EDITOR'S NOTE: All "Backstage" tours for the remainder of the 2014-2015 season are full. Please check back next fall for reservations.
From an orchestra seat in the Mertz Theatre, the dancers of the Sarasota Ballet look impossibly perfect, from their pristine hair and makeup to the tips of their silky pointe shoes.
But up close...
“They’re so thin!”
Jane Jassin and Leslie Cobin watch the Sarasota Ballet dancers rehearse while taking part in one of Sarasota Ballet's "backstage" Promenade Tours Feb. 10 at the FSU Center for Performing Arts. The tour gives patrons a look at what goes on behind the scenes at the ballet. (Staff photo by Rachel S. O'Hara)
Carol Rodin, a member of the volunteer support group, Friends of the Sarasota Ballet, says that’s the comment she hears most often while conducting the company’s “Backstage at the Ballet” tours at the FSU Center for Performing Arts. But there’s much more to be learned on these hour-long excursions that reveal the behind the scenes workings of the nationally recognized troupe.
Visitors not only get to observe part of the company’s regular morning class, they can fondle a pointe shoe, look at the colored stacks of circular fringe inside the “tutu room,” watch work underway in the costume shop and even have a go at cranking their feet into fifth position or their leg up on to a barre in one of the small practice studios.
“We try to make it fun, put some personality in,” says Rodin, who acts as coordinator for the tours.
Friends of the Sarasota Ballet has been hosting the tours for about a decade. But the program was formalized — and its title changed from the previous “Promenade Tours” — only recently. Tours, given by trained members from within 450-volunteer FOSB ranks, are held twice a week during the season, though not in the week prior to a performance.
Sarasota Ballet dancers practice in Studio 1 while people taking part in one of Sarasota Ballet's "backstage" Promenade Tours Feb. 10 at the FSU Center for Performing Arts. The tour gives patrons a look at what goes on behind the scenes at the ballet. (Staff photo by Rachel S. O'Hara)
Tour participants also meet some of the staff members — perhaps, on a less hectic day, Artistic Director Iain Webb — and learn about the ballet’s secondary endeavors, like the Margaret Barbieri Conservatory program for aspiring professional and its award-winning outreach program for underserved students, Dance-Next Generation.
They are also encouraged to ask questions; none are too elementary.
“I noticed none of the fellows had toe shoes on,” observed Bob Bruce of Cleveland after watching company class. “Why is that?”
The tours are full of fun factoids: Basic tutus are purchased online and embellished with an adorned bodies to suit a particular production. The substance dancers rub their feet into before going on stage is called “rosin” and helps them avoid slipping. There is no hierarchy in company class; corps members work their tendus right alongside the stars.
The tour wraps up inside the ballet’s home theater, the Mertz, where visitors hear about its history, capacity and capabilities. Conveniently, the exit back to the parking lot is through the lobby, right next to the company’s box office, where a friendly staffer waits to field ticket requests.
“Groups of 10 get 10 percent off and groups of 15, 15 percent,” Jason Webb, son of the director and a member of the staff, says encouragingly.
Watching the faces light up, he quickly adds:
“And no. If there are 100 of you, you don’t get in free.”
All tours for the remainder of this season are full; please check back next season (October).
What: “Backstage at the Ballet,” tours of the Sarasota Ballet’s facilities led by volunteers from the Friends of the Sarasota Ballet
When: Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. during the season; no tours the week prior to a performance or on select blackout dates.
Where: At the FSU Center for Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail
Who: Individuals or groups; must be capable of standing for periods and walking up stairs
How much: Free, but reservations required
Reservations: Email info@sarasotaballet.org
