by Molly Walsh
For many ballet students, the study of choreography and movement are core tenets of education, and at Evergreen City Ballet, Artistic Director Maximiliano Guerra has plans to embrace an even more enhanced learning philosophy. During the school’s 2024-2025 season, Guerra and the team at Evergreen City Ballet are establishing a unique curriculum that includes the study of broader topics, with art, history, and classical music to complement instruction in ballet.
Currently based in Renton, Evergreen City Ballet has specialized in pre-professional ballet education and live performance for three decades. When Guerra came on as artistic director in late 2023, the ballet dancers and staff were deep into rehearsals for the traditional holiday production, The Nutcracker. During this time, Guerra assisted in Nutcracker preparations while observing the school’s current operations. In the new year, Guerra was ready to consider the potential for a fresh, streamlined, unified curriculum for the ballet school.
With an extensive history as a ballet dancer, instructor, and choreographer, Guerra thought back to the ballet institutions with which he had previously danced, including the Royal Ballet of London, and assessed the ideal additions that could strengthen the learning experience at Evergreen City Ballet. Guerra collaborated with his wife, who also has experience as a dancer, to develop a curriculum that embraces a combination of time-honored training paradigms, including drawing from the Cecchetti and Vaganova methods.
Coursework will begin with Creative Movement and Pre-Ballet before students take Primary Ballet I, Ballet II and III, Upper Ballet IV, V, VI, Pre-Professional PD I & II, and beyond. Within this new curriculum, ballet students at different levels of learning will also take on supplementary study, with more seasoned students learning subjects like anatomy, classical repertoire, choreographic composition, art history, French, pas de deux, and Spanish dance.
According to Guerra, learning these subjects will help students become more well-rounded dancers, and if students want to pursue professional ballet, will equip them for future auditions with a wide range of ballet productions, including larger institutions and international companies.
And for recreational students who aren’t interested in a career as a professional ballet dancer, this curriculum can still hold significant value in learning the artistry behind live ballet performance.
Guerra understands the importance of this versatile knowledge base from his own experience in ballet, especially when dancing with a wide variety of ballet companies and choreographers across the globe, each of which carries a unique ballet style. This curriculum also creates pathways for students to eventually gain experience as a ballet instructor or choreographer.
Originally from Argentina, Guerra’s ballet career led him across the globe, immersing him in a myriad of ballet-related philosophies and a diverse range of ballet productions, with the Royal Ballet of London, the Deutsche Opera of Berlin, the Alla Scala Theatre in Milan, and many more. Along the way, Guerra also gained experience in ballet instruction and choreography.
Across diverging time zones and with different ballet directors, Guerra says he always carried a propensity for learning and striving toward new achievements, and that is an ideal that he hopes to perpetuate through the new curriculum at Evergreen City Ballet.
The evolution of this new curriculum required significant time and effort over several months, addressing the ideal modes of learning, taking into consideration the age of the students, and identifying the best practices to help prepare them for continuing phases of instruction.
As time goes on, Guerra hopes this curriculum will help to establish Evergreen City Ballet as a leading ballet school in the Pacific Northwest, with a style of ballet that others will recognize as distinctive to the school. Guerra is also interested in eventually developing a performance repertoire for Evergreen City Ballet.
In the initial weeks since the new curriculum has been adopted, Guerra has started to see enthusiasm from students as learning commences. And for staff and instructors, Guerra said the new curriculum is also an exciting venture, as this cohesive style of instruction gives individual instructors a greater sense of purpose and vision.
The 2024-2025 season is slated for a number of live performances, including student-constructed pieces alongside well-loved classics. In late October, the season premiered with Elevate, which featured pieces made by students from Evergreen City Ballet’s performance division, as well as dance from advanced students. This year’s theme was “Movies in Motion,” bringing iconic cinematic scenes to life through ballet.
Also on the schedule are performances of the beloved holiday classic, The Nutcracker, from ECB’s Founding Artistic Director, Wade Walthall, featuring accompaniment by the Evergreen City Ballet Orchestra. Performances will take place at the Auburn Performing Arts Center on December 14 and 15, and at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center on December 20, 21 and 22.
Note: In 2025, the inaugural Evergreen City Ballet International Dance Festival is in the works, as well as a spring production of Hansel and Gretel by choreographer Jennifer Porter.
WHAT
Wade Walthall’s The Nutcracker, Evergreen City Ballet
WHEN
Auburn, December 14 and 15
Renton, December 20 through 22
WHERE
Auburn Performing Arts Center (December 14 and 15)
702 4th St NE, Auburn, WA 98002
Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center (December 20, 21, 22)
400 S 2nd St, Renton, WA 98057
COST
$25-52
LEARN MORE
https://www.evergreencityballet.org/the-nutcracker