SARASOTA – After months of sweat, tears and some sparkle, the Sarasota Ballet is en pointe, premiering Graziano, Retrospective. Director Iain Webb kicks off the season with a program dedicated to a special member of the company. Ricardo Graziano has been with Sarasota Ballet for ten seasons.
“I just wanted to start the season off to show everybody how much we’ve invested in Ricardo’s talent and do a whole evening of it,” Iain Webb said.
It’s a talent many are grateful for.
“It kind of hit me last night how special this is for Ricardo,” Principal dancer, Katelyn May said. “He’s so special to everyone in the company. We really do owe this to him. And we’re all so excited to make him proud.”
Choreographer, Ricardo Graziano says it’s an honor.
“It’s not every day that you get a show that’s all yours and with three of your ballets,” Ricardo Graziano said.
They say the sequence of all three numbers is like a full course meal. You begin with the Shostakovich Suite, a more classical piece. Then move into the En las Calles de Murcia, a spicy and energetic number. Then, end with In a State of Weightlessness, what they considered to be the end of the meal.
“It’s like a dessert for the whole evening, as Iain likes to say,” Graziano said. “It’s like a menu.”
At the end of the ballet, the company hopes the audience is left feeling a certain type of way.
“Just kind of be able to get lost, and fall in love again with the company as we move forward, Webb said. “So, it’s really exciting.”
The show premiered at 7:30 at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, visit https://www.sarasotaballet.org/.