Los Angeles Ballet

With studios that overlook Malibu, a business office in Santa Monica, sets and costumes in downtown Los Angeles and performances of the inaugural season presented at three different theaters, Los Angeles Ballet has the city covered.

Co-artistic Directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary, a husband-and-wife team, see their fledgling ballet company’s unconventional nature as a logical response to the geography of their city and are committed to nurturing a resident world-class ballet company.

“We want to build an audience for Los Angeles Ballet by essentially touring this far-flung metropolis,” says Christensen, former artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. “Rather than start by asking an audience to fight the traffic to go downtown, we are bringing ballet to these wonderful theaters and building an audience at each venue.” Neary adds, “We want this company to belong to all of Los Angeles.”

collaborations with L.A.–based visual artists, musicians and composers.

Before any dancers were hired, Christensen, Neary and Executive Director Julie Whittaker devoted two years to laying groundwork. The first step involved designating Westside School of Ballet as the company’s official school and its director, Yvonne Mounsey, a founding member of New York City Ballet, as artistic adviser to LAB.

When the time came to secure dancers, Christensen and Neary, also former members of NYCB, hired from prestigious companies and schools around the world.

Though LAB’s repertoire emphasizes Balanchine, many members of the company have little or no specific Balanchine training.

Andrew Brader trained at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre and danced with Houston Ballet before joining LAB. “I think LAB emphasizes detail in technique, rather than specifically Balanchine technique,” says Brader, adding that the chance to dance the Balanchine repertoire was a major reason he joined LAB.

Peter Snow, who trained at the School of American Ballet, notes that a pioneering spirit pervades the troupe. “LAB is not a company for dancers who need to be pampered,” he says. “This is a company starting out. There isn’t a lot of infrastructure, so everyone from Colleen and Thordal on down are working to make this work. There’s a strong sense of building something important and that sense of purpose contributes to the camaraderie among the company members.”

That camaraderie has helped the dancers from out of state adjust to the challenges of living in Southern California. “After living in New York City, I miss being able to get around by subway,” says Monica Stephenson, who previously danced with Dance Theatre of Harlem, “but the dancers with cars go out of their way to help out the dancers without.”

Almost all of the charter dancers will return next season. Several more have been hired from auditions in New York and L.A., allowing for what Christensen describes as “cautious growth.”