A Classical Ballet, choreographed by Carolina Ballet artistic director Robert Weiss and set to music by Prokofiev, will be one of four ballets performed on The Waltzes of Old Vienna program.  It is a modern Balanchine-style, classical dance composed of two ensemble dances, a pas de deux and a pas de trois for men. 

Many may not be aware that principal dancer Pablo Perez is the one who has been in charge of rehearsals for A Classical Ballet to be performed at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium April 10-13, 2008. This is not his first staging of the ballet.

With the permission of Weiss, Perez was first given the opportunity to stage A Classical Ballet in his home country of Uruguay in the summer of 2007.  For six weeks, he worked to teach classes of twenty to thirty dancers at a time.  “One challenge that I faced in Uruguay was teaching a Balanchine-style ballet to dancers trained in a traditional Russian style. Teaching also gave me the opportunity to learn as well,” says Perez. A Classical Ballet was warmly received with positive audience response and sold-out theaters. In fact, Perez has been invited back to teach and stage another performance in Uruguay during the summer of 2008. This time he will stage the Weiss ballet Peter and the Wolf. “This experience has been a very positive one in that I learned much from teaching and setting performances.  It was also a great way for me to visit home and work with principal dancers.”

One of Weiss’ goals is to take his works and share them with others. He saw the Uruguay exchange as a great opportunity to enlighten different audiences with something new and fresh. A Classical Ballet did just that, receiving immediate positive responses from those who had never before been exposed to Balanchine-style ballets.

For Perez, the staging in Uruguay consequently opened the door for further growth when Pennsylvania Ballet decided to stage the Weiss’ masterwork Messiah. Perez traveled to Philadelphia for two weeks to aid in setting this extensive evening-length performance.

As a Carolina Ballet dancer, Perez has performed in dozens of ballets including Messiah, Swan Lake, Square Dance, Romeo & Juliet and many other premieres.  Perez teaches regularly at local ballet schools, but he shows no signs of slowing down as a dancer himself.  His future plans are to continue to live his dream–that of being a principal dancer and growing daily in the artistry of classical ballet.