Victoria Ballet Theatre pirouettes in a new era
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Timeline of Debbe Busby and Victoria Ballet Theatre:
1969: Graduated from Victoria High School with honors
1970-1974: Danced as member of Discovery Dance Group under Camile Long Hill
1973: Graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Houston, where ...
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Timeline of Debbe Busby and Victoria Ballet Theatre:
1969: Graduated from Victoria High School with honors
1970-1974: Danced as member of Discovery Dance Group under Camile Long Hill
1973: Graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Houston, where she also performed as a soloist in many productions.
1974-1979: Taught modern dance at Victoria College
1979: Opened her own dance studio in Victoria
1984: Co-founded and served as artistic director for the Victoria Ballet Theatre
1995: Victoria Ballet Theatre becomes a member of Regional Dance America
1999: Theatre achieves honor status at Regional Dance America
2009: Steps back from artistic director and becomes founding director of the organization.
Upcoming events at Victoria Ballet Theatre
Oct. 16: Symphonic Spooktacular featuring the Victoria Symphony at 6:30 p.m. at the Victoria College Fine Arts Auditorium
For more information, go to www.victoriaballettheatre.com.
Brenda Serrata Tally has some big shoes to fill. Pointe shoes, that is.
After 25 years, Debbe Busby is stepping down from her position as artistic director of the Victoria Ballet Theatre to become the organization's founding director. Replacing her will be Tally, one of Busby's former students, which is an honor that Tally, 34, is both deeply grateful for and slightly terrified of.
"Luckily, I don't have to reinvent the wheel. She's created a well-oiled machine that will be hard to break," Tally laughed. "It's been a little crazy since I've started and there's a big learning curve. I think I've taken for granted all she's done over the years. But it's still really exciting."
It's no wonder there are some mixed feelings involved in the transition on Tally's part. Ask anyone who is even slightly associated with the Victoria Ballet Theatre and they'll tell you the same thing. Busby is not only the heart and soul of the organization, but also the brain, lungs, kidneys and liver.
In 1984, with a charter and a dream, Busby began building the ballet from scratch. Starting with fewer than 30 students and no sets, costumes or props, little by little the dance company improved and expanded with Busby at the helm.
Now, they average about 50 dancers each year, several of whom go off to dance professionally, and are an honor company with the national Regional Dance America organization, in addition to putting on elaborate performances each year such as "The Nutcracker."
"I grew up in this community and I wanted to offer more than just dance recitals for young dancers," Busby, who graduated from Victoria High School in 1969, said. "When I went to college to dance, I realized I didn't have half the experience of the other dancers because we didn't have opportunities in Victoria. It was really important to me to come back to my community and say the next generation will have that opportunity."
After all that work, it wasn't an easy decision for Busby to take a step back but it was one that she felt needed to be taken.
"The ballet is like my baby and I love it, but it's a huge responsibility. I wanted to get back into teaching, which is what I love and I also needed more personal time," Busby, 58, said.
She also added that part of the decision came from wanting to make sure the ballet continued to exist long after she wasn't around anymore.
"I want this organization to grow and flourish and to always be here, so it can't be just one person's energy poured into it. It has to encompass more than that," she said. "I want it to have a future beyond myself and to continue to provide opportunities for young dancers."
And if anyone can do it, Tally can. As one of the original junior company members, Tally was Busby's student starting when she was 5-years-old and ending only when she graduated high school and moved on to college. After getting her master's degree in dance performance and a bachelor degree in modern dance, she came back to be a choreographer for the company and later became the junior company director.
"Brenda grew up with me and has been here from the beginning. I trust she knows the vision I've always had for the company," Busby said. "I have the utmost confidence in her."
The respect between the two women is mutual. Tally still calls her former teacher Ms. Busby, a sign of just how deeply Tally respects her longtime mentor.
"We're very close. She's my role model and someone I look up to," Tally said. "She's had a big influence on all her students."
And just like her role model, Tally has big plans for the ballet. With the help of Busby, who will still be actively involved in the ballet, and longtime assistant artistic director Kelli Klein, Tally is planning to make Victoria Ballet Theatre bigger and better.
"We've come so far as a company and I want to keep that going. I want to make sure the talent keeps improving, the productions get better each time and make our sponsorships grow," she said. "The arts are so important in a community and for a community this size, we are blessed to have Victoria Ballet Theatre. How we value the arts is what defines us and sometime I feel Ms. Busby has been single-handedly fighting that battle."
That is, until now.
