Company C Contemporary Ballet came to life in the summer of 2002, when choreographer Charles Anderson was invited to pull together a group of dancers to fill a vacancy in a series being presented at San Francisco’s Cowell Theater.  In a few short months, Mr. Anderson assembled a group of dancers to perform a program of his own choreography. Under the name “Company C,” the fledgling troupe performed at the Cowell and later at the Allen E. Jones Performing Arts Center in Brentwood, California.

The Company grew rapidly in 2003, adding works by outside choreographers David Anderson, former principal dancer for San Francisco Ballet, and James Sewell, artistic director of James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis. The Company also performed its first hour-long ballet, Charles Anderson’s interpretation of Igor Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale. By the end of 2003, the Company had performed eleven times throughout California.

In 2004, the Company commissioned A World to Come by Alexandre Proia, former soloist with New York City Ballet, and acquired a second work by David Anderson. In addition to its San Francisco and Walnut Creek season, the Company also produced the first annual Oakland Dance Festival at the Malonga Casquelourd Theater in Oakland, an invitation only, three weekend event featuring the work of Company C Contemporary Ballet and other Bay area dance companies. 

2005 was another year of exponential growth for Company C Contemporary Ballet. The Company added to its repertoire Twyla Tharp’s classic Eight Jelly Rolls and a new work by Patrick Corbin, formerly a featured dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The Company was presented by the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park and the El Campanil Theater in Antioch, produced the second annual Oakland Dance Festival in June and performed in San Francisco at the Cowell Theater in September.

Company C Contemporary Ballet opened its fourth season with debut performances at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California. In the spring of 2006, the Company added to its repertoire Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Appearances, Twyla Tharp’s Country Dances and premiered Charles Anderson’s Guaraldi Suite. The Company’s regional tour in 2006 included the Charlene Powers Lang Performing Arts Theatre in Lodi, California with return engagements at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center and the El Campanil Theatre.  In the summer of 2006, the Company was invited to perform at the Mendocino Music Festival and made its New York debut at the prestigious Joyce SoHo in New York City.

In 2007 the Company added Paul Taylor’s 3 Epitaphs and Antony Tudor’s Dark Elegies to its repertoire as well as new works by Alexandre Proia, Patrick Corbin and Charles Anderson. The Company opened its 2007 season at the Dean Lesher Regional Center in Walnut Creek with performances following at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco.  Return engagements include the Spreckels Performing Arts Center, where the Company first performed Antony Tudor’s masterful Dark Elegies. The Company also debuted at the Amador Theater in Pleasanton, and added a second San Francisco season at the ODC Theatre in May. Company C Contemporary Ballet presented the fourth annual Oakland Dance Festival followed by a return to the Mendocino Music Festival in July.

The Company presented two Walnut Creek and San Francisco seasons in 2008 and added repertoire by David Parsons, David Grenke, and Michael Smuin.  The Company performed the world premiere of Twyla Tharp’s Armenia at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and toured to Temecula, California, Mendocino, California and Akron, Ohio.

In 2009, the Company commissioned new ballets from Gregory Dawson and Nikolai Kabaniaev, added a work by San Francisco Ballet's Val Caniparoli and acquired its fourth work by National Medal of Arts recipient Twyla Tharp.  In September 2009, the Company also joined Diablo Light Opera in a production of Jerome Robbins' On the Town.

Company C Contemporary Ballet

Administrative Office:
675 Ygnacio Valley Road
Suite B-213
Walnut Creek, CA 94596

925.708.0752
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