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On Your Toes
Ballet, other dance styles prevalent in central Illinois
By Paul Gordon
We
asked one of the
top experts in the
nation whether it
was unusual for a city the size
of Peoria to have more than one
dance company dedicated to
ballet.
Rocco Landesman, chairman
of the National Endowment for
the Arts didn’t hesitate. “It is
extremely unusual for a city of
Peoria’s size to have one bal-
let company, let alone two.
But given the passion of those
involved in the arts in Peoria I
can’t really say I’m surprised,”
he said in a recent interview with
The Peorian.
It wasn’t long after Landes-
man was in Peoria last, in late
August 2011 on a trip where he
visited Peoria Ballet and saw a
brief performance, that Rebekah
Von Rathonyi left her position as
artistic director of the ballet. She
and ballet instructor Jennifer Re-
iter formed a new organization,
Cornerstone Academy for the
Performing Arts in Peoria, with
ballet the top form being taught.
The reason for the departure
has not been discussed but Von
Rathonyi and Reiter have said
they do not plan to try to com-
pete head-to-head against the
more-established Peoria Ballet
Academy, but they will perform
around the area and give patrons
of the arts more than one ballet
company to follow.
Peoria is home to many other
dance studios, as well. They teach
most forms of the art of move-
ment and accept students of all
ages, some even getting toddlers
involved. Space, however, limits
us to briefly profiling only a few.
Peoria Ballet
As it approaches 50 years
in business, the Peoria Ballet
continuously strives to deliver
the top performance it can from
its student dancers. With top
professional instruction, it always
succeeds.
The Ballet, founded in 1964,
has been bringing to Peoria stages
“The Nutcracker,” the Christmas
favorite, each year at the Peoria
Civic Center Theatre and will do
one or two other major perfor-
mances at other venues during
the year. During the last season
the ballet performed “Art That
Rocks” at Five Points in Wash-
ington.
The mainstay of the Ballet is
the academy, which annually
teaches ballet and other forms of
dance to more than 300 students
from age 3 and up.
“Peoria Ballet Academy identi-
fies and fosters Peoria-area talent,
ensuring that the art of dance,
particularly ballet, continues to
be strong and vibrant long into
the future,” the academy website
states.
Servy Gallardo, a native of
Venezuela, is the artistic direc-
tor of The Peoria Ballet. He has
taught dance at many ballet com-
panies in the United States and
abroad and many of his students
have gone on to professional
careers.
Other instructors are Tamra
Challacombe, Pat White, Diane
West and Elizabeth Blackaby.
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thePeorian.com
The Present