The Box Gallery
presents
A Night with Ballet Atlantica
Come and enjoy an evening with Ballet Atlantica!
Doors open at 6 pm for a meet and greet with founder and artistic director
Jesse Seth Hammel and company.
From 7-8 pm there will be 3 presentations.
Meet the cast of Firebird opening at the Lake Worth Playhouse later in the week....
RSVP
May 5, 2017 | PM
$15 Advanced Donation
$20 at the Door between 5-6:45 PM
The Box Gallery
811 Belvedere Road
West Palm Beach, Florida 33405
About Jesse Seth Mammel:
Mr. Hammel was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and soon after, his family re-located to Desoto, Kansas. As a child, it was clear he had an aptitude for acrobatics so his family enrolled him in Gymnastics classes at the age of 7 years. When he was 10 years old, his family re-located to sunny South Florida where he continued studying Gymnastics at Margate's International School of Gymnastics and later at Gold Coast Gymnastics here in the Palm Beaches. At both schools, he competed in local and statewide competitions where he won many awards including Florida State All-Around Championship. A severe foot injury at age 13 halted any further high impact athletics for several years until completely healed. It was in this period, Jesse discovered the excitement of Opera Theater. Over the next few years, he performed chorus roles in such renown Operas as "Madame Butterfly", "Pagliacci", "Il Travatore", "Gianni Schicci", "Tosca", and his favorite, "Carmen". It was in the Opera that Jesse was to have his first professional experiences in the Theater.
In 1990, when he was cleared for high-impact movement, Jesse began an intensive 2 year full-scholarship with the Academy of Ballet Florida. Artistic Director Marie Hale and Ballet Mistress Claudia Cravey, along with Megan Mackey, Stacey Smith and Esther Bello-Meyer, directly supervised his tutelage. In this period, Mr. Hammel also attendend Houston Ballet Academy Summer Intensives on full-scholarship and paid stipend with Clara Cravey and Steve Brule. After this dynamic 2 year pre-professional preparation, Marie Hale awarded Jesse with a professional apprenticeship with Ballet Florida. During this 2 year period, Mr. Hammel performed and nationally toured with the Company in such Ballets as Marie Hale's multi-million dollar production of "The Nutcracker", Vicente Nebrada's "Romeo and Juliet" and "Firebird", Norbert Vesac's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", John Butler's "Carmina Burana", Val Caniparoli's "Lady of the Camillias", as well as several appearances within the Academy.
In 1994 he was offered and accepted a soloist contract with Tampa Bay Ballet Theater. While with the Company, he performed Artistic Director Tony Catanzaro's "The Nutcracker" as Arabian and Dew Drop Cavalier, in Yanis Pikeris' "Gasparilla", and Christopher Fleming's "Holiday Dances".
In 1995, Mr. Hammel sought to diversify his Classical Ballet career with the expressiveness of Modern Dance. He joined the Demetrius Klein Dance Company for "THe Forgotten Spaces Tour" in which the Company held professional artist-in-residence, sight specific Dances. This series of Master classes, lecture demonstrations and performances engaged the Dancers in the local history, local Dancers and cultural revitalisation of abandoned or forgotten landmarks in Winston Salem, North Carolina, Columbus, Ohio, and St. Paul, Minnesota. In addition he also performed Mr. Klein's "Giselle", "Falcon", "In the Garden", "Alone", "First Night", "Scenes", "Jeux", "Prelude", "Bella Danza" and "The Raven". Upon returning from tour in the Spring of 1995, Jesse took the summer season to complete his Associate of Liberal Arts degree which he had also been moonlighting to matriculate.
After graduating in late summer, while taking a family vacation back to Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jesse took random Modern and Ballet classes downtown and was "seen" by James Sewell Ballet Artistic Associate Sally Rouse. He was invited to join the dynamically professional, 6 member Ballet troupe in the Fall. James Sewell's experience with George Balanchine and Eliot Felds greatly influenced his daily Company Ballet technique classes and choreography. Additionally, James Sewell Ballet Dancers took vigorous professional technique classes with renown teachers such as Vagonova based Bonnie Mathis of American Ballet Theater and Nederlands Dance Theater and Lou Fancher of Canada's Alberta Ballet. Mr. Sewell's Company functioned like a well trained, Ballet SWAT team. Often touring repetoire for several weeks on end, Mr. Hammel criss-crossed The United States of America and Bermuda performing leading roles such as Seigfried in "White Swan Pas De Deux", Sampson in "Opera Moves: Sampson and Delilah", the Lovers in "Tryst" and "Appalachia Waltz", "Moving Works", Minnesota Opera's "Aida", "Nirvana Dharma", "Winter", "Made In America", "In Counterpoint" and dozens of other James Sewell original Ballets. He also performed "Whisper at a Thousand" by Hernando Cortez, and Lou Fancher's powerful pas de deux "Enter/Exit" with the renowned Penelope Freeh. During this time, Jesse made several guest appearances with Ballet Arts Minnesota as Hilarion in "Giselle", Solor in "La Bayadere: Kingdom of the Shades", Sugarplum Cavalier for Lakeville Ballet, with Risa Cohen's Precipice Dance Theater, with Lou Fancher's Dancing People, and James Sewell's "Tryst" for Jan Goetz' Huntington Ballet Summer Festival. He choreographed "Aloysious Dreams" for James Sewell Ballet's summer choreographic intensive and well as setting original Dances such as "Nurse Shark", "Melonella", and "Om Namu Sivaya" upon Minneapolis' Xenon's Block E Performance Troupe.
In 2000, Mr. Hammel re-joined Demetrius Klein Dance Company for "Ocean Dance 2000" - a mixed-bill collaboration with Mikhail Baryshnikov's Company, The White Oak Project. He performed Klein's virtuosically athletic. "Halos in Reverse" on a concert stage before over 30,000 people on Hollywood Beach, Florida. During final bows, Baryshnikov took Mr. Hammel's hand to bow and proclaimed the beauty of his Dancing. In the Fall of 2000, Mr. Hammel moved from Minneapolis' James Sewell Ballet to perform leading roles with Denver, Colorado's David Taylor Dance Theater. For two years, he reprised his cannonical lead-role as Sugarplum Cavalier in David Taylor's "The Nutcracker" and several of his highly acclaimed, original Ballets such as "The Rainforest", "An American in Paris" and "Icon" while touring throughout the Rockies, The United States and British Columbia, Canada. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Hammel and Ms. Tracy Milakovik co-choreographed the timeless Dance, "Parallel and Elevated" which is still performed today. Jesse Danced leads in James Wallace's "The Storm" as Dracula, and his lightning paced "Cobalt 60", in Gary Abbot's "Blue", and Jeoff Horgan's "Urban Round Up". He also choreographed the original Ballets "Aloysious and Theo" and "Great Spangled Fritilliary" pas de deux for DTDT's Spring performance series, "Three's A Crowd". Mr. Hammel is grateful to have taken Company Ballet classes from great Vaganova based teachers Meelis Pakri, Nikolas Maketeli, and David Taylor.
In the summer of 2002, Jesse participated in Ballet Florida's choreographic initiative, "Step Ahead". He choreographed a highly visual and poetic Dance, "On Ruh Moraine", a romantic depiction from a scene in one of Mr. Hammel's poems. He also performed in Jerry Opdenaker's " Union", original cast of "Couer de Basque" and Christina Hampton's passionate "Love in War". In the Fall of 2002, Mr Hammel re-located to Southern California to perform with Molly Lynch's Irvine based Ballet Pacifica for its final season. There he again performed the leading role of Sugarplum Cavalier in Molly Lynch's "The Nutcracker", Lysander in her "Midsummer Night's Dream", and Tweedle Dee in her "Alice in Wonderland" as well as in Ballets such as Anthony Tudor's "Lilac Garden", Choo San Gogh's "Unknown Territory", Paul Vasterling's, "Saltinbanques", Todd William's "Wake, yet Wake", Mr. Hammel contributed two original works of innovative choreography in the Ballet Pacifica Dancers' Choreopgraphic Project; his contemporary "Erasmus Deconstructed" upon himself and Pacifica Dancers Adam Hundt and Caroline Jones and the Bollywoodesque "Siva and Parvati" with ballerina Gina Cerato.
When Ballet Pacifica dissolved in the Fall of 2003, Artistic Director Victor Trevino of Les Ballets Grandivas contacted Jesse about performing and touring with his Company. Mr. Hammel accepted the contract which requires its members to be competent in professional level Classical Pointe work as well as traditional Classical male roles. While touring through 40 major cities throughout Japan and Korea, Jesse performed en travesti roles such as "Swan Lake's 'Four Big Swans'", "Go for Barrocco", "Star Spangled Ballerina", and "Semi-Precious Stones" as well as male-roles in "Les Patineurs", "Walpurgisnacht", "In the Middle, Somewhat Below", and "Minkus Gala". Along with Mr. Hammel's traditional Ballet education in Men's technique and Partnering, he also had studied Pointe in order to strengthen his legs, feet and center. This invaluable experience has enabled him to understand how to better partner Ballerinas, as well as how to instruct students in proper Pointe Technique.
Upon returning to the United States, Jesse accepted a teaching position with Ballet Florida while he completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences and his Masters of Science degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine and concurrent professional Florida State licenses. Jesse continued to remain professionally active within the Ballet community as a guest artist with the renewed Ballet Pacifica in 2005 and 2006 performing as Sugarplum Cavalier in "The Nutcracker" as well as performing with San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet's production of "Sleeping Beauty". In 2005, he also participated once again in Ballet Florida's "Step Ahead" Choreographic Workshop creating his piece "Higher Love" and performing in Jerry Opdenaker's..... Receiving his professional degrees and licenses in late 2007, Jesse held a private practice in Acupuncture, Massage, Yoga and Herbal Medicine while continuing to teach at Ballet Florida until its untimely closing in 2009. As a result, Mr. Hammel banded together with Anna Nunes and Jessica Dos Santos to co-found Downtown Dance in Lake Worth, Florida as its Ballet Director and Co-Artistic Director.
During his 5 year tenure with Downtown Dance, Jesse has directed and performed in such Ballet favorites as "Spectre de la Rose", "Firebird", Seigfried in "White Swan Pas de Deux", Sugarplum Cavalier in "The Nutcracker by Seth", "Alice in Wonderland", "The Wizard of Oz", "Peter Pan, and "Under the Big Top". He has choreographed numerous original Ballets such as "Chronos Requiem", "Cabaret Extraordinaire", "Glades Star", "Calypso", "Joy to the World", "Roll Call" and many others. Mr. Hammel's students have excelled in ballet and Pointe technique and have been accepted into the prestigious Bak Middle School of the Arts and the Dreyfoos High School of the Arts. He passionately infuses his classes with 25 years of professional performing experience and the wisdom of his Health Science degrees and practice. Mr. Hammel has performed for millions of people and taught thousands of Dancers.
Now, he has created his own studio to educate and prepare the next generation of Dance Artists
...Ballet Atlantica!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete