A Gift of Flowers 

As was the case for so many others, 2020 was to be a promising year of new beginnings for Catskill Ballet Theatre. Melissa Bierstock took the helm as our new Artistic Director upon the retirement of Anne Hebard, our esteemed founder and director for 38 years. 

We built up our coffers to present a spring season for the first time in eight years. We had conducted a full inventory of Alice in Wonderland. Props were revitalized. Costumes were refurbished. The original music was newly digitized. Choreography was re-imagined. Guest artists were hired. Casting was set. We had ten weeks of rehearsals under our belts. We were in the home stretch of a long-awaited and hard-earned goal. 

And then we, along with the rest of the world, hit pause in March. We held out hope for a summer performance of Alice in Wonderland, which could not materialize. Soon after, it was apparent that there would also be no Nutcracker for the first time in 37 years.

Of course, we felt grief over our losses. But under the tireless dedication of Melissa Bierstock, we found new ways to provide opportunities for our dancers and to bring art to the community at a time when it is so desperately needed. So it turned out to be a year of new beginnings after all. We learned together how to rehearse on Zoom, to dance masked in sneakers in parks, to find safe opportunities to perform - whether it be outside of nursing homes to bring joy to their residents, or by capturing performances on video to share with our community. We share with you here just one example of our resilience.

Please enjoy our gift of “The Waltz of the Flowers”. This excerpt from CBT’s Nutcracker has been re-imagined to be COVID-safe in both choreography and setting. It is the product of our Artistic Director’s innovation; our dancers’ dedication - demonstrated by their willingness to perform many takes on a cold day; our volunteers’ generosity - three videographers gave us their entire Sunday and countless hours in the editing room; and our partners’ support - Scenic Hudson* allowed us to take over the pavilion at Esopus Meadows Preserve for a day. 

We hope it brings you inspiration and joy during these times. We also hope to remain poised to bring you Alice in Wonderland, The Nutcracker, and so much more when the world allows. In the meantime, we’ll keep doing our best to keep the arts alive to lift our spirits out of this crisis. 

Of course, your support is always appreciated. If you are able, please consider helping us to weather the storm so that we may continue our legacy long after it passes.

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*Use of Esopus Meadows Preserve for this event was provided by Scenic Hudson. The leading environmental organization focused on the Hudson River Valley, it is dedicated to creating environmentally healthy communities, championing smart economic growth, protecting working farms, opening up riverfronts to the public and preserving the valley’s beauty and natural resources. Since its founding in 1963, Scenic Hudson has permanently protected 25,000 acres of irreplaceable landscapes and created or enhanced more than 40 parks.