2019–2020 SEASON Page 13 Message from the President Paul Helfrich, President & CEO, Dayton Performing Arts Alliance Welcome to the Schuster Center and Dayton Ballet’s presentation of The Nutcracker! We’re glad you’re here. The holiday season is always a busy time for the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, and I want to make sure that you don’t miss any of it. We’re excited to be offering these performances of Dayton Ballet’s The Nutcracker with the sensational Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and we’re also looking forward to a special presentation of the wonderful jazz music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” with the Jim Martinez Quartet on December 28. Attending The Nutcracker with family and friends is a cherished holiday tradition. Other December traditions include the Philharmonic’s presentation of Handel’s Messiah on December 18 and our New Year’s Eve concert on December 31. There’s also our free “Bach’s Lunch” concerts with the Carillon Brass; two performances at the Loft Theatre on Friday, December 13. Mainstage performances like The Nutcracker are some of our most visible offerings, but equally important performances take place in classrooms all around the Miami Valley. Over 70,000 young people in the Miami Valley benefited from DPAA education programs in the past year, including the Dayton Ballet School, Philharmonic Ensembles, Opera on the Road, Q the Music, Young People’s and Magic Carpet Concerts, ArtsConnect, and the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Youth Strings, and Junior Strings. Those programs are made possible through the support of generous contributors to our Annual Fund Campaign. Ticket sales and other fee-for-service income cover only 40% of DPAA’s annual expenses. That means the other 60% is contributed by our donors, and without them, we simply could not exist. We are very grateful to our many loyal donors who take a stand every year to keep the performing arts healthy and thriving. We appreciate them very much! With the end of the 2019 tax year not too far in the future—or perhaps you’re already planning for 2020—we hope we may count on your support as well. If your name is not yet on the list of contributors found elsewhere in this program, I sincerely hope you’ll join me, Karen Russo Burke, Neal Gittleman, and many others who make a personal contribution to keep the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance strong and healthy. Whether it’s a glorious performance of a classic ballet or a classroom concert for schoolchildren, we couldn’t do it without the support of our loyal contributors. It is possible for you to designate your gift to support any one of the three Dayton Performing Arts Alliance art forms: Ballet, Opera, or Philharmonic, or to the DPAA as a whole. However you choose to make your gift, please accept my thanks in advance. And if you’ve already given, please consider an additional year-end gift; perhaps one earmarked specifically for education programs, or to honor Neal Gittleman’s 25th year in Dayton! I invite your comments on all aspects of your Dayton Ballet experience and your visit to the Schuster Center, as well as your suggestions. If you have comments you wish to share or questions you wish to ask, please contact me at [email protected]. I wish you and yours the very happiest of holiday seasons! 2019–2020 SEASON Page 15 Page 16 DAYTON BALLET Message from the Board Chair John Beran, Chair, Dayton Performing Arts Alliance Board of Trustees Dear Members of the Greater Dayton Community, What is a community? Webster offers several definitions, including these: “a unified body of individuals who share a common characteristic or interest living together with a larger society; a body of persons having a common history or common social, economic and professional interests; an interacting population of various kinds of individuals in a common location.” It also embraces the notion of fellowship among the members of a community. I think all of these clearly apply to those of us who live, work and play in the greater Dayton community, especially when we reflect on the events over the past summer that so significantly impacted our community. It is with that in mind that I want to address the DPAA’s 2019–2020 Season of Titans. This season our musicians, dancers and singers are excited not only to demonstrate their talents through such performances as our Season Opening Spectacular: Haydn’s Creation, La Bohème, Phantom Dances, The Nutcracker, and our Masterworks concert series but to do so as members of the greater Dayton community. For you see, not only are our staff, artistic directors, more than 80 musicians, 19 dancers and chorus members dedicated to bringing the finest concerts, ballets and operas to the Miami Valley, they are all members of our community as well. There is nothing more rewarding to these artists than to perform before you, our fellow citizens. So not only does the DPAA bring you the best in classical music, rock and pops, ballet and opera, but it does so with your neighbors and friends making the DPAA your hometown source for the finest entertainment anywhere. As we celebrate 25 years with Neal Gittleman, our Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Artistic Director and Conductor, keep in mind the more than 200 professionals and volunteers who bring the finest classical performances and performing arts education to our community. Visit our website and get to know more about us and why we matter to Dayton. Now sit back, relax and enjoy another season of premier programming produced and performed by the other “Titans” of the stage, namely those individuals who collectively make up the community known as the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. With my sincere best wishes for an enjoyable season, 2019–2020 SEASON Page 17 Page 18 DAYTON BALLET Message from the Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke, Dayton Ballet Greetings and welcome to Dayton Ballet’s The Nutcracker! Here we are again, excited to bring you this truly magical experience. The tradition of going to see The Nutcracker is deeply rooted in so many people. Whether they have danced it as a child or have been going to see it since they were young, it has become a part of them, a constant reminder of the wonder of the holidays. I find it amazing that all over the world, so many people share this experience with each other and for a few short hours they are immersed in a story that is about love and beauty. My favorite part of our performances is seeing so many people in the Wintergarden excited to be here. Children and adults alike have a special energy about them, and it is wonderful to be a part of it. This year will be our fourth year to be able to have our Muttcracker out in the Wintergarden. My husband and I adopted a one-year-old beagle this August through one of the adoption agencies that we were lucky enough to have here through our Nutcracker performance run a few years ago. I am so happy that we can assist in getting these special animals to their forever homes! I would also like to acknowledge Melissa Ritchie, who is the artist behind all of the beautifully painted pointe shoes that you see out in the Wintergarden down by the Ballet Boutique. They are pointe shoes worn (and worn out!) by our professional dancers, made to be beautiful again. The proceeds go to our school and second ballet companies that consist of students aged 10 to 19. Lastly, if you have been coming to the ballet for a while and are familiar with our Cavalier Paul Gilliam, you will be happy to hear that Paul and Katy Bowlby, another company member, were married this past summer! We are so very happy for them and wish them well as Mr. and Mrs.! Thank you for spending part of your holiday with us, and have a safe and blessed New Year! Best, 2019–2020 SEASON Page 19 A Word About Dayton Ballet 1937–2019 Dayton Ballet’s mission is “…to educate, enlighten and Dayton Ballet performs at the historic Victoria Theatre entertain the widest audience possible…with the very and the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing best in performance, outreach and community service.” Arts Center. While performances are Dayton Ballet’s most high-profile events, its commitment Dayton Ballet had its beginning when Josephine to dance education, training and outreach remains Schwarz, affectionately called “Miss Jo,” along with at the core of its existence and develops future her sister Hermene, opened The Schwarz School audiences. The Dayton Ballet School (including the of Dance in 1927. “Miss Hermene” ran the school Downtown and the Rec West studios), Dayton while Miss Jo left Dayton to study at the School of Ballet II pre-professional training and performing American Ballet. Unfortunately Miss Jo suffered a company and its association with the local Muse career-ending injury that forced her to return to Dayton. Machine provide outreach to young people in the Miami Valley community. The Non-Profit In May 1938, Miss Jo and Miss Hermene gathered Partners Program allows Dayton Ballet to work together the school’s finest dancers, named the troupe with community agencies assisting special The Experimental Group for Young Dancers and populations to distribute nearly 1,000 tickets to staged a performance at the Dayton Art Institute. youth at risk, senior citizens, handicapped or Renamed the Dayton Civic Ballet in 1958, the dance terminally ill individuals and military families to company was recognized as a not-for-profit, tax- share the joy of ballet performance.