Atlanta Ballet
Atlanta Ballet’s roots go back to 1929 when Dorothy Alexander founded the Dorothy Alexander Concert Group. The pioneering Alexander headed the company for more than 30 years and, in that time, helped change the face of ballet in America by launching the regional dance movement and becoming one of the first to introduce dance education into public schools. The company was renamed Atlanta Civic Ballet in 1943 and changed its name again in 1967, when it became Atlanta Ballet.
“The mission of the company today mirrors that of Dorothy Alexander’s back then,” says John McFall, AB’s artistic director and CEO. “It’s about bringing people together into the arts.”
Only the third artistic director in the company’s 78-year history, McFall has continued its tradition of collaboration—recent projects have involved the Indigo Girls and The New Birth Missionary Baptist Church choir. He has also expanded the outreach role of the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, the company’s affiliated school, and is at work on new ways for the company to reach audiences that go beyond the traditional proscenium stage.
“We are not on a pedestal,” says McFall. “It is not about bringing the curtain up, entertaining people and then the curtain goes down and everybody goes away. We are really there to inspire people to participate.”
Designated the state ballet company of Georgia in 1973, AB’s nearly eight decades serving the Georgia arts community attest to its staying power and public support. “I feel we are a part of the infrastructure of the community,” says McFall.
With an annual budget of $7 million, the company strives to balance a repertoire of signature works and classics with new works, including those of its resident choreographer, Lauri Stallings. “We try to maintain an eclectic repertoire to appeal to as broad a constituency as possible,” says McFall.
To perform that diverse repertoire McFall has built what he refers to as an “ensemble of individuals.” “We don’t hire a body,” he says. “We hire a soul.”
The freedom given to AB’s dancers to fully express themselves both as artists and human beings is what McFall says gives the company its signature look. That openness has also translated into an atmosphere where all the dancers enjoy working together.
“Even when we are not dancing we are in the audience supporting each another,” says six-year company member James Pruitt, who also trained at the company’s Centre for Dance Education.
Third-year company member Courtney Necessary concurs. “I think the environment at AB is one of mutual respect and comradeship.”
Steve Sucato, a former dancer, is a writer and critic based in Erie, PA.
