[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 18, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E34-E35]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNITION OF THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMHERST BALLET THEATRE 
                   COMPANY OF AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN W. OLVER

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 18, 2012

  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the invaluable work 
that Amherst Ballet has done to advance the culture and education of 
communities in Massachusetts. Amherst Ballet was founded in 1971 by 
Therese Brady Donohue to give ballet lessons to 30 students in the old 
Amherst Junior High School building. In 1977 Donohue relocated her 
dance school to within walking distance of three Amherst public 
schools, appended two studios to it, gathered a board of directors and 
incorporated the Amherst Ballet Theatre Company as a non-profit 
corporation. In the ensuing years hundreds of children have been 
trained in ballet, modem and jazz dance and thousands of audience 
members have delighted in their performances. In 2000 the Theatre 
Company bought the dance school and became a non-profit entity known as 
Amherst Ballet. 2004 saw the retirement of Donohue and in the following 
year Amherst Ballet purchased the building in which it had been housed 
to firmly establish its permanent home. Catherine Fair joined Amherst 
Ballet's staff as a teacher in 1997, became its director upon Donohue's 
retirement and has steadily grown the annual enrollment to more than 
200 students.

[[Page E35]]

  The Amherst area is rich in cultural institutions, artists and 
musicians and Amherst Ballet has enjoyed collaborations with a wide 
variety of them including performances with Layaali Arabic Music 
Ensemble, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Pioneer Valley Symphony 
Orchestra, Smith College Orchestra, Da Camera Singers, Hampshire Choral 
Society Young People's Chorus as well as with local authors Jane Yolen 
and Heidi Stemple. Amherst Ballet has worked with composers Karen 
Tarlow, Ted Trobaugh and John Cooper, visual artist Rebecca Guay and 
media artist Carlos Fontes. Director Fair collaborated on the libretto 
for the original ballet Emily of Amherst with Jane Wald, historian and 
executive director of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Amherst Ballet 
participates in ballets created by Picture Book Theatre which performs 
at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
  Amherst Ballet has been the recipient of Amherst Cultural Council 
grants for many years and in 2011 received the Massachusetts Cultural 
Council's Gold Star Award, one of only 6 in the commonwealth, in 
recognition of its success integrating arts into the community. Amherst 
Ballet has given special performances upon invitation including 
excerpts from The Nutcracker and Chopiniana with the Pioneer Valley 
Symphony, Peter and the Wolf with the Smith College Orchestra and Bob 
McGrath from Sesame Street, The Arctic at American International 
College in Springfield, The Firebird with the Springfield Symphony 
Orchestra, The Nutcracker with the Moscow Ballet and Emily of Amherst 
at the New York Botanical Garden.
  Amherst Ballet has produced dancers who have joined professional 
companies including Pacific Northwest Ballet, New York City Ballet, 
Merce Cunningham, Omaha Ballet, Greater Houston Civic Ballet, 
Charleston Ballet Theatre, Hoechster Ballet (Germany), Ballet 
Contemporain de Bruxelles, Delia Stewart Jazz Company, Luis Fuente's 
Ballet Company (Spain), Rachel Lampert Company and Mixed Company (New 
York City). Amherst Ballet students who audition for residential and 
summer programs are routinely accepted to them including programs at 
Alvin Ailey, American Academy of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre 
Company, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School, Kaatsbaan International 
Dance Center, Kirov Academy, North Carolina School for the Arts, Nutmeg 
Conservatory, Richmond Ballet and Walnut Hill School.
  On this day it is my honor to recognize their hard work and to 
present them to this body as an institution that truly serves and 
benefits our Union.

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