A pale pink ballet slipper touches the floor, and the performance begins.
With movements shifting from simple to complex and back, the dancers put a story in place with each pas de bourrée, plié, and pirouette.
This is the scene of the Idaho Regional Ballet’s (IRB) “A Dance Collective.” The dancers take the stage each year as part of their spring performance. For 2024, that will be at 7 P.M. March 9 at the Boise State University Special Events Center (1800 W. University Drive, Boise).
“Our spring concert truly showcases the talent of our young dancers,” IRB Artistic Director Liz Keller said. “IRB is Idaho's only pre-professional ballet company.”
While the company performs at multiple venues, the nonprofit dance company calls the Eagle Performing Arts Center home. As part of its mission, IRB aims to promote the art of dance and provide excellence in training for its company members, provide funding and support to enable performing opportunities that enrich the education of their dancers and the community, and to provide the opportunity to work with invited guest teachers and choreographers.
“All of our IRB dancers take their classical ballet technique, pointe, and contemporary classes at Eagle Performing Arts Center,” Keller said. “(They) train anywhere from 15-24 hours a week.”
The dancers, who range in age from 11-18, are divided into senior and junior companies, with additional dancers on board as trainees and apprentices.
“Our dancers are passionately dedicated to the art of dance and their craft,” Keller said.
You’ll be able to see that passion on display as IRB takes on excerpts from Act II of “Swan Lake,” new works by Keller, Sayoko Knode, and Lydia Sakolsky-Basquill; and emerging choreography by five of IRB’s student choreographers.
IRB will also be joined by Mid-Columbia Ballet from Richland, Washington. Mid-Columbia and IRB are both members of The Ballet Alliance, an association of pre-professional companies.
Tickets are available for “A Dance Collective” and all IRB performances at idahoregionalballet.com.
"Our spring concert truly showcases the talent of our young dancers!"
Lisa Keller