Brandon Ballet’s Artistic Director shares about her experiences and what’s in store for Brandon Ballet
Artistic Director Doricha Sales brings a unique background combining the highest quality of American ballet training, performance, and education to central Florida. Along with degrees in Ballet Performance and History and in Ballet (Pedagogy) and Educational Psychology, her performing career spanned 16 years with Boston Ballet, National Youth Ballet, Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, and Dance Theatre of Florida working under the tutelage of E. Virginia Williams, Violette Verdy, Alexandra Danilova, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Patricia McBride, Bruce Wells, Syndney Leonard, and Jacques and Virginia Cesbron.
In addition to serving as Brandon Ballet’s Artistic Director, Sales teaches advanced ballet levels at The Dance Center, is ballet adjunct at Pinellas County Center for the Arts, and is a private consultant for ballet students nationwide.
Sales took time from her busy schedule to share about her experiences, Brandon Ballet, and the role of ballet in the community.
How did you start doing ballet?
I started taking ballet classes at a small dance studio after seeing Boston Ballet’s “Sleeping Beauty”. Immediately following the performance, I told my mother I wanted to be on that stage one day…in that ballet. Three years later, I was in Boston Ballet’s production of “Sleeping Beauty” (as a Page 😊).
What is your favorite role you ever performed?
My favorite role ever was “The Matchgirl” in a holiday CBS special created for the New England area in the early-80s. My favorite ballet role ever was the Lead Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s “Serenade”.
What has ballet taught you about life?
It has taught me the true power of quiet–I don’t think there is a louder cry than a dancer bearing her soul inside an empty studio to a solo piano. I find the most powerful artists and people those who can quiet a room with their passion rather than their volume.
It has also taught me my
“trinity”: understanding, hard work/discipline and
adaptability–without both, success in anything can be very difficult.
How did you become the artistic director
of Brandon Ballet?
Honestly, it was a fluke. In March 2017, I had decided to
“retire” from full-time teaching and was planning to teach ballet
only part-time. By June of the same year, I had acquired a couple of
serious job offers in college administration and corporate branding, but
neither felt quite right. I decided to job search one last time before
settling on one of the offers, and typed “ballet” into
Indeed.com. It was there that I saw the job listing.
From there, I applied for the position immediately and within a week was
teaching my first class at The Dance Center for Executive Director, Alice
Bock. By the end of July, I had accepted the position at Brandon
Ballet–it felt right 😊
What’s your favorite thing about Brandon
Ballet?
The size. I get to work closely with young artists through professionals
each day. I love training serious, young dancers as well as coaching
pre-professionals and professionals while also being able to guide them in the
areas outside of the studio that immediately affect artistic success. I
also love that the size allows us to continue focusing on quality classical
ballet as well as getting to know our audiences and community.
What do you think is Brandon Ballet’s
role in the community?
To bring quality classical ballet to the Central-Florida community highlighting
the local talents of training, pre-professional, and professional
artists. I also feel it is important to make ballet approachable and
accessible to our community through innovative approaches to our training
models, performances, and production adaptations.
What do you think audiences will like
most about this season?
I think they will enjoy seeing the growth of the company. Not only in
numbers but in the artistic growth of each dancer. I think audiences will
enjoy seeing several dancers take more ownership of their performances as their
technical strength and kinesthetic awareness begin to merge. There is a
wonderful energy that surrounds the Company this season…I think audiences
will be able to feel it.
What do you think will be most
challenging about this season?
There has been a wonderful momentum in the past two seasons; I feel the
continuation of this will be most challenging this season.
How do you think we can keep audiences
interested in ballet?
By rethinking the classical ballets that audiences love to make them more
approachable and recognizable. Plot lines can be adapted to be more
inclusive; creative approaches can be taken to characters and roles. With
all that is happening in society and the dance world, this can be a very
exciting time to reimagine some iconic classical ballets for a company such a
Brandon Ballet.
Written by Brandon Ballet Professional Artist, Courtney Moody
