Juneau Dance Theatre is celebrating its 50th anniversary this Saturday with a formal black-and-white gala that offers a chance to dress up in Juneau.
The event will feature live dance performances from current dance students, a buffet dinner catered by the Breeze In, a cash bar, and an auction.
The JDT dance team will perform and the ballet department will perform excerpts from “Swan Lake.” Advanced contemporary students will also give a performance of Viktor Bell’s routine piece “Demanding Excellence.”
Testimonials from dance alumni will be included in the program. Sybil Davis, one of JDT’s founders, will participate from afar in a video testimonial. Janice Hurley will be honored at the event for her decades of dedication to teaching dance.
A Juneau Empire article written by Betsy Longenbaugh in January 1985 features Juneau Dance Theatre when it was known as Juneau Dance Unlimited. (Photo courtesy of Bridget Lujan)
When the organization was formed in 1975, the purpose was to bring in guest artists and have training seminars. Bridget Lujan, executive director of JDT, said it was more of a festival style then. Now JDT is a year-round dance institution that offers outreach across the community.
“The dancing is getting better and better,” she said. “I think the technical strength of our dance instruction, and the strength of the fundamentals that we teach, speaks for itself and is helping the program to grow. I believe we are evolving as an organization because we appeal to more of the community. We do collaborations with Theater Alaska. We have done outreach for the schools. We have guest artists come here and teach. We’re working with other artists across different disciplines in the arts. In 2021 we expanded from our ballet program to add the dance team, an adult program, a recreational division — we’re big enough now where we can offer something for everyone.”
All funds from the gala go toward supporting JDT’s programming. There will also be opportunities to donate to JDT’s scholarship fund. Normally at this time of year, JDT partners with Theater Alaska for Juneau’s Got Talent, but the event is on hiatus until 2026.
Signed ballet pointe shoes are up for auction at Juneau Dance Theatre’s 50th-anniversary gala. (Photo courtesy of Bridget Lujan)
Some dance-related auction items include signed pointe shoes by premiere ballerinas and autographed posters from the 2000 film “Center Stage” which features actors who taught at JDT as guest artists in the past.
The next event is the JDT Spring Showcase in May, featuring two brand-new ballets.
“One of them is a children’s ballet created by Janice Hurley,” Lujan said. “It will be set on our youngest dancers. They often don’t get featured. Usually we’re all focused on the advanced dancers, but we’re going to focus on the young dancers with the Crab Ballet. It’s based on a new children’s book. And then for the advanced dancers, we will have a brand-new ballet created by one of our alum, Anna McDowell.”
McDowell is from Juneau and is JDT’s incoming ballet master this fall. She has been working professionally for the American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School.
Lujan encouraged Juneau’s community to celebrate 50 years with JDT this weekend and to attend the Spring Showcase.
Know & Go
What: Juneau Dance Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Gala.
When: Saturday, 6–10 p.m.
Where: Centennial Hall, 101 Egan Drive.
Tickets: Tickets are available online at https://event.auctria.com/741dd551-0b08-429f-bfcb-e31669ff91f2 or at the door.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
