THE ORANGE COUNTY BALLET THEATRE

Located in Orange County, New York, the Orange County Ballet Theatre is a 45 year old ballet company with a history of ballet and dance performances in the Hudson Valley. The Company has produced dancers who have gone on to enjoy professional careers and its artistic directors are professionals.

The Company offers two performances a year: The Nutcracker and the Spring Performance. For the Spring Performance,  OCBT offers selections from the classical repertoire of Petipa and Minkus, as well as more contemporary choreographers such as De Mille. (Read about our COMPANY FAQ'S on our Company Page).

The company was co-founded by Regis Powers who created the original choreography for the Nutcracker that became a Hudson Valley Tradition. Mr. Powers was a professional dancer who devoted many years of his life to providing professional ballet training and artistic direction to the young dancers of the Orange County Ballet Theatre.

Mr. Powers embraced a philosophy that became a hallmark of the OCBT's recent Artistic Director, Darlene Wilson: "No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of deep, warm affection towards his pupils...and a genuine desire to impart to them what he himself believes to be of value."

Ms. Wilson, also a professional dancer and choreographer of note--her resume included credits ranging from Broadway roles as a dancer in Cats to associate choreographer for Spamalot--assumed the mantle of Artistic Director of The Company in 2005. Beloved by her dancers, she lost a brave battle with cancer in 2007, but not before putting her distinctive style on The Company during her tenure.  Because of her,  generous donations were made to insure the perpetuation of The OCBT.

SENIOR COMPANY '06 With Darlene Wilson

Photo: Stan Goldblatt

Carol Purcell and Alicia Lovely are the Co- Artistic Directors of OCBT.

 

Photo: Stan Goldblatt   Nutcracker, 2009

For Information about the official school of The OCBT, call THE DARLENE WILSON INSTITUTE OF DANCE: 565-1906