S.L. Ballet Company to make debut

This week, the Salt Lake City Ballet Company will present its debut performance.

The company, which is the performance branch of the Salt Lake City Ballet Conservatory, features dancers ages 14-20, and artistic director and conservatory headmaster Cristobal Marquez said he looks forward to introducing Salt Lake City Ballet Company to the world.

"I had waited a year and looked at the dancers we had in the conservatory before making any decisions for the company," Marquez said. "We decided to make the company a 'pre-professional' company that would give the dancers a taste of what a real company is like.

"That way the dancers can make decisions based on their experiences here to see if they would like to continue to dance in a professional company."

There are 24 dancers from the ballet conservatory in the company. "It is amazing how much talent and potential these young dancers have, Marquez said. "There is a lot of devotion from the parents as well. And it's up to us as a conservatory and company to refine and polish the dancers technique and style."

Marquez said his philosophy on technique is like school.

"Dancers need technique to dance, but do not learn dance to do technique," he said. "The production is an addition to the training these selected dancers experience in class. We don't just start rehearsing for a production and call it a class. We have class and then we have rehearsals."

The production, which is an evening of repertory under the title of "At Capacity," is geared to challenge the company dancers, he said. "The pieces we have chosen are out of the dancers' comfort zone. And that was one of the goals for me to do. I wanted to help these dancers develop."

"At Capacity" will include Marquez's own "Estudios en Etudes," which is his nod to Harald Lander's "Etudes."

"This work is a way for us to show the audience what we do in class," Marquez said. "It will show audiences what the dancers can do and introduce the audience to ballet technique."

The dancers will also perform excerpts of some famous classical standards such as "Don Quixote," "Le Corsaire," "Carmen" and "Romeo and Juliet."

"We had to do excerpts because if we did the full-length ballets, our production would be at least 10 hours long," Marquez said with a laugh. "Still, we chose these works because they were not only exciting, but they give the dancers a feel of what it is like to really dance a role. It's not just doing steps, but it is actually getting into and interpreting a role. And they not only dance as individuals, but also learn how to dance as an ensemble."

In addition, the program, which will run approximately 1½ hours, will include new works by company choreographer Kassandra Taylor and conservatory faculty member Kea Kapahua.