(379) Evelyn Cisneros-Legate and Allison DeBona, of Ballet West Academy
Today on 'Conversations On Dance' we are joined by Evelyn Cisneros-Legate, director of the Ballet West Academy, and Allison DeBona, principal of the Ballet West Academy Park City location and founder of artÉmotion. Both women take us through how their careers as professional ballerinas impacted the work they do today as educators, how they are actively growing Ballet West's training programs and why Ballet West Academy is an ideal landing spot for students of all interest levels and abilities. If you're a parent or student looking for summer programs in the 2024 season, visit academy.balletwest.org.
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TRANSCRIPT
This transcript was generated automatically. It’s accuracy may vary.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:00:04]:
I'm Rebecca King Ferraro.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:00:05]:
And I'm Michael Sean Breeden, and you're listening to conversations on dance today. On conversations on dance, we are joined by Evelyn Cisneros-Legate, director of the Ballet West Academy, and Allison Debona, principal of the Ballet West Academy Park City location and founder of artÉmotion. Both women take us through how their career years as professional ballerinas impacted the work they do today as educators, how they are actively growing ballet west training programs, and why Ballet West Academy is an ideal landing spot for students of all interest levels and abilities. If you're a parent or student looking for summer programs in the 2024 season, visit academy ballywest.org. Good morning, Evelyn and Allie.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:00:50]:
Thank you both for joining us. We're so excited to hear about the work you're doing today, but we always love a little catch up moment. Allie, we haven't spoken to you on the podcast since like, I don't know, maybe the 10th episode or something. You were very early on.
Allison Debona [00:01:07]:
When we first started, I was so excited for you guys and I appreciated being on there.
Allison Debona [00:01:11]:
And so it's nice to see you guys again and to see how much.
Allison Debona [00:01:15]:
You'Ve done in the meantime. I'm always paying attention still to everything. So congratulations.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:01:21]:
Thank you. That's so nice.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:01:25]:
But we want to maybe hear a few of the things that have happened in your life, I don't know, in the past seven years. Let's just do the TLDR version.
Allison Debona [00:01:34]:
Well, I now have two babies.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:01:36]:
Congratulations.
Allison Debona [00:01:38]:
Thanks. I have almost five year old that he's going to turn five on the 13 December and then I just have a newborn. So a lot has changed for Rex and I. We both retired in 2022, so just last year, and now I am principal of the Ballywest Academy's Park City campus, which has been an awesome shift for us. Rex is up there as interim while I'm on maternity leave, but he was there working as operations manager all last.
Allison Debona [00:02:05]:
Year, so it just felt like the.
Allison Debona [00:02:07]:
Right thing for us. We've been at Bally west for 15 years. You guys know that artÉmotion has been involved with Ballet West since 2017, and it just felt right as our summer intensives had funneled kids into the ballet west year round program. It's just been a really nice transition for all of us, just being principal of the school to be able to speak even more in depth about what Ballet west academy offers year round. And so coming to our summer intensives has very much weight for when parents are investing.
Allison Debona [00:02:39]:
So I think it's been an easy transition for us.
Allison Debona [00:02:43]:
We were ready to get off the stage. It was hard our last year when Ajax was still a young guy and it was nutcracker season and 40 shows, and between sugar Plum and Snow Queen, we were like sled riding. And that's when we kind of looked.
Allison Debona [00:02:59]:
At each other and we're like, this.
Allison Debona [00:03:00]:
Isn't going to know the nap time that we all take between shows. Yeah, that was gone. It just got exhausting. And we knew we wanted to have another kid, too. And so, yeah, we're really happy. It's really nice to see you guys. Michael, I love seeing all the setting of ballets.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:03:23]:
Fingers crossed someday ballet west will do a peck piece and I'll.
Allison Debona [00:03:29]:
We were supposed to. And I know then I remember him coming to see us dance at the joys. It was a big. Then, you know, Adam was like, yes, he loves the company. We're going to do this. And then Covid happened.
Allison Debona [00:03:41]:
Right. That was the year of right then.
Allison Debona [00:03:45]:
So I'd love to see Ballywest do a pec piece. It would be really cool.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:03:51]:
Actually, I was going to stage that one, I guess, because it's not gossip. It's well over, but hopefully it comes back.
Allison Debona [00:04:00]:
Yeah, it's just that 2020 year threw some things off, but it's in the past, so, yeah, I'd love to see that happen. I'll be in the audience for that.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:04:10]:
I want to hear really quickly about artÉmotion, and how it is connected to Ballet West Academy, for those of.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:04:15]:
Our listeners who aren't totally sure about it. Yeah.
Allison Debona [00:04:19]:
So I started the company in 2014, actually, and Rex and I and a lot of important people who still work for us, actually, we were in Cleveland, Ohio, for, like, a two week summer intensive, and that came off a breaking point.
Allison Debona [00:04:33]:
I remember telling you guys, I said.
Allison Debona [00:04:35]:
You know what, I'm just going to put it out there. I don't have any money to start this, but I'm just going to announce it on social media. We filled a two week intensive and Adam came out right away. So he's been a part of these summer intensives since day. You know, at the time, Bally west was trying to get more touring on.
Allison Debona [00:04:52]:
The east coast, and the best way.
Allison Debona [00:04:56]:
For that to happen is to get families involved. So it's sort of like that was on our mind, and we talked to Adam about that in depth, and we're.
Allison Debona [00:05:02]:
Like, look, we're willing to start this.
Allison Debona [00:05:04]:
On the east coast. I'm from the east coast. Let's try this. So then in 2017, we decided to bring the choreographic workshop, which is 45 kids, into Salt Lake City, so away from the east coast, and it's worked out really well. And so the idea behind that was just to give kids an opportunity to be choreographed on like they're in a company. And it was just kind of an idea to make the Bally west program a little bit more competitive, because no one was really doing that at the.
Allison Debona [00:05:31]:
Time, although a lot of people are now doing it.
Allison Debona [00:05:35]:
But it's been an incredible feeder system for the trainee program and the PTD program. And then we are now overseeing the St. George summer intensive. So Cleveland was still happening, but then in 2020, they didn't really want kids on campus or in 2021. And so that now has moved down to St. George. And Adam had asked us to oversee that program. I think that was right before Evelyn started, or she was coming in right then and there, and there was a huge transition.
Allison Debona [00:06:07]:
So that's what we're overseeing now. And it's grown to, like, 130 kids.
Allison Debona [00:06:13]:
Wow.
Allison Debona [00:06:13]:
It's all really nice because Valley west, the downtown program, is enormous. It has high quality. I mean, everything about it is know Adam looks at trainees from that program, but we wanted to make sure we had a program for kids that really weren't ready for that yet, but that we still wanted to show that Valley west was invested in their futures. And so that's really what St. George has. You know, we see a lot of kids from St. George now at the downtown campus and in the downtown program. So it's really been an awesome thing to see families invest in ballet west, and I think that was the whole point.
Allison Debona [00:06:50]:
Right, Evelyn?
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:06:51]:
Yeah, it was, actually. Thank you, Allison. Yeah, I came on in August, and then the very next summer, it was like Cleveland was having trouble with their booking and shutting down and hosting art emotion. So it made absolute sense. We'd already made the connection with St. George, and so it made absolute sense to bring artemotion down into there, and it's just grown tremendously. It's such a wonderful venue, actually. It has everything very near, very supportive, and it culminates in the show down there, as our five week intensive does here, when we partner with the choreographic workshop.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:07:33]:
Evelyn, we're so happy to have you on, but since it's your first time and you've had such an illustrious career as a performer, we have to hear a little bit about that. So take us back a little bit and tell us about your experience performing at San Francisco ballet. Maybe how you initially became interested in the company and what your rise through the ranks was. Yeah.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:08:00]:
Wow. Well, you're going way back now.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:08:02]:
You want to go way back.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:08:05]:
Thank you for that. And I'm glad that both of you have had experience within the Bay Area. It was such a wonderful time for San Francisco ballet, really coming back on the map. It almost folded. I came in two years after they were out on the streets with tin cams, saved the ballet, and brought the ballet, really back into a successful path. It's so well supported in the Bay Area. I started there as an apprentice fresh out of high school, 1976, and had a wonderful 23 year career with San Francisco ballet. And, yeah, it was my home.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:08:40]:
Michael was my mentor. I had the opportunity to work with Lou Christensen, who is the third brother. Right. So full circle that now I'm at ballet west, and their vision, and it was just a glorious, glorious time. I had a career that was beyond my dreams or expectations. I'm so thankful and grateful for that. And I just feel that a sense of responsibility for that great career that I have or had to now pass on to the next generation, because I had an opportunity to work with the best people in the industry at the time and to share that with the youth growing up, and they're so hungry for it, and it's their, you know, I'm so blessed by being here with Ballet west and working with Adam, who has a vision and really does. All the directors of companies throughout the nation always talk about how their school should be a feeding ground for the company.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:09:43]:
Right. Adam actually hires people from the school. We have 75% of the dancers in the company came through the academy, so, I mean, that's a tremendous support, and I love that. And he is just an inspiration to work with. And we see that with our students, and we brought on incredible artists like Allison, like Rex, who have had a professional career, who know what it's like to be a professional dancer and are able to share things with our youth that others can't. Those are things, as you know, those are things we can't learn in school.
Allison Debona [00:10:22]:
Right.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:10:23]:
No matter how good a school is, having lived it is tremendous and gives you those great, enriched experiences to pass on to the youth today. And my faculty, my whole full time faculty here, everybody's worked as a professional dancer. So, yeah, it's really fun.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:10:43]:
When we had Adam on the podcast a few weeks ago, he was talking about that. That was one of his goals throughout his directorship would be to have this feeder from the school and to really have this umbrella that ballet west was under. And so it's so nice to then follow up with this conversation to kind of see how that's happening. But I wonder, too, I want to just kind of rewind quickly to after you retired, after 23 years at San Francisco Ballet, what were your intentions moving forward and how you wanted to stay within ballet, and then what led you, ultimately to ballet west?
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:11:19]:
Okay, thank you. So all growing up as a Mexican American, I was the first person of color when I first joined the company for a number of years. And so I always felt a responsibility to be that role model for those younger kids. When I was growing up, I had a picture of Maria Talchief on, my know, but that was about were I couldn't find anybody else with brown skin like me. So I was very aware that I could be that kind of role model for others. I also was dancing through the time where Abt was locked out. Joffrey almost folded. And so I felt a real passion for making sure that the art form that I dedicated my whole life to at that point didn't go away.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:12:04]:
So I felt very responsible for the art form and moving it forward. So I went from retiring from the stage to working in outreach with San Francisco Ballet. I was ballet education coordinator, and I did the student matinee performances. I would choreograph the little bar section and the Potaja examples, and then the company would perform, like, one act rodeo or something else like that. And then I would create study guides to go along with that. I created a program that was called Dance Education on tour so I could still travel with my husband, little baby, and we'd go into the communities and just instill a lifeblood of excitement. Invite those students that came to do workshops with us into the dress rehearsals, give them a short study guide to take home. And those performances sold out.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:13:03]:
And that was really wonderful. I'd always like teaching. When I was in fourth grade, I had a little ballet school in my garage over the summer for my friends, it's always been kind of a part of my life. So I was able to do ballet education with him, ballet for seven years. And then we moved. My husband, Stephen McGate, and I moved to southern California while he finished up his doctorate studies to be a chiropractor. Then we were invited to Boston Ballet, where I started the North Shore studio there and built that up for Boston Ballet school. And then I moved to Albuquerque, new Mexico, because my husband hated being back in the snow, and we wanted closer to family.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:13:49]:
And by then, we had two children and we lived in Albuquerque. I worked with NDI for seven years, and then Adam called me and was like, no, I want you to come and direct my. So he made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:14:05]:
So back to the snow you went.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:14:09]:
But less snow.
Allison Debona [00:14:10]:
Less snow.
Allison Debona [00:14:13]:
Yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:14:14]:
Ali, I'm wondering if you similar to, like, did you always have aspirations once you retired? Maybe things fell into place pretty clearly. But think about when you were younger. Did you always know that you were going to stay in the field and help the next generation?
Allison Debona [00:14:34]:
Yes and no. I actually had quit ballet completely for quite some time. So, like, eigth grade until almost my senior year, I decided I wanted to be normal. I was a cheerleader, I was on drill team. I don't know, I think I'd gotten burnout. I was one of those crazy young people, like we all were. I was like six or seven years old. And at ballet from four until 09:00 p.m.
Allison Debona [00:15:02]:
Because I just was obsessed.
Allison Debona [00:15:04]:
I'm sure we all were. We see that with anyone who's really come professional. You look back at the time commitment we've all made. And then my mom was due to have a baby and I was due.
Allison Debona [00:15:13]:
To go to sab and I said.
Allison Debona [00:15:15]:
I wanted to be home when this baby was born. It was my little sister. I had brothers my whole life, and this was 14 years later. And I just remember saying, like, I.
Allison Debona [00:15:24]:
Don'T want to dance anymore.
Allison Debona [00:15:27]:
Big mistake. So I end up coming back and for some reason, I don't know if it's just like the oldest child thing. I've always just been very nurturing to.
Allison Debona [00:15:37]:
People and just always wanted to help people.
Allison Debona [00:15:40]:
And then I went to college. I ended up going to Indiana because I had taken so much time off.
Allison Debona [00:15:45]:
I don't think my mom really believed.
Allison Debona [00:15:47]:
That I wanted to be professional. And it was probably extremely unlikely, like, most people are taking that much time off. So I went to Indiana and they actually required us to teach from three year olds all the way up to elective students. So you had some people who were in their master's program, doctorate programs, who are like 35, 40. So that's actually where my adult teaching passion came in. That was like 20 some years ago. So that's really where it started, was I was teaching babies on Saturday mornings, three year olds, and then at night at 08:00 p.m. Teaching the adults.
Allison Debona [00:16:22]:
And so I had so much experience just in those four years. And then I spent one year at PBT, at their graduate program.
Allison Debona [00:16:31]:
I was finishing my degree, and I.
Allison Debona [00:16:33]:
Was taking open classes down there.
Allison Debona [00:16:35]:
And Bob Vickery, who was the company.
Allison Debona [00:16:38]:
Manager, was like, excuse me, who are you? What are you doing with your life? And I was like, well, I'm in college.
Allison Debona [00:16:44]:
I have one more year left, and.
Allison Debona [00:16:46]:
I'm supposed to go back on campus. He's like, no, you need to be at PBT. So I spent a year there, finished my degree online, but then was teaching at PBT in the young. You know, I just fell in love with.
Allison Debona [00:17:00]:
I.
Allison Debona [00:17:01]:
For some reason, especially up in Park City, I'm feeling more connected to the young people.
Allison Debona [00:17:06]:
And I think that's because I have young babies.
Allison Debona [00:17:09]:
And I see how hard it is to navigate that age and how important it is that they get the quality that we all really need in order to become professional. But we're having a lot of fun with all the.
Allison Debona [00:17:23]:
Yeah, I just. I don't know.
Allison Debona [00:17:25]:
There's something about, and we all, Evelyn could tell you, when you see these.
Allison Debona [00:17:29]:
Kids succeed, it's just like, what do.
Allison Debona [00:17:32]:
You have a career for?
Allison Debona [00:17:33]:
Because it ends so early, relatively, and.
Allison Debona [00:17:37]:
It'S like, how is it supposed to continue? And this is the only way. It's like, in our art form, it.
Allison Debona [00:17:44]:
Is struggling in some ways to keep.
Allison Debona [00:17:47]:
Relevant, but there's always something that we can give. So how I try to relate to families all the time, especially who are fighting for their incomes, this activity, that activity, it's like, why ballet? And it's like, it's not just ballet. It's not just the passion of the art form. But how can we make sure that these kids are serviced? So if they don't want to do ballet, the investment is real. For know, I think that comes from my college background as well.
Allison Debona [00:18:13]:
Just seeing the other side of.
Allison Debona [00:18:15]:
So, you know, in Park City, it's a really unique community.
Allison Debona [00:18:19]:
These are people who are important people.
Allison Debona [00:18:22]:
I'll just say it, that know they have really high ranking jobs and huge corporations or ceos of this company, and it's like they're very busy. So I made sure to make sure that we were developing things up there that would speak more highly to them. So we do have a college program in Park City where I bring in colleges every year. Because you're like, if you're not wanting to be professional, don't quit.
Allison Debona [00:18:47]:
Because on a resume when you've been.
Allison Debona [00:18:49]:
Dedicated to one thing for that long.
Allison Debona [00:18:53]:
That looks really good when you're applying to school. So I don't know.
Allison Debona [00:19:00]:
I just always loved helping these kids.
Allison Debona [00:19:02]:
And just seeing their faces and when.
Allison Debona [00:19:04]:
They accomplish amazing things has been really.
Allison Debona [00:19:07]:
Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:19:10]:
I just wanted to add on top of that and layer on what Allison had said in that the whole academy want to raise the best humans. Right, because we know that most of them aren't going to go on to be professional dancers, but we're empowering them with that self confidence and the ability to focus on something until they finish a project, to work well with others, to be confident and have wonderful self esteem. So all of those things are things that we work on with our students all the way through, so they can be the best human beings that you want to hire for any job.
Allison Debona [00:19:48]:
And what I also know, Evelyn, you.
Allison Debona [00:19:51]:
Can add something to this, but this is how I look at the academy and the state that it is now, because we do have four campuses which are not too close but not too far away from each other, is that there's something for every level of dedication. At Balley West Academy, which I do think is unique from other schools, you often lose those kids that when they get to a certain age, like I did, it was like I either had to quit because there wasn't something part time to keep that alive. And I feel like at Ballywest Academy, between all four campuses, there are opportunities for dancers at different commitment levels and a huge adult program, so people who want to come back to ballet at every single campus. And so I think that speaks highly to the people who are in charge of the school and to Adam, because he's an amazing person, where he's open to anybody's ideas, and if they make sense to him and he sees a goal behind it that makes sense or that he's passionate about, he's always game for it. I don't feel like he ever steps on anyone's toes, really, when trying to build new programming at the school. And I've seen that personally just at the Park City campus going from, I think we had, what, 70 kids when we first started, and now we've over doubled it in just a year.
Allison Debona [00:21:14]:
And so it's just really cool stuff.
Allison Debona [00:21:17]:
And I'm not saying we have Evelyn and Sarah, all women who have families. I do think that that has something.
Allison Debona [00:21:25]:
To do with it because, I don't know. We understand the commitment of lifestyle.
Allison Debona [00:21:31]:
Right, Evelyn? You know, it's hard. It's like, how can we help a family who can't drive around? Well, you know what? Then there's this.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:21:40]:
Yeah, I think that's such an interesting point that I don't know, I guess I hadn't really thought about. You just presume that most academies attached to a company that's the end game is that we're building. Ostensibly these students can get hired in the company and then the others. It's like, well, whatever happens, happens. But that balance between people who do it recreationally and people who are diehard professionals, that's just a huge spectrum. And I feel like it tends to fall one or the other. You either have dolly dinkles that are like, we're just here to do this because it's basically babysitting. And then you have people that are very serious.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:22:22]:
So filling out that middle ground a little bit sounds like just such a great option for so many kids that otherwise would have probably not wanted to do either.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:22:32]:
Yeah, right. And they can feel fulfilled and they can get the experience and the joy from the movement without having to commit six days a week, 20 hours a week.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:22:46]:
You know what's interesting? It's making me think of a studio I taught at one time. The artistic director said to me, well, we don't have to be that serious with these kids. They're not going to be professionals. And to me that just felt so sad because I was like, I know that and they know that and that's fine, but I think they still want to learn the right way to do it. They're here for a reason. And just because they might not see this as their career path, there's so many other ways they can be involved in the arts, too, and learn an appreciation for it. And so I wonder what you would say to maybe even a parent that's like, well, they're not going to be a professional.
Allison Debona [00:23:21]:
You know, I always bring up my brother who's now working at ballet west, too, in multiple facets. But he was a musical theater artist who took ballet and he had booked so many more shows because he knew.
Allison Debona [00:23:31]:
How to do ballet.
Allison Debona [00:23:33]:
And so that's an important thing, too.
Allison Debona [00:23:36]:
It's like if you're in this route, this actually services you because they come.
Allison Debona [00:23:42]:
Few and far between. And he knew how to partner, right? Relatively. Not of like a professional ballet dancer, but he knew how to handle a young lady properly without killing. So I don't know.
Allison Debona [00:23:57]:
Yeah, it's just incredible to see how.
Allison Debona [00:24:00]:
Much the academy grow. I wanted to say this when Evelyn was talking because I was here the first year Adam came in, but the school was literally as big as needing.
Allison Debona [00:24:11]:
Just like one studio or two max.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:24:15]:
That is crazy.
Allison Debona [00:24:17]:
Yeah.
Allison Debona [00:24:17]:
And now there are four campuses, five on the way.
Allison Debona [00:24:21]:
Wow.
Allison Debona [00:24:22]:
And you're just like holy crap. And that's only in 15 years.
Allison Debona [00:24:26]:
Yeah.
Allison Debona [00:24:27]:
Which is actually a really short amount of time. Yeah, absolutely.
Allison Debona [00:24:32]:
So it's cool to see.
Allison Debona [00:24:35]:
Wow.
Allison Debona [00:24:36]:
Yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:24:37]:
Well, even though it's only November.
Allison Debona [00:24:41]:
It'S.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:24:42]:
Really crazy how fast this is all going to happen. And students and parents alike are going to be shifting gears towards thinking about summer programs. So we'd love to hear a little bit about what Ballywest is offering for summer programs and how people can get in touch with the academy and feel out what's going to be right for their student.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:25:05]:
We have an array of summer programs available. I would check our website, but we have our Valley center here in downtown Salt Lake City. Our summer intensive runs for five weeks from June 10 to July twelveth. The choreographic workshop with art emotion is from July 1 to the twelveth and that is more by audition. Just the upper level students will be able to participate in that. But we will be doing a showing this year from our regular three week and our five week ballet West Academy students. Then we have two weeks in St. George, as Allison had mentioned, that runs from July 22 to August 2.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:25:48]:
It's a two week program. It's a great opportunity. It's very performance oriented. So the students start working on repertory to perform at the end right away. Classes are great. We've brought in many students who have an extra opportunity to show their performance quality on stage and then are brought into the professional training division, which we hold here at the downtown campus for the fall. We are partnering this year. So partnerships is really the wave of the future.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:26:17]:
I feel very strongly about that. I think it's really difficult for any arts organization now to stand on its own. 2ft so the partnership with art emotion has been successful. We are starting a partnership with the next generation school in Tampa and that runs from June 17 to July 19. And that gives us really an east coast visibility which we haven't had before. So we're affiliated school with them for this summer going forward. We're also starting a relationship with the Hale Theater, which is a huge musical theater organization here in Utah. And so we're doing a two week intensive with them from July 15 to July 29 that will culminate in a performance at the hail theater stage.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:27:08]:
And then we're also doing a collaboration with Salt, which is a contemporary perform company here in Salt Lake City that will be August 19 through the 23rd. So we have a lot of options for a lot of students in many different capacities, different locations. So yeah, come check us out, check the website to get on. We will be starting our summer intensive audition tour in January. So that will run January and February. We will also have one here in Salt Lake City early January.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:27:42]:
And do those have to be in person, or do you guys have virtual options as well?
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:27:46]:
We have video options, so we also have the stipulations of what we'd like to see in a video presentation. And so you can have the opportunity to audition through video as well.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:27:59]:
Very good. It seems like the dates also are really good for this, where it could be kind of like, you could go to one summer course and then also another. It really is a great opportunity. And like, we're talking about people with different levels of commitment. That's also something available to them. I can tell from what you just presented.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:28:18]:
That's great. Yes, you're right.
Allison Debona [00:28:20]:
Can I also add that we have.
Allison Debona [00:28:22]:
Two young dancer summer intensives.
Allison Debona [00:28:25]:
So we have a two week for a ten to twelve, and then we have a one week that we just added this year for ten to twelve. That's one's in Park City and one's in Salt Lake.
Allison Debona [00:28:33]:
So that was something that's become very.
Allison Debona [00:28:36]:
Successful, too, with getting the youngsters in there who maybe aren't ready for a.
Allison Debona [00:28:41]:
Very long day.
Allison Debona [00:28:44]:
But are very dedicated. And like you said, they do actually hop around. So a lot of the young dancers will go to Park City for two weeks, take a week or so off, and then come to, you know, we've seen that very often. So it'll be cool to see how it matriculates this summer with so many opportunities.
Allison Debona [00:29:03]:
Pretty exciting.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:29:04]:
Yeah, that's really interesting. I think that's great because it's just going back to, circling back to what you were talking about, that different people have different needs, certainly, but also different desires. And you can kind of map out your own summer of how intense you want it to be. I mean, not to be too, like, well, when I was growing up, but I remember the only thing that we all did our five week programs, and then the only other thing you could do was Suzanne Farrell program would be in August. Otherwise you were just like, on your sofa until. Yeah, it was terrible.
Allison Debona [00:29:41]:
Well, you know, the other thing I.
Allison Debona [00:29:44]:
See and that I really like about how it all works out is there are definitely situations where you see a family being like, well, we have this family vacation planned this week. Can they come to the summer intensive for two weeks and then leave?
Allison Debona [00:29:57]:
And you're like, well, no, because it's.
Allison Debona [00:30:00]:
Important that you commit to the entire time. But instead of just saying, okay, that's not going to work out for you. It's like, well, actually, there's this program, and you can stay the whole time and still be seen by all the important faculty and staff. And Adam. Adam is present at every situation, and Evelyn is present at every situation.
Allison Debona [00:30:20]:
So it does get you seen for.
Allison Debona [00:30:22]:
The year round program, no matter where you end up, which I think is super important to parents. And even with the young dancer, it's like, okay, maybe you're too young to move across country, but here's your vision.
Allison Debona [00:30:33]:
In five years, your goal is to.
Allison Debona [00:30:36]:
Be at the downtown intensive and then become a PTD and then become a trainee. They were just at the Kennedy center, and a lot of those kids just performed with us. And then we saw them at. We actually had an audition on Sunday just while we were down there.
Allison Debona [00:30:51]:
Kind of took advantage of being at.
Allison Debona [00:30:53]:
The Kennedy center, and we saw a pretty good turnout. And I know it was super early.
Allison Debona [00:30:56]:
But.
Allison Debona [00:30:59]:
It all works.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:31:00]:
Yeah, got to get on. And also, I just want to circle back to some of those partnerships. We love next generation ballet. We've done interviews with them in the past, and Salt is an amazing organization. I think it's just so cool with next generation, you have this east coast outpost that connects you to a different part of the country. And then with Salt, you're having all this contemporary work that, again, in my generation, sometimes you find out too late. If you become so solely focused on classical ballet, which of course we love, then you might not, and maybe that's not working out. And you don't know that you have this other route that is going to suit your physicality and your artistic capabilities as well.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:31:50]:
So much better. So you're already giving your students all these other outlets and possibilities, and I think that's just very cool.
Allison Debona [00:31:57]:
Absolutely.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:31:58]:
That was part of our motivation, was to give those dancers that maybe won't have a classical ballet career. And yet we all know that companies now you have to be able to do everything. No company exists on solely classical ballet. And so I think contemporary work was kind of underserved, definitely in my generation, and that's what I don't want to see with this next generation. Improvisation is something that I really feel very strongly about. Our students need to learn how to do it, and so it's part of in our curriculum, because I was horrified by improvisation. Billy Forst, I said, okay, now improvise for a minute and a half, and I panic.
Allison Debona [00:32:42]:
Panic.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:32:42]:
And I never want our students to have to feel that way.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:32:46]:
That's so great. Michael and I talk about that all the time. There's nothing worse you can hear in an audition at. I thought panic.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:32:54]:
Well, yeah, but it's just like any other skill. Like, if it was something that we had grown up with, like, at the same time you're learning grand Allegro, that you get a little taste of that, then it's less horrifying. And instead you're 25 and someone's like, okay, now improv. And it's like, oh, I am choreographing this before the show, baby. Don't you think that.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:33:12]:
I'm wondering, for the pre professional student who's planning out right now where they're going to audition? And looking at that whole schedule, why should they add ballet west to their list for auditions?
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:33:30]:
I think ballet west has an incredible training ground. I mean, we care a lot about them here. They can come and they can do. We have hour and 45 minutes technique classes every day on top of that. Then they'll have a point class or a variations class or a potada. They all get potted. All the professional training division students get Potada at least once a week. Then we have a repertory.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:33:54]:
They do three performances every year. One contemporary performance, and a winter show and a summer show or a spring show. So we get character. We have an incredible character teacher. They get flamenco, of course, they get contemporary. That includes improvisation, conditioning. It's a great place to be and to train. And Ballet west has a great rep, and it's moving forward and expanding their productions every year.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:34:26]:
So also, living in Salt Lake City is a great place to live.
Allison Debona [00:34:33]:
Do you mind if I add a few things?
Michael Sean Breeden [00:34:34]:
Please, get in there.
Allison Debona [00:34:37]:
So I really want to stress again just how important it is that Adam is present so often in all of the summer intensives, and also his dedication to making sure that we all keep track of kids that he's very serious and interested in. So that's something that happens at Bally west. We have constant communication.
Allison Debona [00:34:56]:
Well, Adam saw this kid or this.
Allison Debona [00:34:59]:
Dancer at this competition, or at this master class, and then we track it and we make sure we go after them and say, hey, look, the director of the school is interested in you. And again, when you go back to investing in schools, if you do have a dancer who is very serious about ballet, what better situation to be in than one that is directly affiliated with a company of the magnitude that ballet west is, which is a top ten company.
Allison Debona [00:35:22]:
Now, I think you guys saw that data coming out.
Allison Debona [00:35:26]:
Ballet west is top ten in terms of budget, and its contract is incredible. I always talk about this.
Allison Debona [00:35:32]:
And you guys both know, like, agma wise, when you're pushing young kids towards a career.
Allison Debona [00:35:40]:
I'm very adamant after negotiating four Valley.
Allison Debona [00:35:43]:
West contracts, but also just seeing how.
Allison Debona [00:35:46]:
Important it is to make sure that these dancers are taken care of when they're in a professional company, because not all companies are the same. Looking at Ballywest actual contract is the one that most companies mirror their contracts.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:36:02]:
Like, we did that at MCB, I think. Yeah, I know you definitely read it. I feel like we corresponded about it.
Allison Debona [00:36:07]:
That's why I remember talking to you about it, because it was like, bally west is cutting edge in terms of what we've negotiated.
Allison Debona [00:36:14]:
And Bally west was an AGMA until.
Allison Debona [00:36:17]:
I think about 20 years ago. They were operating in their own accord. And then right before I came in, they made a huge push towards unionizing. But what's also unique is, from what I know, is that Adam's collaboration with.
Allison Debona [00:36:32]:
The dancers in terms of how that contract is actually put into mean.
Allison Debona [00:36:39]:
Of course, there are situations where you go back and forth, but he also.
Allison Debona [00:36:42]:
Was an AGMA rep, and so he.
Allison Debona [00:36:45]:
Really respects, you know, how Evelyn was saying earlier about the competitiveness of companies and where are their jobs. And when you get up and you move across the nation, like we all.
Allison Debona [00:36:59]:
Did, to a new city, how are.
Allison Debona [00:37:01]:
You actually investing in your life?
Allison Debona [00:37:03]:
And so one of the things, like.
Allison Debona [00:37:06]:
Also just being a mother had a baby while I was dancing, I'm like, how are you taken care of after you have a baby? Bally west is top of the line.
Allison Debona [00:37:13]:
There's paternity leave at Bally west. Wow.
Allison Debona [00:37:16]:
And I can't tell you how many parents I actually get feedback from. It's like, it's an inspiration for our daughters to come to a place where being a mother is so highly respected because we're so lucky. Evelyn and Sarah, amazing with all of us with families, and it's like, why not invest in a situation where your kid is seeing probably the best of.
Allison Debona [00:37:38]:
The best situations in terms, know, a.
Allison Debona [00:37:42]:
Job and what that means? And the rep is, like she said, incredible. I couldn't have dreamt about moving to Salt Lake City to dance.
Allison Debona [00:37:49]:
What I danced.
Allison Debona [00:37:52]:
Yeah.
Allison Debona [00:37:53]:
I just know coming to the summer.
Allison Debona [00:37:56]:
Intensive is really the best way to get here year round.
Allison Debona [00:37:59]:
And there's housing now. Yes.
Allison Debona [00:38:02]:
Which is the first year there's student housing. And so that's been amazing to see, too, that Evelyn and Sarah made that happen because it's been a dream of Valley west since I got into the company. I remember the board talking about it and to see it actually come to fruition has been incredible.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:38:20]:
It's amazing to see those students come in and they're all housed safely. And it's not far from the ballet. We've also been approved for our international student visas, and we're able to accept international students now, too, which is awesome.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:38:37]:
I love that you spoke to the company, too, because I do think that's an important thing for pre professional students to be thinking about. Like, why not? And also, when you're talking about the artistic director, Adam, tracking the dancers, that is not super common. I don't think. Especially.
Allison Debona [00:38:57]:
I don't hear about it or.
Allison Debona [00:38:58]:
See that very often where you're know.
Allison Debona [00:39:01]:
I mean, there are establishments like, look at Sab. You have to be at SAB in order to get into the company, obviously. But I think moving into one of the top ten companies in the nation, it's important that the school really does show that. And like she said, 75% of the.
Allison Debona [00:39:17]:
Students and probably more, they just maybe.
Allison Debona [00:39:20]:
Choose to go and dance somewhere else.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:39:22]:
Sure.
Allison Debona [00:39:23]:
Yeah. But Adam has a wide verse of.
Allison Debona [00:39:29]:
Individuals in the company, too. Obviously, it's always been known as the tall company. And yes, there are guys that were six, six in the company, my brother in law included. But I mean, that's not the case. It's not just that. It's from top to bottom. So if we can also make sure that that's known, too, because so often.
Allison Debona [00:39:47]:
It'S like, I don't know, my dancer's shorter.
Allison Debona [00:39:50]:
You're like, what does that mean? But that's not how Adam really operates. You see every kind of dancer at know. I don't think any one of us dance the.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:40:08]:
I mean, that connection between the company and the school, it's just such an integral part of the organization. That's how they should be. That makes sense. You are training the dancers of the future, and I love how involved Adam is. He's very involved.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:40:24]:
I love that this year is going on some of the summer intensive audition tours, so he'll actually be out on the tours, helping us choose dancers that he's interested in. He also teaches in the five week summer intensive here in Salt Lake. So, yeah, it's wonderful.
Allison Debona [00:40:45]:
Yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:40:45]:
So I guess just for the last know, we talked about how Valley west academy has grown from an organization where they needed one studio to house everyone. And now you have how many campuses?
Allison Debona [00:40:56]:
Four.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:40:57]:
Four campuses.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:41:00]:
And we're working on another campus, and.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:41:03]:
We'Re working on a fifth. So, I mean, that's just incredible. Growth in such a short period of time. But what kind of growth are you guys hoping to see from the organization in the next 15 years? What would you, Allie, and Evelyn, love to see for the school?
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:41:20]:
I'd love to see pretty much more of the same. To see it not be sacrificed for our growth, for the quality that we provide for the students, that the students and the parents can know that by sending their students to ballet West Academy, they're sending them into a place that is more nurturing and supportive of the individual, their child, because there's nothing more precious than your children, and to send them somewhere to be trained at the highest level, that is my vision and my goal, that we not be compromised by the quality that we offer to them, by our size.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:41:59]:
Beautiful, Allison.
Allison Debona [00:42:02]:
I just would love for parents to know also what an amazing city Salt lake is and how much it's growing. When I first moved here, you could.
Allison Debona [00:42:11]:
Drive down the street from one place.
Allison Debona [00:42:13]:
To the other in 30 seconds. I think last year, 400,000 more people.
Allison Debona [00:42:18]:
Moved into Utah, and so it's an.
Allison Debona [00:42:21]:
Up and coming city. There's a lot to do. It's amazing. I think there's this idea that moving.
Allison Debona [00:42:26]:
To Salt Lake City isn't mainstream.
Allison Debona [00:42:29]:
Know a lot of the goals. I feel like in our day, we keep saying that, like, back in our day.
Allison Debona [00:42:34]:
Right, but.
Allison Debona [00:42:36]:
How many companies did you actually know about? Let's think about it.
Allison Debona [00:42:39]:
AbT, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Houston.
Allison Debona [00:42:44]:
Ballet, and Miami City Ballet.
Allison Debona [00:42:46]:
Right? Yeah.
Allison Debona [00:42:47]:
Then you heard about a Pennsylvania ballet. Then you heard about a ballet west. But it's like, that's in the past.
Allison Debona [00:42:54]:
And so if you want to have.
Allison Debona [00:42:56]:
Again, amazing rep, amazing contract, being able.
Allison Debona [00:42:59]:
To live on your pay, being in.
Allison Debona [00:43:01]:
A city that's on the verge of just, like, blowing up, this is the place to be. This is the place to send your dancer and to invest in, especially if.
Allison Debona [00:43:10]:
Being in a huge city kind of scares you.
Allison Debona [00:43:13]:
I feel like that was my mom. She's like, you want to move to New York City?
Allison Debona [00:43:16]:
What? And you're like.
Allison Debona [00:43:19]:
I just think that's important.
Allison Debona [00:43:20]:
I'd love to just see parents investing.
Allison Debona [00:43:23]:
In that as well whenever they're sending their kids to the school.
Allison Debona [00:43:27]:
But, yeah, I think that all of.
Allison Debona [00:43:28]:
The fruit of everyone's labor, like, with the housing, the visas, the opportunities to perform, we should say that our academy students are eligible to perform in all.
Allison Debona [00:43:39]:
Of the full lengths.
Allison Debona [00:43:41]:
And also the bally west, two productions which are on the docket as if they're a professional production, because they are really produced that way. But it's the Bally west two company and all of our own students. Now the Nutcracker is open to anyone in the community to audition because I think that was a Willem Christensen desire that Adam has upheld, for he wanted it to be a community situation, but still many of our students. But no matter what campus you're at, you have the ability to be on.
Allison Debona [00:44:09]:
Stage next to the principal. Yeah, I just would love to see.
Allison Debona [00:44:16]:
Like she said, more of the same.
Allison Debona [00:44:17]:
Just I'm excited to see what happens with what has been born in the.
Allison Debona [00:44:23]:
Past year, like the housing and the visas and just the curriculum that has.
Allison Debona [00:44:27]:
Grown insanely and just creating well rounded individuals. Beautiful. I love it.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:44:37]:
Well, thank you both so much for joining us. It was so fun to get a look into Ballet west academy. We hope that our young listeners will go to your website and audition to be a part of it. You sold know I'm going to be.
Allison Debona [00:44:56]:
Mean. When you go to the actual website, there is a drop down that's dedicated just to December intensive, and it lists every program that we have. It lists the audition tour, and it also lists what you're going to be seeing when you're placed in each level, which I think was something that was added just last year. But parents can go in and see what's expected from level ABCD, St. George Young dancer. So really, we just tried to make sure that parents were as educated as possible when deciding where to go to.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:45:29]:
All right, thank you. Thank you both so much for joining us.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate [00:45:32]:
Great. Well, thank you so much for having us.
Allison Debona [00:45:35]:
Thank you.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:45:35]:
It's such a pleasure.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:45:37]:
Thank you. Conversations on Dance is part of the acast creator network. For more information, visit conversationsondancepod.com.