South Carolina Ballet is celebrating 65 years of performing on the stage, and CEO and artistic director William Starrett said he has created a show to reflect this accomplishment.
“Everything’s blue celebrating the sapphire in 65 years of continuous operations,” Starrett said. “For an arts organization to never miss a season and perform for 65 continuous years is exceptional, and so we’re really excited to be celebrating that milestone.”
On March 7, the South Carolina Ballet will celebrate 65 years of performing with their new ballet “Sapphire.” The performance will bring together many pieces from the company’s history merged with new pieces from Starrett to celebrate the past, present and future of the South Carolina Ballet.
The ballet’s main theme is inspired by the traditional stone for 65th anniversaries, the sapphire. The show will feature "blue"-themed pieces from the history of the South Carolina Ballet, such as “Blues With a Feeling” and “Blue Moon.” The ballet will have live music performed by the Dick Goodwin Brass Band and choreography created by Starrett.
The performance’s new pieces also keep the blue sapphire theme with pieces "blues skies," "Don't Make my Brown Eyes Blue" and especially the main piece, “Sapphire,” which is set to the music of “Rhapsody in Blue.”
One of the dancers who will be performing is principal ballerina Claire Rapp. She joined the South Carolina Ballet's Columbia Conservatory of Dance at the age of 3 but has now been working professionally as a dancer for the South Carolina Ballet for 15 years, an experience she said she deeply values.
"The main feeling I have around this show is just a feeling of gratitude," Rapp said. "Gratitude for the community and our audience for coming time and time again and believing and taking chances on new works and being loyal and allowing us to express our art."
Rapp said she couldn't imagine her life without the creative outlet of dance.
"I feel really fortunate that I get to have a career that is also what sets my soul on fire," Rapp said.
The show aims to provide a look into the history of where South Carolina Ballet started, and then to how far they have come since they began 65 years ago.
Rapp said she has a unique perspective as a longtime dancer for South Carolina Ballet, on how it has changed from when she began up until the present.
“I’ve seen quite a few different versions and iterations of the company, and lots of dancers come and go," Rapp said. "It's also just really cool to be able to look back and see how much the company has grown."
The ballet commemorates the company's storied history from local beginnings to reaching nationwide acclaim, through what they do best dancing.
Rapp said the anniversary show allows her a chance to reminisce and reflect on the time she has spent with the company. She has seen how the South Carolina Ballet has evolved over the years she has spent dancing.
"Even from where we perform, how many dancers are in the company, what kind of performances we put on," Rapp said. "We've grown exponentially, and Columbia in general has just kind of gone through what I would consider a little art renaissance."
Members in all parts of the company have witnessed the expansion of South Carolina Ballet from a smaller local focused ballet studio into a professional ballet company.
Katie Heaton, director of education outreach and membership, has been with the South Carolina Ballet for 5 years. Over her time working at the organization, she said the company has expanded and reached new heights.
"We're larger than we've ever been. We have 36 dancers total this season," Heaton said. "I've seen the company in various different sizes, but right now we have probably the most talent I've seen."
Heaton said a unique attribute of the ballet is the number of dancers that will be performing, with a piece being able to accommodate the 36 current dancers plus even more returning dancers being uncommon.
The performance of "Sapphire" will include all the company’s dancers and even retired dancers as a part of the ensemble.
"It's incredible, the amount of camaraderie that you're seeing from all of them. We get to see them dance all throughout the season, but it's kind of rare that they're doing a piece like this where it's the entire company as an ensemble," Heaton said.
The performance will be a great opportunity for anybody who wants to explore what ballet in Columbia is all about, and for experienced fans to look back on the history and towards the future of South Carolina Ballet..
Rapp said she believes this show will be excellent for anybody, whether they are new or longtime fans of the South Carolina Ballet.
"Coming to see the anniversary show would give you a good glimpse of what we perform as a company," Rapp said. "It will also give any newcomer a great sense of the family that is the ballet world in our community."
On March 7, The 65th Anniversary Sapphire Gala will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will conclude at 11:30 p.m. at the Koger Center for the Arts. "Sapphire: Celebrating 65 years!" starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the South Carolina Ballet website.