The Washington Ballet: Something Old, Something New

I spent time with Septime Webre and The Washington Ballet late last year for this "Director's Notes" profile in Pointe magazine.

"As Webre enters his second decade as director, he is leading TWB in an unorthodox direction: The troupe that made its mark under founder Mary Day by performing the sleek unitard-ballets of Choo-San Goh is now stepping wholeheartedly into the classical repertoire. Its 2009 production of Bournonville’s La Sylphide, ballet’s earliest expression of Romanticism, was not merely proficient; it was radiant. Next year will bring Le Corsaire—on the heels of this season’s Don Quixote. To fill out the casts, Webre uses the Studio Company, and has invited guest dancers and even top-level students from the company’s school. He knows that any ballet company worth its chops still needs to dance the classics. And in Washington, D.C., full-length ballets seem to attract an audience."