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Organization
Ballet San Jose
Ballet San Jose is a resident company serving the Silicon Valley region. Founded in 1986, Ballet San Jose is the South Bay's premiere dance company. Under the artistic direction of Dennis Nahat, the company has evolved into one of the nation’s largest classical ballet companies. A resident company of 40 dancers, Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley includes dancers from Austria, Cuba, Japan, France, Argentina, Vietnam, Denmark, and the United States. Their diversity is further reflected in the company's broad repertoire, from the holiday classic The Nutcracker to the contemporary Blue Suede Shoes.
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Contact Info
Ballet San Jose
P.O. Box 1666
San Jose, CA 95109-1666Phone: 408-288-2820
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Upcoming Events
11/20/08-
11/23/08The Toreador
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts11/22/08 Ballet By Day - An Introduction for Children
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts12/11/08 The Nutcracker Opening Night Celebration
Sainte Claire Hotel12/11/08-
12/28/08The Nutcracker
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts12/13/08-
12/23/08The Nutcracker High Teas
Sainte Claire Hotel12/13/08-
12/27/08The Nutcracker - Children's Matinees
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts02/26/09-
03/01/09Hidden Talents - An Evening of Premieres
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts04/02/09-
04/05/09A Midsummer Night's Dream
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts04/04/09 Children's Matinee - A Midsummer Night's Dream
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts05/07/09-
05/10/09Song and Dance
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts05/30/09-
05/31/09The Princess and the Trolls - Children's Series
California Theatre -
Member Reviews
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Event Name: Just Balanchine
"EYE Review"
Comment posted by: Susannah from San Jose, CA, Mar 28, 2008
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Event Name: The Nutcracker
"(The) More muggin the merrier in Ballet San Jose's 'Nut'"
Comment posted by: Excerpt from the SF Chronicle review, Dec 15, 2007 by Mary Ellen Hunt from San Jose, CA, Dec 17, 2007
There's a pleasantly warm, homey feeling almost as soon as you walk into the San Jose Performing Arts Center for Ballet San Jose's "Nutcracker." It's the kind of show at which a complete stranger... Expand
There's a pleasantly warm, homey feeling almost as soon as you walk into the San Jose Performing Arts Center for Ballet San Jose's "Nutcracker." It's the kind of show at which a complete stranger might lean over the seat back and chat as if you'd been friends for years. Artistic Director Dennis Nahat's staging of his ballet, is a jaunty, colorful affair, full of bounce-and-go, enough to charm the first-time viewer or even the most jaded veteran of "Nutcrackers" past. On Thursday night, all the enthusiasm clearly drew the audience into the story. Delighted laughter and horrified gasps rippled through the house during the party scene, and startled shrieks erupted when a particularly loud flash turned the wooden Nutcracker doll into the handsome (Prince.) Maria and the Prince have an impressive amount of dancing to do, and they dance impressively, appearing in most of the divertissements throughout the second half. ...there's a darn good show on the stage, and that's all that matters. Collapse
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Event Name: The Nutcracker
"S.J.'s 'Nutcracker' bubbles over with wit, charm"
Comment posted by: Excerpts from review in San Jose Mercury News, Dec 15, 2007 by Rita Felciano from San Jose, CA, Dec 17, 2007
There is no "Nutcracker" that I know that has as charming bubbly a first act as San Jose's. The action fizzes like champagne. At one point, I counted six simultaneous vignettes, from the flirtation... Expand
There is no "Nutcracker" that I know that has as charming bubbly a first act as San Jose's. The action fizzes like champagne. At one point, I counted six simultaneous vignettes, from the flirtation between Lotte the maid, and Godfather Drosselmeyer's manservant Johann, to Helga the housekeeper swooning over Drosselmeyer. Everyone has a name; everyone has a well-defined role in this lovingly playful but basically orderly household. (Dennis) Nahat's performance of the eccentric uncle, who ruffles the calm and introduces an element of chaos, was just short of brilliant. With a touch of madness to it, this Drosselmeyer holds the strings and controls the festivity. A word about the mice. They are delicious. With their big ears, busy little fingers and padding toes, they scurry about until you almost believe that they'll take over the world. Lots of happy parents of these young dancers from Ballet San Jose School attended opening night; they had every reason to be proud. Collapse
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Event Name: The Nutcracker
"Nahat's 'Nutcracker' heartwarming as ever."
Comment posted by: Excerpts from San Jose Mercury review, Dec. 2006 from San Jose, CA, Dec 05, 2007
Something about "The Nutcracker" makes people flock to it year after year. Maybe it's the glorious score or the celbration of the extended family that has room for the eccentric friend and a doddering... Expand
Something about "The Nutcracker" makes people flock to it year after year. Maybe it's the glorious score or the celbration of the extended family that has room for the eccentric friend and a doddering grandpa. Or maybe it's remembering a time when you were no longer a child but not yet an adult, and the world seemed full of possibilities. Nowhere is that clearer than in Nahat's splendidly detailed, fast-moving first act. In this family, everyone has a well-defined role. There is even a hierarchy among the servants from the bossy housekeeper to the daffy maid. The children are being raised into traditions--the girls get dolls, the boys noisemakers. Godfather Drosselmeyer is the "troublemaker," introducing antics and some mystery into the family, yet he is tolerated and loved by everyone. All of these elements are richly interwoven in Ballet San Jose's "Nutcracker" at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Collapse
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Event Name: The Nutcracker
"Excerpts from SF Chronicle review, December 2006"
Comment posted by: Excerpt from the SF Chronicle from San Jose, CA, Dec 04, 2007
This "Nutcracker," which premiered in 1979, in in the details--sets and costumes designed by the brilliant David Guthrie. If all productions of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" are about holiday escapism,... Expand
This "Nutcracker," which premiered in 1979, in in the details--sets and costumes designed by the brilliant David Guthrie. If all productions of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" are about holiday escapism, this one, beautifully presented and well danced, is an escape of a different sort. In most versions, Maria and her Prince are guests at a series of divertissements. Often, they are children. In Nahat's, they're grown-ups who pitch right in, usually contributing a dance or a passage. And (they) are more than up to the task. She is delicate looking but blessed with wonderful extensions, beautifully arched feet and steady balances, not to mention a certain shy flirtatiousness. He is compactly powerful, buoyant and quick. Collapse
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Event Name: Carmina Burana & Summerscape
"Excerpts from Cleveland Plain Dealer review, Feb 1998"
Comment posted by: Review excerpts from West Coast Premiere from San Jose, CA, Oct 04, 2007
Mature Production Flows Before Enthusiastic Crowd "Carmina Burana" was advertised as a ballet for mature audiences. But if the Californians who bought out all tickets in advance for the four weekend... Expand
Mature Production Flows Before Enthusiastic Crowd "Carmina Burana" was advertised as a ballet for mature audiences. But if the Californians who bought out all tickets in advance for the four weekend performances expected an orgy, they were in for a surprise, because artistic director Dennis Nahat staged Carl Orff's famous score like a solemn ritual initiated by a magician and driven by dark forces of fate. The only part unsuitable for children was the tavern scene with it intimations of cannabilism and debauchery. The opening scene introduced the large cast of medieval monks turning in floor patterns that represent the wheel of fortune and young lovers who celebrate the joy of springtime. The finale follows the fate of an unfulfilled youth and a solitary woman who blossoms into a rose and is ravished by love. The men who played drunken topers in the tavern danced with forceful athleticism. The couples representing young love did difficult lifts with ease. Collapse
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Event Name: Carmina Burana & Summerscape
"Excerpts from SF Examiner review, Feb 1998"
Comment posted by: Review excerpts from West Coast Premiere from San Jose, CA, Oct 04, 2007
Nahat has listened to the music and read the bawdy medieval Latin lyrics. [But] this "Carmina Burana" does more than pay heed to the score. The billboard outside the theater declaims "50 dancers! 125... Expand
Nahat has listened to the music and read the bawdy medieval Latin lyrics. [But] this "Carmina Burana" does more than pay heed to the score. The billboard outside the theater declaims "50 dancers! 125 [voice] chorale! 24 children's chorus!" Remarkably, they're all on the stage, while Dwight Oltman leads 60 members of the symphony in the pit. In an era when our ears have been dulled by wretched taped musical accompaniments, Nahat's largess strikes a blow for professionalism. ...Nahat's "Carmina Burana" radiates, for the most part, a kind of sweet innocence. It is also, for much of its hourlong length, a hoot and a holler, a parody of choreography that follows music slavishly. Also, not to be forgotten is the roasted swan episode, during which [the dancer] is borne aloft on a spit, suffers numerous contortions on a platform and then endures the knife attacks by a gang of thugs who nibble on hunks of his hide. Collapse
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Event Name: Carmina Burana & Summerscape
"Excerpts from Mercury News review, Feb 1998"
Comment posted by: Review excerpts from West Coast Premiere from San Jose, CA, Oct 04, 2007
Carmina Burana, The hourlong $200,000 spectacle was enriched by the stunning medieval sets and costumes of [the late] David Guthrie, one of his most brilliant in his long association with... Expand
Carmina Burana, The hourlong $200,000 spectacle was enriched by the stunning medieval sets and costumes of [the late] David Guthrie, one of his most brilliant in his long association with (Dennis)Nahat encompassing more than 60 works. The rotating wheel of fortune, with 16 zodiac-like signs, was juxtaposed with cathedral-like choir stalls and gargoyle sculptures--the sacred and profane side by side, competing for bodies and souls. And in one of the most ingenious touches, the tavern's swan feast by off-duty monks took on the look of pagan animal sacrifice, contrasting sharply with the sacred atmosphere of the prologue. Carmina Burana is a shocker. Call it shallow, call it vulgar, but Carl Orff's thumpy choral-orchestral music picks you up and carries you with it like a raging flood. Collapse
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Event Name: The Firebird and Mendelssohn Symphony
"Storytellers are Magicians."
Comment posted by: San Jose Mercury News, October 2005 from San Jose, CA, Aug 24, 2007
Storytellers are magicians. In the theater they transport us into a world as real as the person in the next chair. Ballet San Jose presenting Nahat's The Firebird...uses a richly nuanced... Expand
Storytellers are magicians. In the theater they transport us into a world as real as the person in the next chair. Ballet San Jose presenting Nahat's The Firebird...uses a richly nuanced interpretation (though its on tape) of Stravinky's haunting music. The set, with its suggestions of a forest made up of people turned into stone, is grand as well as claustrophobic. Nahat's musicality expresses itself in fluid choreography that shines through the music as limpidly as pebbles in a brook. [He} created an open-hearted, sunny princess ready for love. A charming touch, the ensemble dances for the maidens suggest an eagerness for lovers of their own. Kastchei's monsters are more carnivalesque than hellish; they won't frighten the children in the audience. Kastchei, however, is fearsome. Half reptile, half bird, he slithers like a snake with claws at the ready to pounce. Nahat's loveliest creation, however, is his Firebird. Collapse
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Event Name: The Firebird and Mendelssohn Symphony
"If ever there were the perfect ballet for little boys"
Comment posted by: SF Choronicle 2005 Review from SF, Jul 29, 2007
If ever there were the perfect ballet for little boys. There's a green-faced monster villain, a castle, warthog palace guards, Fleshless Carcasses, dwarves, maidens in long blond wigs and a magical... Expand
If ever there were the perfect ballet for little boys. There's a green-faced monster villain, a castle, warthog palace guards, Fleshless Carcasses, dwarves, maidens in long blond wigs and a magical bird. What could be cooler? With the unforgettable Stravinsky score (and) new choreography by Dennis Nahat--a rich, old-fashioned blend of fantasy and artistry creates theatrical magic. Originally designed as an uber-Russian fairy tale to wow Parisian audiences at the turn of the century, "The Firebird" looks, 100 years or so later, absolutely delightful as uber-nostalgia. Ian Falconer...designed the sets and costumes. Falconer clearly has a painter's knack for the theatrical medium. When the trees are no longer frozen and the forest sprouts to life in the last scene, villagers emerge in costumes that are so joyously colorful, they almost take your breath away. Collapse
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Past Events
10/04/08 A Night In Casablanca
09/25/08 Unforgettable - An Evening of Glamorous Fashion and Exotic Collectible Cars
Club Auto Sport05/24/08-
05/25/08Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
California Theatre05/03/08 Children's Matinee - The Firebird
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts05/01/08-
05/04/08The Firebird and Mendelssohn Symphony
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts04/26/08 Sneak Preview - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Children's Discovery Museum04/10/08 Elegance In The Afternoon
03/27/08-
03/30/08Just Balanchine
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts02/15/08-
02/24/08Swan Lake
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts12/21/07-
12/22/07Nutcracker Teas
Fairmont Hotel12/13/07-
12/23/07The Nutcracker
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts12/13/07 Opening Night Nut Celebration
Sainte Claire Hotel11/15/07-
11/18/07Carmina Burana & Summerscape
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts05/19/07-
05/20/07The Tinderbox
California Theatre04/28/07 Middle Kingdom - Ancient China ...For Kids!
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts04/28/07 Sneak Preview - The Tinderbox
Children's Discovery Museum04/26/07-
04/29/07Middle Kingdom - Ancient China
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts03/23/07 Point to Pointe - The Making of a Ballet Dancer
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts03/16/07-
03/25/07Blue Suede Shoes
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts03/10/07 The Blue Suede Shoes Gala
Fairmont Hotel02/15/07-
02/18/07Le Style Classique & More - A Valentine's Potpourri
12/14/06-
12/24/06The Nutcracker
11/18/06 Point to Pointe Children's Matinee
11/16/06-
11/19/06Giselle
10/01/06 Ostriches Support Ballet School
05/20/06-
05/21/06The Little Mermaid
California Theatre04/26/06-
04/28/06Middle Kingdom - Ancient China
04/20/06-
04/23/06Slavonic and Hungarian Dances w/ Les Sylphides
03/18/06 Celebration - 20 Years of Great Ballet
Fairmont Hotel03/16/06-
03/22/06Blue Suede Shoes
03/09/06-
03/12/06Romeo & Juliet
12/15/05-
12/24/05The Nutcracker
11/17/05-
11/20/05Cinema Soundtracks & Grand Pas De Dix
10/08/05 Children's One Hour Firebird
10/06/05-
10/09/05Phaedra & Firebird
10/02/05 Ostriches Support Ballet School
05/19/05-
05/20/05The Little Mermaid
California Theatre05/14/05 The Ugly Duckling
California Theatre05/05/05-
05/08/05A Grand Finale of Revivals
03/31/05-
04/03/05Spring Repertory Program - Love & Power
03/05/05 Gateway to Ancient China
02/12/05 Children's One Hour Middle Kingdom
02/10/05-
02/13/05Middle Kingdom- Ancient China
12/16/04-
12/26/04The Nutcracker
12/11/04 Scenes from The Nutcracker
Barnes & Noble Booksellers -Stevens Creek11/18/04-
11/21/04Pirates of Penzance
08/10/04 Cocktails, Cars and All That Jazz
06/08/04 New Stars 2004 Ballet Performance
Heritage Theatre05/06/04-
05/09/04Hallelujah Junction, Vivaldi Concerto Grosso, Frontier, Go Daddy O!
04/29/04 Ballet San Jose Silcon Valley Master Class
Ballet San Jose Studios04/29/04-
04/30/04Dance Week: American Ice Theatre Master Class
Ballet San Jose Studios04/22/04-
04/25/04Silly Simon - Children's Series
San Jose Repertory Theatre03/25/04-
03/28/04Out of Africa
02/08/04 A Doll Lover's Day at the Ballet: Doll Contest
02/07/04 Children's Series - Coppelia
02/05/04-
02/08/04Coppélia
12/14/03 Children's Series - The Nutcracker
12/12/03-
12/28/03The Nutcracker
10/16/03-
10/19/03Season Opening Program
05/01/03-
05/04/03A Tribute to Donald McKayle
04/03/03-
04/06/03The Tempest
02/13/03-
02/16/03Valentine's Weekend Program
12/11/02-
12/23/02The Nutcracker
10/17/02-
10/20/02The Choreography of Dennis Nahat
05/02/02-
05/05/02Carmen
04/11/02-
04/14/02Blue Suede Shoes
02/14/02-
02/17/02Valentines: Rivulet, Apollo, Graduation Ball
12/07/01-
12/23/01Dennis Nahat's The Nutcracker
Flint Center for the Performing Arts11/30/99 The Tinderbox
California Theatre
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