visiting artists

Ballet Austin's New American Talent/Dance competition puts finalists' fate inaudience's hands: Meet finalist Gregory Dolbashian

At a high-art performance such as the ballet or the symphony, you wouldn't dare reach into your bag or pocket and pull out your cell phone. However, next month, Ballet Austin is asking its audience to do just that.

For Ballet Austin's 4th biennial New American Talent/Dance competition, audiences will assemble to watch three performances choreographed by this year's finalists. The live audience, accompanied by an industry-renowned jury, will then cast its votes by text message. At stake for the choreographic finalists is $24,000 in cash prizes.

When the program began in 2006, Ballet Austin’s New American Talent/Dance forged a then unheard of model in this country: "investing in American choreographers by giving them significant studio time with world-class dancers and artistic staff, along with major cash prizes as decided upon by a nationally renowned jury and a live voting audience."

The idea came to Artistic Director Stephen Mills in response to a need to expose new, emerging choreographers and provide resources to those artists's voices.

This year, all three finalists hail from New York City, and as part of the New American Talent/Dance competition and performance preparation, the three finalists are currently completing 40-hour choreographic residencies with Ballet Austin Company dancers and artistic staff. CultureMap will highlight each finalist over the coming weeks.

Our first finalist, Gregory Dolbashian, Founder of The DASH Ensemble, is no stranger to the stage, having made his debut at age eight in a world tour of Einstein on the Beach. Even so, he says he didn't truly become serious about dance until he was 18-years-old.

"I grew up playing a ton of sports — I was a big jock — and dance was the best way to be artistic and athletic at the same time," Dolbashian says.

He later graduated cum laude from SUNY Purchase dance conservatory and served as resident choreographer for several Ballet Chicago seasons.

The work that he's creating while in Austin for New American Talent/Dance pays homage to eye-opening experiences — and not always the positive kind. Rather, "It's about how those forces in our lives wake us up to things," he explains.

The Ballet Austin Company dancers working with the finalists applaud how the New American Talent/Dance choreographic competition pushes them as dancers to move and perform in ways they did not think physically or emotionally possible.

Stay tuned to CultureMap, and we will introduce you to the Dolbashian's competition: Loni Landon and Bradley Shelver. After all, you'll have the chance to decide their fate.

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Tickets are for performances are available for $15 - $74 at www.balletaustin.org. The competition will run at The Long Center from Feb. 17 - 19.

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Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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