About NCBE

	N C B E











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HISTORY OF
THE NORTH COUNTRY BALLET ENSEMBLE

PERFORMANCE - TRAINING - EDUCATION - OUTREACH

Situated on the shores of Lake Champlain and in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, the NCBE was founded in 1983 and incorporated in 1986 as Northern New York's first non-profit ballet company. The Ballet Ensemble has become a regional company,drawing students widely from Clinton, Essex, and Franklin counties, and its activities serve Plattsburgh, and the Tri-Lakes area. Working collaboratively with area ballet schools, regional dance companies, and professional dancers and choreographers, NCBE presents classical ballets, modern works, school programs, summer intensives, and worshiop dance.

Designed to develop young artists of the North Country, and to provide performing experience for student dancers in the art of ballet, the North Country Ballet Ensemble endeavors to raise the standards of children's theater so that the beauty of dance is understood. At the same time NCBE provides a comprehensive background in the classics and contemporary ballets for young dancers. The NCBE’s mission includes Educational Outreach programming to bring live dance performance to underserved communities and populations.

Many classical ballets have been performed over the past 26 years to entertain and educate the general public. The list of well-known classical ballets produced by NCBE begins with The Nutcracker, the famous holiday classic performed in Plattsburgh since 1986. From modest beginnings, the NCBE has brought the production up to its present-day level. NCBE's holiday favorite has been aired seasonally in recent years by PBS MountainLakes TV. Other classical works performed by NCBE include Sleeping Beauty, Act 3 and Prologue, Pas de Quatre, Les Sylphide, Coppelia Acts 1 and 2, and Peter and the Wolf.

NCBE provides access between students and working professionals in the field of dance. Since 1998 it has enjoyed a long relationship with artist from Rebecca Kelly Ballet of NYC. The Festival of the Lakes commissioned New York City choreographer Rebecca Kelly, to create the modern ballet, Indigo for NCBE to perform at the Festival in Saranac Lake. Rebecca Kelly selected 7 NCBE dancers to premier the opening movement the ballet, Wilderness Suite, at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. Other repertory created by Kelly for NCBE include Awapuhi, Alua, A Delicate Balance, Vivaldi, Telemann, Making the Band, and Gimme the Beat.

For more information contact NCBE Artistic Director by email. debbieguibord@gmail.com

NCBE on Lake Champlain

NCBE STAFF

Deborah Guibord, Artistic Director
Deborah Guibord-Stay, the North Country Ballet Ensemble’s Artistic Director is a native of Plattsburgh, and is Director of Guibord’s North Country School of Ballet. Ms. Guibord earned her AA in Dance from Stephens College and BA in Dance from Goddard College. She has earned both the Associate and Licentiate Diplomas from Cecchetti USA, is a member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London, England, and serves on the Eastern Committee of Cecchetti USA.

Ms. Guibord-Stay’s training after college included teachers Zeda Zare, Jean Spear, Joyce Sheitze, Betty Seibert, and Suzanne Plante. In addition to ballet training, she has studied the Modern Techniques of Limon, Graham, and Cunningham, and trained in Character Dance. In 1973, Ms. Guibord-Stay founded Guibord’s North Country School of Ballet, which trains dancers through the pre-professional level as well as providing others the opportunity to study dance for recreational purposes. Ms. Guibord-Stay is one of the original founders of the NCBE and under her direction the student company has given youth from the North Country numerous opportunities to perform classical and contemporary works.

Bonnie Black, Artistic Staff
Bonnie Black attained her BA in English with a minor in Theatre from PSUNY followed by an MA in Liberal Studies also from PSUNY. As a dance teacher at Guibord’s North Country School of Ballet since 1979, Ms. Black has enjoyed working with dancers ages 4 through adult in ballet and tap. In addition to being an Assistant Artistic Director and rehearsal mistress for the North Country Ballet Ensemble, her experience in the technical aspects of theatrical production has been an asset to the organization.

Part of the artistic community of the North Country for over three decades, Ms. Black is a founding member of Friends of Theatre, Inc. and a Past President (twice over) for the Council on the Arts for Clinton County. She has choreographed for PSUNY Summer Music Theatre, and the PSUNY Theatre Department, and co-hosted the annual Arts Auction on Mountain Lake PBS for a number of years. She also taught Humanities and Theatre courses, as well as advising the Drama Club at Clinton Community College for 17 years and now teaches Theatre for Cazanovia College. Ms. Black enjoys guiding students to the many resources for the arts in our community

Alice Schonbek, Artistic Staff
Alice Schonbek holds an MA in Dance Performance from the Tisch School/Gallatiin Division of NYU. While living in New York, she studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center where she was a merit scholar, and also was a merit scholarship student at Steps on Broadway. Ms. Schonbek danced with several modern dance companies including the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble and Warren Spears and Friends.

Alice returned to Plattsburgh in 1983 and began teaching at PSUNY and Guibord’s North Country School of Ballet, in addition to studying and performing in Montreal. Ms Schonbek has been on the teaching staff at the Lake Placid School of Ballet since 2008. She was a founding member of the North Country Ballet Ensemble, and is on the Artistic Staff as well as being a rehearsal mistress there. She is an ABT Certified Teacherâ who has successfully completed the ABT teacher training intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT National Training gmailCurriculumâ. Her other artistic and community affiliations including sitting on the board of the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts, serving as Past President of the Council on the Arts for Clinton County, as well as being a current member of the Rebecca Kelly Ballet Board of Directors.

For more information contact: debbieguibord@gmail.com
North Country Ballet Ensemble, Inc.
P.O. Box 2871
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
www.balletplattsburgh.org

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without expressed written consent from North Country Ballet Ensemble. 11-22/10