Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre celebrates 65th season | Entertainment/Life

Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre has commemorated quite a few landmarks on its timeline in recent years.

The year 2022 marked 30 years since the first staging of “The Nutcracker — A Tale From the Bayou,” an original Louisiana rendition of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classic Christmas ballet.

In 2024, that ballet’s creators, Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews, retired after 48 years as the company’s co-artistic directors.

That led to the 2024-25 season with the company moving forward with new co-artistic directors Rebecca Acosta and Jonna Cox.

Entering it 65th year

Now the company has begun its 65th year by adding a fourth performance to its regular season.

Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre has turned 65 in the new season, and Acosta and Cox are moving forward into the next 65 years with plans to give company dancers more performance opportunities.

“We’ve started out the season with a new opportunity for our dancers by adding the new concert, ‘Lagniappe,’ to our season,” Cox said. “We also did this by trying a new venue in Baton Rouge — Baton Rouge Magnet High School’s auditorium — which wasn’t as costly and kept our tickets at very affordable prices.”

The added dance concert combined classical and contemporary works, along with a performance by guest artist and company alumnus Adrienne Simmons.

“But it was just a test this year to see how it goes,” Cox said. “It was a challenge for our dancers because we hit the ground running in August when we’re usually easing into ‘The Nutcracker.’ This year, we showed up in August in full throttle preparing for ‘Lagniappe.'”

Hundreds through the years

Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre was founded in 1960. Though they don’t have an exact number, Cox and Acosta agree that hundreds of dancers have danced as members of the company through the years.

Today, approximately 25 professional dancers make up the company’s membership, while 30 school-age dancers dance with the company’s Youth Ballet.

“Dancers are chosen by audition,” Acosta said. “And all dancers must reaudition for their spots every year. Ballet is definitely very unique, and it’s very specific. We usually start out with a really large Youth Ballet group, and then by the time they have reached the end of their time with BRBT, that number usually dwindles.”

“Being part of the ballet company is very time consuming,” Cox added. “It’s very rigorous. I don’t want to say, ‘Only if you survive,’ but in a way, that’s true because it’s just very demanding. It’s a commitment.”

Acosta and Cox speak from experience. They, along with Associate Artistic Director Christine Perkins, were once company members. Perkins’ daughter is now a member and is dancing the coveted part of the Sugar Plum Fairy in this year’s production of “The Nutcracker.”

Speaking of “The Nutcracker,” Acosta and Cox are planning to restage the production with the exact choreography and staging created by their predecessors. The dancers will be accompanied by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra Dec. 20-21 in the Raising Cane’s River Center Performing Arts Theater, 240 St. Louis St.

The show will be preceded by the Land of the Sweets Nutcracker Tea, a children’s event, at 2 p.m. Nov. 30, in the Lod Cook Alumni Center at LSU. Meanwhile, adult patrons will have a chance to attend a party and sit in on a preview performance at the Night at the Nutcracker fundraiser at 6 p.m. in the River Center Theater.

“They’ll be able to see our dress rehearsal, and hors d’oeuvres will be served,” Acosta said. “Tickets will be $150.”

Then comes the spring, when the company hosts the Houston Ballet II for two performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. March 28 at the Manship Theatre in the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St.

The season ends with a finale performance of “Rapunzel” at 7 p.m. April 17, in the River Center Theater, immediately followed by a 65th anniversary reception in a private home.

In between, the ballet company will participate in competitions and host summer dance intensive classes, while the Youth Ballet embarks on its annual summer library tour.

For the future 

Going forward, Acosta and Cox hope to continue hosting guest companies during their dance seasons.

“But we have to look at the cost and go from there,” Cox said.

They also hope to boost the ages of its dancers.

“There’s an ebb and flow in dance, in studio life,” Cox said. “In the ’90s, when Christine and I walked through these doors, we were part of an adult professional group. Right now, the bulk of our dancers are high school dancers. We don’t want to limit ourselves as being a high school level dance group.”

If Acosta and Cox need advice in how to achieve this goal, they don’t have to look far. Buchmann and Mathews are owners of the Dancers’ Workshop, where the ballet company meets and rehearses, and are often there.

“They’re still very much around,” Cox said. “And I feel like we’re definitely celebrating a milestone in bringing ballet to Baton Rouge.”