Press

Columbia Ballet Collaborative hosts its second annual showcase after the pandemic along with Yale, Princeton, and Harvard, at the Alvin Ailey Studios.

Weekly company class is also a beloved feature of Columbia Ballet Collaborative at New York City’s Columbia University. “It’s nice because people who aren’t cast that semester can still come,” says CBC artistic director Willa Broderick, a junior at Columbia College studying sustainable development and a graduate of Boston Ballet’s pre-professional program. Both she and CBC’s executive director, junior Madeline Angelides, supplement CBC class and rehearsal with technique classes through the affiliated Barnard College’s dance department. Angelides, who attended The Rock School, is pursuing a combined major in economics and statistics at Barnard. The duo produce CBC’s twice-yearly performances, which showcase a mix of guest and student choreographers and classical repertoire. This fall’s lineup includes choreographer Courtney Cochran and Black Iris Project artistic director Jeremy McQueen, among others. “It truly functions like a mini dance company,” says Angelides. “Just one that’s run by 20-year-olds.”

As the voice of Duke Ellington crooned, five ballet dancers seemed to mimic a jazz composition. Moving in related, but not identical ways, they maintained a functional harmony. Asymmetrical, individualized, and facing different directions at times, the dancers stretched the limits of what a ballet performance typically looks and sounds like.

Columbia Ballet Collaborative celebrated its 15th anniversary Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, April 10 with its spring 2022 performances at Miller Theatre—the group’s first in-person performances in three years. Each piece put a refreshing twist on ballet, featuring original choreography from choreographers Melanie Ramos, Holly Curran, CC ’18, Abbey McWhirter, BC ’25, and Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Derek Brockington.

The New York Times, Spring 2018 — This student run dance company attracts talent, both in its dancers, who study at Columbia University, and in its established and up-and-coming choreographers. (Justin Peck, the resident choreographer of New York City Ballet, got his start here.) For the group’s spring season, the lineup includes Jerome Robbins’s “Antique Epigraphs,” a 1984 work set to Debussy that brings Greek friezes to life. There will also be dances by Miro Magloire, Caili Quan, Michele Wiles, Allegra Herman and Connor Yockus.

Columbia Daily Spectator, Spring 2017 — There is, however, potential for organizations such as Columbia Ballet Collaborative—with a well-established alliance of female innovators—to find a viable path toward change. CBC, having created a place where young choreographers can get a foothold in the professional realm, holds a unique position in the arts and culture community on campus and, more broadly, in New York City. Most crucially, CBC provides choreographers with resources that are hard to come by: studio space, talented dancers, connections, and the freedom to take risks.

Dance Magazine, March 2013 — Thanks to the caliber of dancing and occasional big names on the bill, CBC shows have attracted considerable attention. They often take place at well-known venues like Columbia’s Miller Theater or Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. Another distinguishing feature is CBC’s commitment to presenting new work, which has grown even stronger in recent years. Every show includes premieres by both student and outside choreographers.

The New York Times, December 2008 — Along with the desire to introduce Columbia students to ballet, a primary aim of the collaborative has been to provide a platform for new choreography, both within and outside the ranks of the group. New choreographic voices are rare in ballet, and the collaborative’s contribution in this respect has been vast already.