The Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre has taken centerstage for half a century.
BRBT celebrated its 50th anniversary Friday and Saturday with a special performance and gala commemorating its lifetime of dance and friendship.
The weekend’s festivities began Friday at the Baton Rouge River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts. The company’s final performance of the season featured a combination of classical and contemporary dance styles.
“The performance was a mix,” said Mary Bayle, BRBT director of development and communication. “It highlighted the past 50 years.”
The recital included acts like “The Garland Dance” from “Sleeping Beauty” to more contemporary numbers like “Duet for Wreck,” choreographed in 2008.
An anniversary gala at the Lod Cook Alumni Center followed the performance Saturday evening.
The center’s lobby was filled with ballet-themed memorabilia, from dated ballet advertisements to displays of newspaper clippings about the theater.
Kevin Bell, BRBT alumnus, said he flew in from Cincinnati for the events. He perused the articles, laughing at a photograph of himself performing in “The Nutcracker.”
“This had to be when I was 20,” said Bell, who danced with the company from 1984 to 1996. “It’s freaky seeing it.”
Other items on display included a handful of colorful, ornate dance costumes.
“They are more beautiful on the girls,” said BRBT costume mistress Polly Normand.
Normand, who has worked with BRBT for 17 years, designed several of the costumes on display.
“I started in a closet at the studio,” she said. “We’ve really evolved.”
  Gallery: Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre
 
Normand said she has watched all of the dancers grow, designing outfits for them through every stage of their careers. She said she even designed some of the women’s wedding gowns.
Normand said the theater is more of a family than a company.
Jourdan Puyau, BRBT dancer and kinesiology junior, agreed with Normand, saying “the directors are like second mothers to me.”
Puyau has been with the company since 1999.
The Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre is a non-profit organization, which began in 1960 to “promote and assist the advancement of classical and contemporary dance by maintaining a performing company, presenting a high quality season, providing dance education and community outreach,” according to its website.
And the company has remained true to its mission, said Elissa Fuchs, BRBT founder.
“It’s hard to put into words that someone my age started this, has seen it grow and now blossom,” Fuchs said.
Fuchs, who is “29 turned around,” said the past 50 years have been exciting and scary.
The theater, which is directed by Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews, currently has about 83 dancers, with 24 company dancers, 12 company apprentices and 47 youth ballet dancers.
Mathews said she has been with BRBT for all 50 years. She said she began in the first grade and danced until 1976 when she became the co-artistic director.
“The smartest thing I ever did was hand over the reins,” Fuchs said. “Not just to these two but to the city of Baton Rouge.”
 
 
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Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]