Photo courtesy of the Eugene Ballet Company
Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and love is in the air. If you are looking for the perfect date, or even just the perfect outing, consider going to see All You Need Is Love at the Eugene Hult Center. The Eugene Ballet Company is kicking off the New Year with the performance of All You Need Is Love, celebrating the musical legacy of The Beatles. It is showing this Saturday, February 11^th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 12^th, at 2:00 p.m. Tickets for students are $10 from the Hult Center, or $12 at the EMU ticket office.
All You Need Is Love will be a particularly unique performance, because Portland’s Nowhere Band will be performing live on stage, playing some of the most memorable Beatles’ songs from Abbey Road and the White Album. Toni Pimble, a very talented artistic director from England, will be directing this ballet. The Eugene Ballet Company said in their 2011-2012 season catalog that “the audience experience for this new ballet will be reminiscent of EBC’s popular Dark Side of the Moon.” With the rare occurrence of a live band on stage, this ballet will be something you won’t want to miss.
Cole Inman, a former board member on the Eugene Ballet Company and current volunteer said, “Given the theme, given the fact that baby boomers and younger folks seem to like Beatles music, I think we’re going to have a good turn out. Whether or not it’ll sell out remains to be seen.”
Inman served on the finance committee for three and a half years from the fall of 2008 until the spring of 2011. He said that the Company wanted him to be on the finance committee because of his background in teaching business classes. He is a part-time teacher at Northwest Christian University, and he also teaches marketing. He is currently using his marketing skills as a volunteer for the Company, by distributing posters and fliers around campus and the surrounding Eugene area. “Eugene and Springfield is the smallest community in the country that has a ballet with over a million dollar annual budget,” said Inman. “Because we are by far the smallest community, with by far the cheapest ticket prices, I think it’s pretty great for the people living here.”
“The Eugene Ballet Company continues to be on of the busiest companies on the West Coast with more than 50 performances annually, education and young audience performances at the Hult Center and throughout the Northwest, and collaborations with guest artists and local arts groups,” said Toni Pimble in the season catalog.
With ticket prices as affordable as they are, the Eugene Ballet Company continues to offer students a wonderful opportunity to see the ballet culture within their community. If you enjoy the ballet, the Beatles, or both, then you may want to look into attending this performance happening this coming weekend only. Posters and fliers are distributed throughout the UO campus, and you can pick up your tickets at the EMU ticket office or the Hult Center.
When asked if he was excited for this upcoming performance, Inman said, “If you’re only going to see one ballet from this season, see this one.”