Environmental Ballets

Rebecca Kelly Ballet
ENVIRONMENTAL WORKS - New York City and The Adirondacks

Rebecca Kelly, Artistic Director
Craig Brashear, Executive Director

Board of Directors / Appleby Fdn.
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REBECCA KELLY BALLET encourages partnerships with organizations sharing the common goal of raising awareness and providing solutions in our stewardship of the environment. Please contact RKB's office to find out the many ways creative and practical ways we can work together: RKB 212-431-8489, 646-734-7151

Photographs are under copyright
Left: "Apayana" photo Todd Bissonette

CLICK for LIST and LINKS TO MOUNTAIN LAKE PBS-TV PRESENTATIONS about Rebecca Kelly (PBS-TV serving Vermont, Montreal, the Adirondacks of NY)

Cascade, 2015
Dispossessed, 2014
Apayana, 2011
Adirondack Elemental, 2007, 2017
Wilderness Suite, 2002
Soft Moon, 1994
Delicate Balance, 1993
The Paper Chase, 1993
Boundaries, 1993
Yellow Stone, 1990
Tear of the Clouds, 1989

Watch several highlight programs about RKB and environmental dances on MountainLake PBS TV
"Spotlight"and "Art Express"2017, 2012, 2005 , more

The Environmental Dances
The environment has long been a concern and a topic in Rebecca Kelly's creativity. Rebecca Kelly Ballet
has been at the edge of contemporary arts trends making dances which raise awareness for pressing
social issues. Her expressive dancers are uniquely versatile in both modern and classical ballet technique.

The Company has spent over 30 summers presenting its performance camp, OnStage and a variety of intensives, performances, mentoring, and original dance-based activities throughout the towns and hamlets
of northern-most upstate New York, from Plattsburgh to Watertown amd from Lake Placid to North Creek.

In 2007 RKB was selected by the 100-year old Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks to present
for its constituency "Tear of the Clouds," Rebeca's seminal 1989 environmental work bringing awareness
and dialogue to the ongoing concern about acid rain and its effects on our forests and lakes. AFPA is dedicated to sustaining ecological integrity and mutual well being of natural and human communities
in the Adirondack Park. www.protectadks.org

CLICK ON IMAGE TO WATCH THAT BALLET. Or visit RKB's Vimeo, YouTube, or RKB video site

Rebecca Kelly Ballet "the very best achievement in welding movement onto ideas, engaging the brain"

ADIRONDACK ELEMENTAL SUITE, commissioned by Dance Force. Air, (2007 & 2011),
Earth, (2008), Waters, (2008), Snow (2017)

Click to Watch MountainLake PBS TV 2017" Spotlight"

The suite draws upon the upstate New York
environment of the Adirondack for its themes.

APAYANA, 2011
“Climate change was the thought behind this ballet made during the tumultuous weather of spring 2011, and presented again in 2017, and the monarch butterflieds are the messengers. I’d already noticed the patterns
of the hummingbirds and butterflies seemed to be shifting. Apayaana is the Sanskrit word for flight, as in retreat. The ballet shifts from an environment of harmony, using a tapestry of natural sounds, in contrast to
the increasingly taut rhythms and melodies of a classical string quartet, to finally a point of departure.” It premiered in August 2011 in the Adirondacks. Two weeks later Hurricane Irene devastated the area."RK

See excerpts of Apayana and other environmental dances Wilderness Suite, Air, on MoutainLake PBS-TV

CASCADE, 2015

The music was composed by Andreas Welch, a young boy from Brooklyn, NY. This beautiful rippling piano score was created when Andreas was 8-years old. When I heard it for the first time in December, I knew I wanted to make a ballet about clear water running down a mountain to a lake. ..so that we could all think about how pure and precious it is -- and what happens to it before it reaches its destination.

DISPOSSESSED, 2014

"I am intrigued by your knowledge of refugees and their often terrible plight to try to get to another country. So much suffering yet so much bravery. I can understand why you were inspired to produce “Dispossessed". You have done a lot of research. How deplorable that people get paid to bring refugees in, yet after a few months, are abandoned.

Now I need to watch the dance next as I will for surely be able to understand more about what you are conveying through your choreography and your dancers."
Dancer Citizen

MOUNTAIN LAKE PBS-TV broadcast
LIST of PBS Presentations about Rebecca Kelly

"Many of Choreographer Rebecca Kelly’s ballets draw their inspiration from her strong desire to raise awareness about environmental concerns. Spending time in the Adirondacks of New York State helps remind the choreographer that natural wonders may not last if humans don’t take steps to preserve them. This “Spotlight” segment originally aired on Mountain Lake Journal Extra. Support for “Spotlight” segments is provided, on part, by the Glenn and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation, dedicated to improving the quality of life for year-round residents of the Adirondack Park. www.pearsallfoundation.org"

Paul Larson and Rebecca Kelly