Ballet Theatre Company Will Launch Resident Dance Company For its 23rd Season

After 22 years of providing high-quality arts experiences to the Greater Hartford community, Ballet Theatre Company (BTC), located in West Hartford, has announced the inauguration of a company of resident dancers for its 23rd performance season. Since its inception, Ballet Theatre Company has aimed to create opportunities for professional dancers and artists in the Greater Hartford area, and it is now possible to take this enormous stride towards cultivating consistent work for local professionals.

While BTC has frequently contracted local and regional professionals to join their cast of dancers in past mainstage productions, the ability to hire a company of 8-10 resident professional dancers to train and rehearse regularly. Establishing a resident company will allow BTC to further its reach into the community by providing more opportunities to view performances and interact with dancers, while contributing to the sustainability of professional ballet in the area. In a field where working for free is commonly expected, especially of young professionals, offering a contract of 32-34 weeks with a biweekly stipend and shoe allowance as a small, but growing, company is a step towards giving local dancers the opportunity to thrive while also supporting themselves.

Ballet Theatre Company (BTC) is seeking to hire 8-10 resident professional dancers 32-34 week contract with a competitive bi-weekly stipend and shoe stipend. Company Artists will train and rehearse 4-5 days a week.

The new professional company will be led by Artistic Director Stephanie Dattellas, alongside Artistic Advisors Maria Terezia Balogh Mejia & Paul Mejia. Ms. Mejia was the protege of the great American ballerina, Maria Tallcheif and went on to become a principal dancer with Lyric Opera Ballet (later known as Chicago City Ballet) and Fort Worth Dallas Ballet. During her performing career, Ms. Mejia performed a repertoire of over 30 principal roles by choreographers including George Balanchine, Maria Tallchief, Paul Mejia, and Jerome Robbins. She has since served as repetiteur, ballet mistress, and master instructor for a number of prominent companies and schools across the United States. Mr. Mejia danced as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet where he danced and originated many principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine. Among many other accomplishments, he went on to co-direct Chicago City Ballet with Maria Tallchief, direct Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, and serve as Artistic Advisor to the Metropolitan Classical Ballet.

Company Artists Audition

BTC will hold an audition for company dancers Friday, August 27th from 1:30-5:00pm. Interested dancers with a strong ballet background (including pointe work for women) with experience performing classical, neoclassical, and contemporary repertoire should send their resume, headshot, full-body dance photo, updated performance reel, and copy of COVID-19 vaccine card to BTC Ballet Mistress Emily Silva at emily.silva@dancebtc.org.

Learn more at https://www.dancebtc.org/Company-Artists.

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