Ballet Fantastique

Ballet Fantastique is an Emmy®-nominated American ballet theater company based in Eugene, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Ballet Fantastique creates and performs all-original dance theater repertoire and immersive audience experiences. Ballet Fantastique became a resident company at Eugene's Hult Center for the Performing Arts in 2014 and tours across the US and internationally.



About
The company has been featured in The Washington Post, heralded a "bold, cross-disciplinary dance company" by Dante Zuniga-West of the Eugene Weekly. According to Portland Center Stage Reviews, Ballet Fantastique has "made a name for itself in out-of-the-box revisions of classic story ballets" and is "not your grandmother's Swan Lake."

Ballet Fantastique concerts feature collaborations with live artists and musicians and other cross-disciplinary collaborators.,  including Hollywood combat choreographer Michelle Ladd Williams (Lord of the Rings and Recognized Fight Director, Society of American Fight Directors ) for the world premiere of Ballet Fantastique's Robin Hood & Maid Marian in 2023.

The company fields auditions from dancers across the US and internationally.

Education: Academy of Ballet Fantastique
The Academy of Ballet Fantastique offers dance instruction for children, adults, and aspiring professional artists ages 2–24, and also offers a separate Community-based Teen/Adult Dance Program.

In the Professional Training Division, dancers age 9 and up study the Vaganova Method of training in limited class sizes of 12 students or fewer. Students participate in professional performances with the company, and may audition for company positions and apprenticeships upon graduation. Academy of Ballet Fantastique coaches are experienced in the well-recognized Vaganova method of training as well as in pedagogy and professional performance.

The Young Dancer Program at The Academy of Ballet Fantastique is for dancers age 2 and up, and follows a progressive training approach, introducing young children to creative movement, music education, and dance fundamentals.

Ballet Fantastique's outreach programming includes scholarships for dancers in financial need, free tickets for youth to attend concerts, in-school integrated arts residencies, and school assembly performances.

History
Ballet Fantastique became an Oregon non-profit in 2003 and earned 501(c)(3) non-profit status in 2006. The organization was established to bring dance training, performance opportunities and performances to the Lane County area. The company's first performance at the Hult Center was Danse Renaissance in June 2003. On October 30, 2010, Ballet Fantastique opened its highly visible City Center for Dance at 960 Oak Street, funded largely by a grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust.

Ballet Fantastique was founded in 2000 by Choreographer-Producers and mother-daughter team Donna Marisa and Hannah Bontrager. Since 2003, the company has presented all-original contemporary ballet productions each season at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Ballet Fantastique also tours, and has performed at the internationally recognized Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, at the Lincoln Performance Hall in downtown Portland, Oregon, and across the NW and internationally.

Company repertoire
'''Ballet Fantastique performs all-original repertoire created in house in collaboration with a wide range of multi-disciplinary artistic collaborators. Selected list of new works created and premiered by Donna and Hannah Bontrager, Resident Choreographer-Producers for Ballet Fantastique:'''