I visited the Ballet San Jose building today and had a brief tour with Marketing Director / Publicist Lee Kopp. The building is one of the older San Jose historical buildings as it was partially constructed in 1927, but never finished, adding a bit of uniqueness to the modern upgrades made within, though it has the original elevator; yes it still works.
Team San Jose, who I work with, is very involved in the promotion of the arts and culture within San Jose and I enjoy the opportunities I have to meet with the individual involved in these facilities and productions. If this article comes off as a fan piece, well, that is the case.
During the tour I was able to see some of the dancers practicing, in groups and solo. One of the upper floors is currently being converted to a stage area where they will be able to do small in-house shows. The building is very…interesting inside. Every room seems to have its own entrance, exit and corridor leading back to wherever you came in from, it was almost mazelike.
I was also shown the customized crates they use for transporting their productions, the crates are designed to fit near perfectly within the entire belly of a 747 stacked against one another.
While they offer classes for those interested in learning the art of Ballet, around 400 students currently, Ballet San Jose has some serious world known talent in their roster.
As Ballet San Jose’s 2009-2010 season comes to a conclusion I’m looking forward to their 2010-2011 season.