On a chilly spring night in Balboa Park, the Casa del Prado’s cavernous rehearsal room was warmed by the body heat of more than a dozen San Diego Civic Youth Ballet dance students.
Dressed uniformly in black leotards, white tights and pointe shoes, the teenage ballerinas from the advanced class were rehearsing for the premiere of “The Firebird,” a production that celebrates the organization’s 80th anniversary.
The San Diego Civic Youth Ballet, founded in 1945 by dance instructor and Parks and Recreation Department supervisor Maria Fielding, was one of the first city-sponsored ballet schools in the country.
As the resident classical ballet school in Balboa Park, the nonprofit organization serves more than 400 registrants and its outreach programs, ed by grants, teach about 300 youngsters in San Diego public schools.
Proceeds from SDCYB’s “Fairy Tales in the Park” provide an estimated $35,000 for scholarships annually.
Tony Award-winning choreographer and former San Diego resident Justin Peck took his first classes at SDCYB before training at the former California Ballet, and alumni Arabella Garduno and Leonardo Escobar-Moeller recently ed professional ballet companies.
But the staff is most proud of getting to know the students, many of whom attend classes five days a week and spend many hours rehearsing for shows.
Artistic director Danika Pramik-Holdaway, a former San Diego Ballet dancer, is in her 20th year at San Diego Civic Youth Ballet.
“A schoolteacher works with kids for one year and those kids move on,” Pramik-Holdaway said.
“But I teach classes of kids that are 6 or 7 years old and I teach them again when they are teenagers. I have them every day. It’s fun to see them grow up and I get to know them. I love that part of it.”
A challenging aspect of Pramik-Holdaway’s job is choosing classical ballet repertoire appropriate for young children.
For “The Firebird” production, she is choreographing more than 100 participating students, ages 6 to 18, and she works with two additional teachers to ensure that all the students are in the right place at the right time.
At the recent “Firebird” rehearsal, Pramik-Holdaway stood with her back to a wall of mirrors and demonstrated elegant, sweeping arm movements, which were precisely copied by the young ballerinas, who will play an entourage of princesses.
The girls parted down the middle and Delia Marxen, 18, glided gracefully on pointe shoes towards her prince, played by guest artist Reece Taylor, a principal dancer with Golden State Ballet.
Marxen has taken classical ballet classes with SDCYB five days a week for more than five years. In a partnering segment, as Taylor lifted her over his head, she arched her back and extended her legs with a captivating blend of lyricism and strength.
“Delia is steadfast and very musical,” said Pramik-Holdaway.
“She really hears the music and she’s better than anyone I’ve seen in years. She’s a beautiful performer emotionally, as well.”
During a rehearsal break, Taylor tried on a princely medieval vest, made by resident costumer Tammy Molenaar, who has created costumes for both SDCYB and the San Diego Junior Theater, also housed at the Casa del Prado, for more than a decade.
It’s a big job because “The Firebird,” composer Igor Stravinsky’s first ballet score, requires many costumes.
Based on a Russian fairytale, the principal roles include a prince and princess, an evil immortal who captures the princess and the magical Firebird, who saves the day. The dancer parts include minions, palace guards, enchanted birds and a hunting party.
“There’s a whole lot of costumes for the little ones,” quipped Molenaar, who specializes in repurposing theatrical costumes.
“There’s a split cast, with eight hedgehogs, 16 foxes and 21 hares. I found a fantastic fabric for the hedgehogs, a jumpsuit that’s really cute. For the foxes, we had existing vests that had a fur collar. I added knickers, ears and a tail. For hares, I bought gray fur for pants and they have fur mittens and cuffs.”
The history of the SDCYB has a number of milestones familiar to marketing director and historian Ira Bauer-Spector, who ed the organization in 2015.
He said that the SDCYB classes were initially conducted in the park’s Food & Beverage building, but in the 1970s, San Diego Junior Theatre, the San Diego Youth Orchestra and SDCYB advocated for special use of Casa del Prado building for the purpose of cultural youth activities. Today there are five studios at Casa del Prado that SDCYB shares with other arts organizations.
“When it comes to our venue, our dance studios and theater are paid for by the city,” Bauer-Spector explained.
“All of our use at the Casa del Prado is done through a special-use permit and that is why we are one of the most affordable ballet schools in town. We have been here for generations and we really are a part of the San Diego story, which I think has allowed us to continue and thrive at what we do. Our slogan is “everyone should have the opportunity to dance.”
The opportunity to play the role of the Firebird made student dancer Holyn Brandt, 15, drop her phone.
“I was in the car with my mom and Rosie, my understudy, had texted me saying congrats, you are going to be so good,” Holyn said excitedly. “So, I opened the cast list and as soon as I saw my name as the Firebird, I dropped my phone and me and my mom both screamed we were so excited.”
Holyn hopes to make ballet a career and said that attending SDCYB since the age of 4 has provided her with life skills as well as ballet technique.
“It gives me a way to challenge myself physically and mentally — learning combinations, but also strength and flexibility,” she said.
“It’s definitely time consuming but I love it so much, that’s why I’ve kept at it for 11 years. It’s a way to express myself creatively and it’s very fun. I look forward to coming here every day.”
San Diego Civic Youth Ballet presents ‘The Firebird’
When: 7 p.m. March 28; 2 and 7 p.m. March 29; 2 p.m. March 30
Where: Casa del Prado Theater, 1650 El Prado, Balboa Park
Tickets: $25
Phone: 619-259-0220
Online: sdcyb.org
