Dancers raise the barre

Joyce Rudolph

Looking at a photograph of a ballerina with one pointe shoe on and

the other off, Natasha Middleton-Kettebekov thought back to when she

was a dancer and the foot pain she endured after a vigorous

rehearsal.

The photograph showed the result of a ballet class, she thought.

That’s when the inspiration came for the artistic director’s next

performance -- “The Making of a Dancer.”

“Let’s take the audience to the beginning,” she said to herself.

Members of her professional company, Media City Ballet, and its

new Junior Company will illustrate the hard work that goes into

becoming a professional dancer from age 6 beginning level to advanced

during its next show Saturday at the Performing Arts Center at Cal

State Northridge.

In the first act, titled “The Classroom,” dancers will show a

short section of barre work before moving to the center floor. In the

center floor segments, dancers will really exhibit their athleticism,

she said.

“They will be showing lots of jumps and leaps by the guys,” she

said. “The audience will get to see a lot of turns and challenging

moves.”

The performance will give the audience an idea of what goes on in

the studio, said Anne Winfree, a member of the Media City Ballet’s

senior company.

In the first act, the dancers will perform warm-up techniques and

illustrate how they fine-tune their movements, Winfree said. Working

at the barre helps the dancer find their center or points of balance,

she said.

“The audience gains more of an appreciation of what has gone into

the choreography,” she said.

Winfree, 25, will bring her experience as a dancer to the stage,

although it is no longer her main profession. She teaches at Pilates

Center Studio in Burbank but has been dancing professionally since 19

and began taking ballet, modern dance and jazz classes at 12. She

joined Media City Ballet in October and performed in the December

performance of “The Nutcracker” at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.

Another dancer performing is Luz Yount, 13, of Burbank, who is in

preparatory training for Media City’s Junior Company.

“I’ve learned a lot of things from Natasha,” she said. “I’ve

learned the classical style of ballet, the nice posture, also the

acting that a dancer does while she’s dancing.”

Luz wants to become a professional ballet dancer because she just

loves dancing.

“What really inspired me was one year I saw ‘The Nutcracker’ show

from Media City Ballet, and I liked how professional they looked and

how graceful the dancers looked, and it inspired me to go there and

try and make this a profession,” she said.

During Saturday’s performance, the narrator will explain what

dancers are working toward, and how some will make it to professional

dancer, while others will not, Middleton-Kettebekov said.

“I’d say six out of 10 make it through the whole process,” she

said. “Those that make it have a high level of determination.

“They love it so much. It’s a love-hate thing. Most dancers can

tell you that, no matter what, it’s one art you never feel bad that

you did, and they would never trade it for anything else.”

A career as a ballet dancer is short, lasting until 35 to 40 years

old, she said. For men, their career ends earlier, depending on their

backs.

“Still, it’s a great career with a lot of fame, traveling, people

you meet, ballets to dance,” she said. “They are using ballet in

commercials and films now. It’s come a long way.”

For Act 2, titled “The Company,” the dancers will show ballets

danced after making it to a professional company, she said.

One of the pieces is “Le Corsaire,” pas de deux or dance for two,

choreographed by associate director Ruben Tonoyan of Glendale.

It will be danced by Ashley Burnett Doering, a guest dancer from

the San Diego Ballet, and Askar Alimbetov, who is a member of the San

Diego Ballet and Media City Ballet.

Lukash Abrahimyan of the Dusseldorf Opera Ballet in Germany and a

former student of Tonoyan has been invited as a special guest

performer.

The 22-year-old is dancing the male variation from “Swan Lake.”

The program also includes a pas de deux “Gypsies” from “Carmen,”

choreographed by Middleton-Kettebekov, and “Blue Danube Waltz,” set

by her husband, Askar Kettebekov, consisting of three couples along

with the company, dancing to Strauss’ Viennese waltz.

The work will be more intricate in the second act, she said. There

will be a lot of lifts and powerful music.

“In the ‘Carmen’ piece, there is a lot of passion going on along

with the passionate choreography going on,” she said. “It’s a

favorite.”

The “Blue Danube Waltz” is a romantic piece, she said.

Askar Kettebekov danced it when he was with the Kazakhstan

National Opera Ballet, but he will give his own feel to it.

“He’s more playful with it,” Middleton-Kettebekov said. “We’re

taught the standards and we add our own style, so that’s what he

did.”