Bringing the arts to the North State.
About
A non-profit 501c3 corporation
Chris Steward, President
Lucas Ramsour, Vice President
Destiney Beazor, Secretary
Katie Langenberg, Treasurer
Whitney Hathaway, Member
Jessica Steward, Member
Katie Swartz, Member
Redding City Ballet was founded in 1997 as the first resident ballet company for Shasta County. It was awarded its nonprofit status in 2002.
Offering performances of the highest quality consistent with available resources, the company mission is to present classical, contemporary and innovative concert dance to a broad audience and to increase accessibility to the arts for the schools of the North State area through educational outreach programs, lectures and performances.
Redding City Ballet began it’s Chance 2 Dance program in 2022, providing ballet training and performance opportunities for area children lacking the means to pursue quality training.
The company’s beautifully staged, full-length production of The Nutcracker is a North State favorite and the only to feature all local dancers. Over the last two decades, company works have included Coppélia, Cinderella, Don Quixote, Gaité Parisienne, Fokine’s Dying Swan, Billy the Kid, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, The Sleeping Beauty, and Alice in Wonderland.
Ashley Ramsour
Artistic Director
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Ashley began her dance training at the age of 6. She studied ballet, contemporary, Irish, jazz, and tap throughout her training. Quickly, it became apparent that ballet was her passion. Her training started in Escondido, CA, but she soon after began training in Valley Center and San Marcos as well. In 2002, Ashley started teaching and discovered her love for teaching the arts.
After moving to Northern CA in 2004, she continued her training with Redding Ballet Academy and soon after was invited to join the Redding City Ballet company. Ashley then became part of the Artistic team at RCB in 2008 as a choreographer and Outreach Instructor. In 2016, she took on the role of Ballet Mistress. Last year, she also took on the role as interim Artistic Director for Nutcracker 2022. She now holds the Position of Artistic Director for RCB.
Ashley has taken many master classes with accomplished dancers and companies including San Diego Ballet, Maria Skoruk of the Moscow ballet, and open classes in Australia. She also continues to further herself as a qualified and knowledgeable instructor through the attendance of PNB’s teacher training conference this past spring and continued study of the arts. In addition to her role of Artistic Director for RCB, Ashley is a proud wife and mother to 3 (almost 4) beautiful children who all share her love of dance.
We are so proud to have Ashley as a part of our Artistic Team!
Julie Smyrnos
Assistant Artistic Director
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Julie Smyrnos began dancing at the age of four after being inspired by a performance of The Nutcracker in Grass Valley, California. She went on to perform many roles in that ballet over the next eleven years. In her teens she attended the Sierra Dance Institute studying with Myrna Galle-Van Buren, a former dancer of the famed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She was also a member of Nevada Union’s Advanced Dance program directed by Yelena Holt.
Julie went on to attend Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Dance. She was a founding member of the swing dance troupe, Anything Goes. Anything Goes performed in San Luis Obispo as well as throughout California, including Santa Cruz’s First Night celebration and as guest artists with Cal Poly’s dance company, Orchesis.
In 2003, Julie relocated to Redding and continued to train and perform in local productions. In 2012, she began choreographing for Redding City Ballet’s The Nutcracker and progressed to serving as the Assistant Artistic Director. Julie continues to further her ballet teacher training with Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Teaching Seminars, as well as attending open classes while travelling to Ballet West, PNB and Paris, France.
Julie recognized the need for professional ballet costuming and in 2018 began attending webinars with the late costume designer Travis Halsey as well as in-person training to develop the skills necessary to create beautiful, quality wardrobes for RCB productions. Her skills progressed from simple romantic tutus to elaborate pancake tutus and men’s costuming. In 2021, she was a featured fashion designer for the Redding Fashion Alliance’s annual fashion show, creating three looks to be included in a professionally produced runway show. She has shown tutus in the 2023 Go Red for Women show as well at the Shasta County Arts Council’s juried “Costumes, Wigs and Hats”.
A message from our president:
Dear Redding City Ballet Supporters,
Redding City Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker has long been a source of quality performing arts education and entertainment for our community. Over the past several years, the production has grown and drawn in many talented and committed individuals who have provided new energy and ideas that continue to make this community-based organization thrive.
This expansion in our leadership pool has allowed us to share responsibilities and accomplish more together. Our Board of Directors firmly believes that a strong culture of collaboration, shared authority, and mutual responsibility is essential to the success of our productions. The health and growth of our dancers is our top priority. An important part of our journey has been navigating through differing ideas and opinions while forging a path forward that will best serve our mission, our dancers, and our community.
After welcoming several new Board members in the spring of 2022, our Board worked diligently to understand and agree on the direction of our organization and its leadership structure. As sometimes happens during times of change and expansion, some individuals working with our Board held opinions that diverged significantly from the vision of collaborative leadership that began to coalesce. Over time, it became evident that we would not be able to reconcile these differences in a productive manner. Due to these irreconcilable philosophical differences, the Board has made the decision to move forward this year with a new Artistic Director. We want to express our gratitude to those who have provided leadership for this organization in the past and for all the ways they have helped to grow the Redding City Ballet in size and quality of experience for our dancers and audiences.
As we look to the future, we are excited to announce that Ashley Ramsour will be stepping in as our 2023 Nutcracker Artistic Director with Julie Smyrnos serving alongside her as our 2023 Nutcracker Assistant Artistic Director. With the vision of our artistic team, the commitment of our Board of Directors, and the talent and enthusiasm of our dancers and volunteers, we know that the Redding City Ballet will continue to flourish for years to come.
Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to bring quality dance productions and dance education to our community.
Sincerely,
Chris Steward, President
RCB Board of Directors
