Nashville Ballet ends its season with performances at Belmont

Nashville Ballet’s end-of-season performance is especially momentous this year. On June 4-5, the award-winning ballet company presents a repertoire of ballets at Belmont University’s new, state-of-the-art Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

For company dancer Julia Eisen, this feels like a milestone. “We’ve been through a lot over the past couple of years,” she said. “We went from isolating in our homes, doing virtual performances, and wondering if art was going to stay alive, to winning an Emmy and then going on national tour. For us to be able to cap off the season at this incredibly beautiful, glamorous venue right here in Nashville, it’s a big celebratory moment.”

The coronavirus hit the arts sector hard, and Nashville Ballet was no exception. But despite the shutdowns and question marks about what the future would hold, Nashville Ballet won an Emmy Award for their made-for-TV version of the "Nutcracker" that aired on WTVF in December 2020. Then Artistic Director Paul Vasterling’s New York Times-acclaimed production, “Lucy Negro Redux,” which debuted in Nashville to three sold-out performances in 2019, went on national tour earlier this year.

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“Our home has been TPAC for so long, and we love performing there, but I’m just so honored to close out our 2021-2022 season in this special way,” Eisen said.

Fashioned after traditional European opera houses, the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts opened Sept. 14, 2021. The $180 million multifunctional facility was “designed to be the best performance venue on any college campus in the world,” a Belmont press release states. The venue offers Belmont students a world-class learning and performing environment while also hosting major concerts, plays, operas, dance, musical theater and more for the greater Nashville community to enjoy.

For its inaugural year, the venue wanted to highlight Nashville’s performance art offerings, and conversations with the Nashville Ballet started in 2019.

“We got a chance to do a hard hat tour while it was developing,” said Lisa French, executive director of Nashville Ballet. “They truly thought of everything, from the front of the house to backstage. It has this kind of special intimate feeling, the way it’s laid out, but it’s also incredibly grand. Our dancers, staff and audiences are in for a treat.”

The performance features three very different ballets set to some of classical music’s most iconic pieces. Company dancers will perform award-winning choreographer Val Caniparoli’s popular Tutto Eccetto il Lavandino (everything but the kitchen sink), featuring music by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, as well as Associate Artistic Director Nick Mullikin’s newest work, 2,192 Days, a pas de deux featuring music by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov performed live by a small ensemble. The performance includes a sneak peek of a new piece by award-winning choreographer Matthew Neenan, commissioned by Nashville Ballet and scheduled to debut in its entirety during the 2022-23 season.

“These ballets are very music-driven,” said Eisen. “We really try to capture the essence of each instrument, which is a rewarding feeling for a dancer, to be one with the violin, cello or flute. And it will be really exciting to portray each choreographer’s vision in the world of one of the most beautiful venues I’ve ever seen.”

With stunning classical architecture and advanced technology, production and acoustic capabilities, the 1,700-seat Fisher Center was made to be versatile. The fact that the theater’s stage has a built-in sprung floor is especially exciting for Nashville Ballet, which often has to lug their own to venues, French said. “There were really no limitations to what we could program for the Fisher Center. In terms of the audience and artist experience, it’s truly ‘the sky’s the limit.'”

For Eisen, the facility is proof of Nashville’s growth. “It shows how Nashville can better support the arts community now,” she said.

It’s also proof to her that the “arts are still very much alive.”

“This is a huge opportunity for us to showcase what the Nashville arts community has to offer in a place that feels both familiar but also new and spectacular.”

If you go

What: Nashville Ballet at Belmont

When: June 4-5

Where: Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at 2020 Belmont Blvd.

Tickets: tickets@nashvilleballet.com or call 615-297-2966, ext. 710

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Ballet ends season at Belmont's new state-of-the-art theater