The Grand Rapids Ballet will be performing outside this Friday and Saturday. (Supplied)
As Grand Rapids Ballet continues to celebrate 50 years in 2022, the organization is announcing a first-of-its-kind free Summer Dance Festival, taking place outdoors on Friday, Aug. 26, and Saturday, Aug. 27. In collaboration with other performance groups throughout Michigan, GRB welcomes West Michigan to enjoy two evenings of world-class dance, tasty food from local food trucks, and Michigan-made beer all under the evening skies outside of the Peter Martin Wege Theatre.
“The idea for our Summer Dance Festival was born out of a community-wide celebration of our 50th anniversary, and in that spirit, I’ve opened the stage to performers from our diverse local dance community,” said Artistic Director James Sofranko.
The outdoor stage will open with live music by local singer/songwriter Ralston Bowles from 5:15-5:45 p.m. each evening and the first dance performances will begin at 6 p.m., featuring classical ballet favorites and contemporary works performed by Grand Rapids Ballet’s company dancers, apprentices, and trainees. The evening also will feature performances by Grand Rapids Ballet School students. Guests are invited to bring their own chairs to enjoy the performances.
“We are excited to present an inclusive and community-centered showcase of the best dance artists and students in Grand Rapids,” said Executive Director Glenn Del Vecchio. “We are very proud to have been a part of the art and culture of Grand Rapids for the past 50 years and look forward to continuing to serve our region and Michigan into the next 50!”
“I hope that people will recognize not only the treasure of Grand Rapids Ballet that exists here but also the thriving arts scene and the multitude of dance organizations that bring art daily into our lives,” Sofranko shared.
The Grand Rapids Ballet starts the celebration of its 50th celebration with the production of “Cinderella.” (Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert)
As Grand Rapids Ballet celebrates the opening of its 50th anniversary season, the company is looking both forward and back with its upcoming performance of “Cinderella.”
When the dancers take the stage at DeVos Performance Hall this weekend, Feb. 25-27, it will be significant in many ways.
Thirty-five years ago, “Cinderella” was the first full-length ballet that the company performed.
And aside from the annual performances of “The Nutcracker,” the shows this weekend will also mark the first time in a decade that the Ballet has done a full-length production with the Grand Rapids Symphony at DeVos Performance Hall.
“We love the magic of the theater, we love having the live music, and the fact that it has been in our history is special too,” said James Sofranko, artistic director at Grand Rapids Ballet.
Full-length ballets like “Cinderella” are the pinnacle of what classical ballet is all about, he said.
“It has a beautiful orchestral score, beautiful sets and costumes, and utilizes classical ballet steps, so this is what we’ve been training for our whole lives,” he said. “It’s a very challenging thing to make it look effortless and hone every detail.”
This version of “Cinderella” was created more than 50 years ago by Ben Stevenson, former director of the Houston Ballet. Renowned companies like The Washington Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Houston Ballet have all performed the work, and Sofranko feels the significance of that history for both the individual dancers and the company as a whole.
The Grand Rapids Ballet’s production of “Cinderella” is set for Feb. 25-27. (Photo courtesy of Grand Rapids Ballet)
“You’re adding to your own personal repertoire as a dancer, and as a company, these ballets elevate us and our stature in the dance world,” he said. “These dancers are relishing this moment, and these ballets bring us to our next level. So to do this in our 50th anniversary year is fitting, and shows that we are moving ahead pretty boldly into the future.”
The Grand Rapids Ballet’s home stage at the Peter Martin Wege Theatre provides an intimacy that is perfect for many shows, he said, but the size of the DeVos Performance Hall stage allows bigger sets that give an immersive, storybook quality to “Cinderella.” The immediacy of the live music by the Symphony enriches the performance as well, he said.
“For the dancers too, it feels grander, so you dance bigger,” he said. “You want to raise your dancing to match it. It elevates the performance in many ways.”
Students from the Grand Rapids Ballet School will join the 19 professional dancers on the stage.
As the community continues to feel the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic, Sofranko said he’s glad people are buying tickets and supporting the Grand Rapids Ballet, which is the only professional ballet company in Michigan.
“We’re very thankful that people are still wanting to support the arts and not watch everything on TV,” he said.
“Cinderella” takes place Feb.25-27 at DeVos Performance Hall. Tickets start at $20 and are available online, via phone at 616-454-4771 ext. 10, or in person at GRB’s Box Office.
Didn’t get a chance to attend the 50th anniversary kick off celebration for the city of Kentwood? Here is the WKTV broadcast of the event which is currently airing on the station.
On Feb. 27, 1967, the City of Kentwood had its first commission meeting at Bowen Elementary School. Fifty years to the day, the city commission will once again meet at Bowen Elementary to kick off Kentwood’s golden anniversary.
“February 27 marks a truly historic occasion for the City of Kentwood,” said Kentwood Mayor Stephen Kepley. “Celebrating the original City Commission meeting is a memorable way to honor Kentwood’s past while looking forward to our future.”
Long before the city was even mapped out as Paris Township, people were coming to the area mostly because it reminded them of their former homes, with rolling hills and good soil, said Ray Boisvenue, a local historian who has helped collect oral histories of many of Kentwood’s residents.
In 1939, the township organized with resident Joel Guild suggesting the name Paris for the area after his former home of Paris, New York. Guild was then elected the first township supervisor. The township at that time was a perfect square, bordered by Hall Street to the north, 60th Street to the south, Division Avenue to the west and Patterson Avenue to the east.
As the township grew, so did the neighboring City of Grand Rapids, which slowly chipped away at the township’s area though annexations. The first annexation took place in 1891 but the bulk happened from 1958 to 1963 causingresidents to fight for incorporation. It would take three attempts and the announcement of a new $4 million shopping center – Woodland Mall – for the vote of incorporation to pass by a slim margin of 177 votes in favor on Feb. 20, 1967.
A few minor details had to be worked out, but the newly formed city had its first meeting Feb. 27, 1967, with Peter Lamberts elected as the city’s first mayor. The rest of the city commission include Dale Heyboer and Robert Ide as commissioners-at-large, Preston Miller and Quinten (Jack) Ward from Ward 1 and Gordon Gezon and Clifford Barnes from Ward 2.
Kentwood officials moved into the current city hall structure in 1979.
The anniversary commission meeting – which will feature the current City Commission, Mayor Stephen Kepley, Commissioner-at-Large Betsy Artz, First Ward commissioners Gerald DeMaagd and Robert Coughlin and Second Ward commissioners Erwin Haas and Michael Brown – is at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, at Bowen Elementary, 4483 Kalamazoo Ave. SE. The event will feature special programming provided by the current city commission. The meeting will flow much like a typical city commission meeting but with special tributes and fun facts about the city and will include a two-minute clip of the Kentwood 50th Anniversary documentary produced by WKTV.
According to organizers, the evening will be a celebration of the community’s growth and recognition of the residents, schools, businesses and nonprofit that have made Kentwood a great place to live, work and raise a family. Among the special guests scheduled to attend are Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and State Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, both of whom will be presenting proclamations honoring the city.
Kentwood 50th Anniversary events have been planned throughout the year. Among the public events coming up in the next couple of months are the Taste of Kentwood set for March 2, the Kentwood’s Got Talent auditions March 9 (registration deadline is March 3), and an Easter Egg Hunt April 15. There is also a breakfast planned to honor businesses that have been in Kentwood since 1967 on March 23. Also, Railtown Brewing Company, 3555 68th St. SE, Dutton, will be unveiling a special beer next week in honor of Kentwood’s 50th Anniversary.
“We have been working really hard to make this a special year for our community,” said Kentwood Treasurer and Kentwood 50 committee leader Laurie Sheldon. “Our residents, businesses and organizations have made Kentwood an amazing city and we are making sure we express our thanks through great events in 2017.”
Other programs include The Vibe – a Parks and Recreation Gala that raises money for the department’s programs will be May 19 and a weekend-long street fair and festival August 11 and 12 that will include food, kid-friendly events, live entertainment and the finale of the Kentwood’s Got Talent.
The Farmer’s Market, Fourth of July celebration and parade and all other city-sponsored events also will be focused on the Kentwood 50th Anniversary.
WKTV also will be providing coverage of many of the events along with special Kentwood 50 stories at now.wktv.org.
For more about Kentwood’s 50th Anniversary celebration, visit www.kentwood50.com.
Astronauts (left to right) Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, pose in front of Launch Complex 34 which is housing their Saturn 1 launch vehicle. The astronauts died ten days later in a fire on the launch pad. (NASA/photographer unknown – NASA [1] Great Images in NASA Description, Public Domain)By Joanne N. Bailey-Borosma
Whether you have traveled the road, visited the planetarium, or seen the American legion post in your travels through Wyoming, there is a good chance you have seen or heard the name Roger B. Chaffee.
And for some the question during those travels may have been who was Roger B. Chaffee?
Chaffee was one of the first NASA astronauts, who tragically never made it to the stars. On Jan. 27, 1967, there was a fire in the Apollo 1 capsule during a training exercise killing Chaffee and his two crew mates, Virgil “Gus” Grisson and Edward H. White II, who was the first person to perform a space walk.
The inside of the Apollo 1 capsule after the fire. (NASA/photographer unknown – NASA [1] Great Images in NASA Description, Public Domain)This Friday, fifty years to the date of the accident, the Wyoming Roger B. Chaffee American Legion Post 154 will host a dinner and memorial ceremony at the post, 2327 Byron Center Ave. SW. The dinner is at 6 p.m. and the ceremony is at 7 pm.
“From what I know, his father was a member of the post and they asked if they would name it after him,” said Jerry Smith, an adjunct with the post. American Legion posts have a tradition of bringing named after a local veteran.
Chaffee was a Navy officer before being accepted to the NASA program, said Glen Swanson, a Grand Valley State University physics professor who worked for NASA in Houston as the Johnson Space Center’s chief historian. Swanson credits some of his love for space from Chaffee’s parents, Donald and Blanche Chaffee. In their later years, the couple had moved to the city of Wyoming and Swanson would bike over to visit them and talk about NASA and the space program.
A photo of Don and Blanche Chaffee with their daughter after the Apollo 1 accident. The photo is in the ‘Roger That!’ exhibit.
“Don and Blanche were huge supporters of the space program even after their son’s death,” Swanson said, adding the couple would visit area schools to talk about NASA and space and Don Chaffee even wrote a book.
The Chaffee family was from Greenville. Due to Don Chaffee having scarlet fever, Blanche Chaffee was forced to stay with relatives in Grand Rapids until Roger was born. The family later moved to Grand Rapids and Roger attended Central High School.
After graduation, Chaffee would attend Purdue to pursue his passion of flying and earned a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering. He joined the Navy and in 1962 applied for the astronaut training program. He wold be one of 14 out of a pool of more than 1,800 to be chosen for the Astronaut Group 3, all of who would be part of the Apollo program.
In January 1966, Chaffee was selected for the first Apollo mission, which was a surprise, Swanson said, adding that Chaffee had no previous flight experience unlike his crew mates Grissom and White. None would make it into space as the following year, the fire happened.
The accident also happened shortly after the move of the then Kent County Airport, which was located in Wyoming, formerly Paris Township. The landing strip was being paved and it was decided to name the road Roger B. Chaffee Boulevard.
“There was the local connection and since it was the former runway, it probably made sense,” Swanson said, adding that there was some debate on naming the airport after Chaffee but eventually it would be named after the former president and is now called the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
The ‘Roger That!’ exhibit will be up through Mar. 31 at the GVSU Eberhard Center in downtown Grand Rapids.
Wanting to remember Chaffee’s contributions to the space program, Swanson help put together a photo exhibit, “Roger That!,” on the West Wall Gallery at the GVSU Eberhard Center in downtown Grand Rapids.
“We didn’t want to focus just on the tragedy of what happened, but rather on his life and accomplishments,” Swanson said. The exhibit will be up through Mar. 31.
There was plans to host an event on the actual anniversary, but since family members were booked for the NASA event this week in Florida, GVSU officials instead worked with the Grand Rapids Public Museum to plan a two-day conference and celebration in February, which was Chaffee’s birth month. On Feb. 10, there will be a conference featuring discussions on a variety of space-related topics including science, society, and the arts. The event concludes with a ticketed dinner with Chaffee’s wife and daughter, Martha and Sheryl Chaffee, and the planetarium show “Dark Side: The Light Show.”
On Feb. 11, Brother Guy Consolmagno of the Vatican Observatory and winner of the Carl Sagan Medal for excellence in public communication in planetary sciences will present at 11 a.m. at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW. This is a ticketed event. For more on the Roger That! activities, visit www.gvsu.edu/rogerthat.
Swanson said he hopes the activities will not only remind people of who Chaffee was, but encourage others to follow in his footsteps by pursuing their passion whether it be space or something else in the great beyond.
“Our enemy’s remain at home, abroad and in the skies beyond our world.” –Hank Henshaw
Saturday morning in Hall H was packed with Warner Brothers taking center stage, but the rest of the day didn’t let up with two major anniversaries and stars galore.
Star Trek celebrated their 50th Anniversary and we were all shown the new trailer for Star Trek Beyond which is now currently in theaters. After the trailer, the cast members came on stage. We had the opportunity to see William Shatner, Jeri Ryan, Michael Dorn, and Scott Bakule.
The cast was asked questions from the audience. Who’s their favorite Captain? Well that would be Kirk first and Bicard second. What’s their favorite piece of technology from the show? Michael Dorn mentioned the Next Generation iPad, Jeri loved the Transporter, and the Communicator holds a special place in William Shatner’s heart.
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The next anniversary in line was Aliens 30th. Director James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn and Paul Reiser joined on stage as the audience was shown clips from the movie. During the dialogue amongst those on stage, Sigourney Weaver talked about her belief in the reality of the Alien Queen and did not want to know how the machine worked.
One gentlemen in the audience took the 30th anniversary as an opportunity to propose to his girlfriend because it was their favorite movie to watch together. Obviously she said yes.
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While the anniversaries were fun, the panel that followed added so added some extra power with Entertainment Weekly: Woman Who Kick Ass. The panel was full of powerful women and included Moren Baccarin (Gotham), Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Nathalie Emmanuel (Furious 7), Lucy Lawless (Ash vs. Evil Dead), Tatian Maslany (Orphan Black), Connie Nielsen (Wonder Woman), and Many-Na Wen (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). It was really cool to see all of those kick ass women in one place.
The women were asked about their proudest “kick ass” moments. Ming-Na Wan said, “When Agent May beats the crap out of three big guys.” Morena Baccarin mentioned “shooting Deadpool”, and Melissa Benoist said surviving a punch in the face by a woman who knows jujitsu.
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Saturday continues to be just as exciting and jammed packed. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…” is to stay tuned to see what Marvel had in store for us. As a spoiler I will mention Black Panther.
“Vengeance has consumed you. It’s consuming them. I’m done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough.” – T’Challa
This photo is from the book “The Story of Kentwood.” It is a the ribbon cutting ceremony for Kentwood’s City Center on March 17, 1979. From the left is, Frank Jefferis, representative for U.S. Senator Donald Riegle; James Jansma, representing Robert L. Wold, city center architect; Peter M. Lamberts, Kentwood mayor; Donald TerHorst, president, TerHorst and Rinzema Construction Co., general contractors; Thomas B. Clayton, administrative assistant, Kentwood; the Rev. Robert McBroom, South Kent Baptist Church.
Next year is going to be golden in the City of Kentwood as the municipality marks its fiftieth anniversary in 2017.
In preparation, a group of area residents and city officials have come together to plan the city’s 50th anniversary celebration. Part of this planning has included work on creating a video on the city’s first 50 years that will be put together by the local media center WKTV, which serves the Wyoming and Kentwood communities.
The Octagon House is one of the iconic landmarks of Kentwood. The house was built in 1855 by Sluman and Delia Bailey.
The City of Kentwood’s 50th Anniversary Committee is looking for photographs, videos and even stories to help tell the story of Kentwood’s birth and first 50 years. Photos, video and other media can be scanned so originals can be returned.
Kentwood officially became a city on Feb. 20. 1967. The move was partly to prevent the City of Grand Rapids from its continuing annexation of Paris Township, the name of the municipality before the area incorporated into a city. The goal also was to be able to provide the services residents were demanding as the rural township moved to a suburban community. Various efforts to incorporate started in the 1940s. The 1967 vote passed with 2,212 for incorporation to 2,035 opposed.
If you have something or would be willing to share with the committee, please contact Lisa Golder in the city’s planning department. You can reach her at 616-554-0709 or at golderl.ci.kentwood.mi.us.
