CITY BALLET THEATRE...We Grow Great Dancers!

Performance Calendar for 2007-2008 Season

The CBT Dance Company was formed in 1993 as the performance arm of the organization to provide the dancers who had reached advanced levels in their technique an opportunity to perform full-length concerts for an audience.  In the summer of 1993, the CBT Dance Company took the stage at the Washington Park Bandshell for its first performance.  The dancers surprised and delighted the audience with its professional performance standards and its wide range of dance styles and musical tastes.  "(I) paid nothing to see these extremely talented African-American, Asian, and Caucasian young people.  I’m sure they must have had hours and hours of practice in order to hone their performance to such perfection.  It was great!”  This first performance gave the dancers and the staff a sense of accomplishment and the drive to push forward. 

At its inception, the CBT Dance Company was made up of volunteer trained dancers between the ages of 11-25.  Today, the CBT Dance Company is a part-time professional adult company.  The training and experience of CBT Dance Company members has significantly improved over the past 5 years.  The increased caliber and qualifications of dancers, company instructors, and choreographers have contributed to an increased professionalism and quality of performance product.       

“An Ellington Holiday,” a long-thought-about project, came to fruition in December of 2004 and involved not only the CBT Dance Company, but also the CBT School and numerous guest dancers from the community. 

CBT Dance Company concerts contain an eclectic mix of choreographic works utilizing all styles of dance and movement set to a wide variety of musical styles.   CBT currently has two resident choreographers and searches out guest choreographers from other Milwaukee dance organizations.  In 2006, CBT opened up choreographic opportunities to CBT Dance Company members with the “Inside/Out” concert created to further cultivate artistic skills within the Company.  In addition, with the very small number of paid CBT Dance Company member, each concert features additional guest dancers from the community.  These collaborations and opportunities strengthen CBT’s relationships with Milwaukee area dance companies, the community, as well as its employed artists. 

CBT Dance Company members often enhance their pay, broaden their skill base, and further develop their artistry by taking on CBT School and Camp teaching positions as well as administrative positions in the office.  There are additional opportunities to conduct workshops, help with costumes, and volunteer in many different aspects and avenues of the organization.  To further cultivate the skill and artistry of CBT Dancers, CBT runs quarterly teacher and choreographer workshops.  Indirectly, CBT helps develop and train these young adults to explore alternate career avenues. 

Auditions

The CBT Dance Company holds auditions for new company members as well as trainees at least once per year, usually mid-May. 

Call (414) 933-9746 for further information.

To audition for the CBT Dance Company you must:

Company Member Bios (2006-2007 season)

Sarah Bromann began intensely training at the Central Wisconsin School of Ballet where she danced the roles of Snow Queen and Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker and in Wausau Dance Theatre’s Sleeping Beauty as Princess Aurora.  She has also traveled to Germany to perform in Darmstadt and Fulda.   This past spring she had the opportunity to intern at Walt Disney World in the Entertainment department.  She is recently in her third year at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance.  She would like to thank her family for their constant love and support.

Loretta Flanigan trained for five years in the Milwaukee Ballet School and two years at the North Carolina School of the Arts where she graduated with a Ballet major.  Loretta has performed corps and solo roles in several ballet classics such as Giselle, Paquita, La Bayadere, and Grand pas de Romantic while at the North Carolina School of the Arts.  Loretta joined the CBT Dance Company in the fall of 2003 and quickly became involved in the CBT School of Dance, Summer Youth Arts Camp, the office, and CBT’s workshop/residency program. 

Chelsea Parsons was born in Valders, Wisconsin.  At age four she began her training with Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance.  Her summer studies consist of Virginia School of the Arts, Joffery Midwest, Boston Ballet, Jazz World Dance Congress, Milwaukee Ballet, and Alba Dance International in Alba, Italy.  In summers 2002 and 2004, she attended Chicago National Ballet Forum receiving the scholarship both times for her division.  She also attended Virginia School of the Arts for her four years of high school in which she performed in Rueil Malmaison, France.  Chelsea has taught dance classes in Door County, Wisconsin; and is currently enjoying dance with City Ballet Theatre.

                                                                                                                                                                            Photo: Keith Knox

Jenny Weaver, a Massachusetts native, Jenny Weaver, began dancing with Shelley Ziebel and Kenneth Lipitz. Her later training included Boston Ballet and North Carolina School of the Arts. She graduated in 2005 with a BFA in dance from The Juilliard School in New York City. Currently a faculty member of the Milwaukee Ballet School, this is Jenny’s second season with City Ballet Theatre.

Photo: Keith Knox

Resident Choreographers

Karl von Rabenau (Resident Choreographer, Ballet Master) was raised in Duluth, Minnesota, He received his early dance training at the Duluth Ballet and continued his training at Minnesota Dance Theatre, the Boston Ballet School, and the San Francisco Ballet School.  Mr. von Rabenau danced for ten seasons as a soloist for the Milwaukee Ballet.  During his tenure with MBC he danced such roles as Iago in Jose Limon’s “The Moor’s Pavane”, and The Blue Bird Pas de Deux from Sleeping Beauty.  He also performed the lead roles in Choo San Goh’s “In The Glow of the Night” and “Unknown Territory” as well as several Balanchine roles.  Prior to dancing with MBC, Mr. von Rabenau danced for five seasons with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.  While dancing with PBT, he toured to Taipei, Taiwan, and fulfilled the dream to dance Balanchine’s Tarantella Pas De Deux.  He also performed the role of Lucentio in John Cranko’s “The Taming of the Shrew” amongst many other prominent roles. 

Mr. von Rabenau’s second passion in life is teaching ballet.  He has had the true pleasure to do this for the past 12 years throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States.  He is currently on staff at the Milwaukee Ballet School, Danceworks of Milwaukee, Milwaukee High School for the Arts and is the ballet master for City Ballet Theatre.  Mr. von Rabenau returns to Pennsylvania where he has been invited to teach at Point Park University for the past eight summers and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle, PA for the past twelve years.

As a choreographer, Mr. von Rabenau has had the pleasure to create works for CBT for the past three seasons.  He has also created works for Point Park University for the past 8 years and had works performed in the Regional Dance of America Festivals in both the Northeast by CPYB and Lake Erie Ballet School and Southeast regions by Classical Ballet of Memphis.  In 2002, Mr. von Rabenau had the pleasure to choreograph a pas de deux, “Speranza” for a Milwaukee Ballet presentation at the Milwaukee Art Museum.