About the Tucson Regional Ballet
Tucson Regional Ballet (TRB) was founded in 1983, with the goal of bringing quality ballet to a diverse audience at affordable Prices. For the past 36 years, TRB has provided an affordable ballet experience to thousands of families, teachers, and students, while at the same time reflecting the cultural richness of the Southwest.
TRB has developed a reputation for innovative programming that appeals to both children and adults. In 1994, TRB premiered its unique production of A Southwest Nutcracker. This full-length version of the holiday classic, set in Tucson of the 1880s, features rattlesnakes, ocotillo, chili peppers, a Prickly Pear Fairy, and her Caballero. In 1996 TRB premiered The Three Little Javelinas, adapted from Tucsonan Susan Lowell’s best-selling children’s book, with original music by Tucsonan Liona Vokovic-Gay and performed by the Southwest String Quartet. In 1997, Lowell’s book, The Tortoise and the Jackrabbit, was similarly adapted. In 2000, TRB premiered Why Butterflies Fly Crazy, an Indian legend adapted to ballet, with music and story by Mary Redhouse, which was performed again in the spring 2002. In 2001-2002 TRB was invited to collaborate with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in two special children’s concerts. The first was a Halloween production, with orchestra members in costume. The second was Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Tucson’s Mayor Bob Walkup. This successful collaboration with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra continues today, with the TSO providing live musical accompaniment for A Southwest Nutcracker.
Past TRB performances have included guest artists and choreographers Annie Bunker, Nina Janik, Richard Holden, John Henry, Jon Cristofori, Susan Quinn Williams, Daniel Catanach and Francisco Gella; dancers Anthony Neumann, Phillip Otto, Anne Derieux, Charles Newton, Erica Fischbach, Pascal Benichou, Yvonne Cutaran, Kenneth Larson, Sergel Perkovskii, Catherine Winfield, Chidozie Nzerem, and Roman Zavarov; and musicians Mary Redhouse, The Southwest String Quartet, the University of Arizona Balalaika Orchestra, and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.
Tucson Regional Ballet company members have gone on to dance with such prestigious companies as Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, David Taylor Dance Theatre, Le Jeune Ballet de Paris, Milwaukee Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Oakland Ballet, and Washington Ballet. TRB dancers have been awarded scholarships to, or have received professional contracts with , more than 58 schools or companies throughout the United States and Europe.