Ballet Arizona announced its new season last week with a combination of traditional shows that will bring in the crowds and innovative new works that, as artistic director Daniela Cardim described, push the art form forward.
It’s the company’s 40th anniversary and Cardim’s second year at the helm. She took over after the long and storied career of dancer, choreographer and artistic director Ib Andersen, who left Ballet Arizona in 2024 after 24 years in the role.
Cardim is an internationally celebrated dancer and choreographer herself, most recently at the New English Ballet Theater in London. But the Rio de Janeiro native has choreographed and danced all over the world.
And so, when The Show sat down with her the started with the question: Why Phoenix, Arizona, of all places?
Full conversation
DANIELA CARDIM: I really loved living in Europe, but I just felt, when you feel like a cycle in your life is kind of ending, and I just kind of felt that was the case. I really wanted to direct a company. I was co-director in the UK of a smaller company, and I was choreographing a lot. But I just felt it was time to move on, and it was kind of an intuition almost, but I felt that the opportunity was in the U.S.
And then I started looking and I saw this position, when this position open, and I was like, I started researching about a company. I kind of knew the company had a good reputation, but I started looking more into it and I thought, perfect size. really good position, a strong history, and started looking into Phoenix. And I've never been to the desert, to be honest.
But I grew up in a very warm country. I grew up in Brazil. So that felt attractive to me. So yeah, I started looking and I was like, why not?
LAUREN GILGER: Has it been a bit of a cultural adventure, if not a professional one as well?
CARDIM: A little bit, but not actually. I don't know. I'm one of those people I adapt really well wherever I go. So I lived in four different countries and I can see the good things and the bad things everywhere. And you just have to look for the things you like and the things that you can connect with.
GILGER: So I want to ask about what you've been able to do so far in the year, almost two years here that you've been here already and what your vision looks like for the future. Like in terms of programming, what's your philosophy?
Like I know you have talked about wanting to bring back some of the classics that brought people to the ballet, you know, traditionally, but you also choreograph yourself as well. How do you envision the mix of what you would like this company to do in the future?
CARDIM: So there are a few things that are important for me. So first of all, we are a classical ballet company. We have the duty to keep presenting classical ballet from the classical canon. So we started the season with the “Sleeping Beauty.” And the “Sleeping Beauty” it's a 100-plus-year-old ballet, you know, very traditional, very beautiful. And it needs to be performed, very faithful to the original.
So there is my seasons, probably we'll always have something that is very classical. And if one season doesn't, then the next one will for sure. Because this is part of what we have to do.
Now, next to that, I also like to bring work that is new, or tell new stories, or tell stories in a different way, right? So this year we did “Alice in Wonderland.” And Alice, it's not such a new story, but it's a new ballet, actually. The ballet was created, I think, 20-something years ago by Septime Webre. It is a story, ballet. It is still very family-friendly, but it's very modern in a way, like the way that he choreographed and the way the production is and the design.
And then we have our programs, there are more, we call the contemporary ballet programs. And these are fun to program because usually they are triple bill, we call. So there are three different smaller ballets in one night. And for me, it's nice to give like a range. So this year, we're doing something from the classical ballet, which is the Balanchine, all the way to the contemporary ballet, which is "Cacti." So then in that program again is balance.
GILGER: Is part of that a marketing strategy today? Because it's such a difficult time to attract people to the traditional arts or really to get people to come out to anything anymore.
I wonder how you think about that, how you think about attracting and bringing in new audiences, which I mean, every company in the country and the world is going to have to be doing right now.
CARDIM: Yes, for sure. We have to consider that. That's one element. So again, it's about balance. So the mixed bills, typically they are much harder to sell, to attract audiences, because it's not a story. People don't necessarily know what they're going to come and see.
However, we have to keep doing it, because those are the ballets that you could say, push the art form forward. That's what keeps us alive. It's what keeps us modern and current.
GILGER: That's interesting. So you think about it in both ways. I wonder, as you're looking at trying to program these things and trying to, you know, make sure that you can sell seats, but also push the art form forward, you've said that your goal here is to turn the ballet into, you know, an internationally renowned top company in the country.
Is this how you think you do it? Like that kind of balance? Is it about who you bring in? Is it about your dancers, your principles? Is it about the programming more? What do you think it needs?
CARDIM: So it's a combination of things. I think we are a little bit of a hidden jewel in the desert, if you will. But the quality of our dancers is excellent. So that means we can perform very high quality, high profile choreographers.
By bringing these choreographers here, which I already have started doing, you start to create awareness because they go away and they talk. They're like, yeah, I was just with Ballet Arizona and it was great and the dancers are fantastic and they did my work really well. And that's kind of how you like grow reputation.
So this is a little bit of my strategy as well, is bringing a lot of national and international top, top choreographers and top works, I call them masterpieces, right? First to expose that to the Phoenix audiences because they deserve to see amazing things, but also for our dancers to have the opportunity to work with these people and for these people to see how amazing our company is.
GILGER: Do you plan on choreographing some originals while you're here as well?
CARDIM: I do, but that's not my priority. I really love curating a program and a season. And as I balance the season, there are so many great works that I want to bring that I actually kind of left myself as like, it's OK, I can do it next year, next year. You know, I'm here anyway.
So I am, I'm choreographing, like restaging some of the classics. So this year I restaged the “Sleeping Beauty.” Next year, I'm going to restage “Don Quixote.” And then further down the line, I will eventually choreograph an original work for the company.
But that's not my priority. I don't see myself as a director, choreographer. I see myself as a director first. And I happen to be a choreographer as well.
GILGER: So let me ask you about that role and how you view the role of artistic director in general. You're coming into Ballet Arizona after the long run of Ib Andersen, who made such a mark here, was so influential.
I mean, what's it been like and how do you envision your role as somebody coming in with probably a different perspective?
CARDIM: Sure. So with Ib Andersen being here for so long, he obviously built the company to what the company is today. So I'm very grateful for his work because really we are only here and have what we have today thanks to his vision. Of course, every artistic director has different strengths and different areas that they like to focus on. He was a great choreographer. He's a great choreographer and the company did a lot of his works.
As I now have this position, I shift slightly the focus away from the director choreographers, I just said, but more about like, let's get more of a variety of choreographers.
It's about refreshing, right? So how can I bring something new? What is it that I have that can be different and useful and interesting for the audience. And next season, we will be doing Ib Andersen's “Romeo and Juliet,” which I'm very, very happy because his legacy really is part of this company's history.
GILGER: So it sounds like you view the role as almost maybe behind the scenes as opposed to, you know, making your own mark?
CARDIM: Yes, I suppose. I mean, I think I make my own mark by the quality and the innovation that we put on stage. I teach company class sometimes, I work with the dancers directly, but also making sure that artistically we are in a very healthy environment, work environment is very important for me. So making sure that culturally we are a good place to work, that's also a huge part of my work.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to an editing error, this story’s headline has been updated to correct the name of Ballet Arizona.
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