-610: Was dubbed a “Nashville miracle” by The New York Times . School of Nashville Ballet provides dance education for children, youth, and adults for ages 2–70. The school aims to focus on development, inclusivity, and excellence in dance by teaching the fundamental foundation of classical ballet. The Community Engagement Program brings arts education to more than 50,000 individuals each year. The company visits schools, libraries, parks and community centers to introduce new audiences to dance. The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet currently serves as
#743256