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2026/27 45th Anniversary Season

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🎙️AT THE BARRE WITH MADISON BALLET // Episode 17 | Jekyll & Hyde: Lighting Designer Julie Ballard

In this episode of At the Barre with Madison Ballet, host Chris Fahrenthold sits down Julie Ballard, lighting designer for Madison Ballet’s upcoming production of Jekyll & Hyde, to learn how lighting brings a story to life on stage.

We get a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process for Madison Ballet’s upcoming production of Jekyll & Hyde, including how lighting and video projections work together to support the story.

Key points in this episode:

✨What makes lighting for dance unique (as opposed to lighting for a play or opera)

✨The creative process behind Madison Ballet’s Jekyll & Hyde, including the use of lighting, video projections, and physical set pieces.

✨How music informs lighting choices, including color, brightness, and atmosphere.

✨The importance of collaboration and trust between lighting designers and choreographers.

✨What happens during tech week, from programming lighting cues to making adjustments based on feedback.

✨How lighting designers collaborate with costume designers and other production team members to bring an artistic vision to life.

✨Advice for aspiring lighting designers, including getting involved in community theater, shadowing professionals, assisting on productions, and learning lighting technology.

See JEKYLL & HYDE @ Madison Youth Arts Center October 29 - November 1, 2026

🎙️Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon music
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From sketch to reality - SWIPE to see the Jekyll & Hyde costumes by designer Janessa Urwin come to life in our first costume fitting!

Curious about the process of bringing a costume to life? Tune in to Episode 16 of At the Barre with Madison Ballet to hear directly from Urwin on her process!

And of course, join us for JEKYLL & HYDE @ Madison Youth Arts Center October 29 - November 1, 2026!

🎙️Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon music
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#dancepodcast #balletpodcast #madisonart #madisondance #madisonballet

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THE TWO SIDES OF JEKYLL & HYDE

There is something fitting about two choreographers collaborating on a ballet about the divided self.

Each brings a distinct imagination, a different way of working, and a personal understanding of what movement can reveal.

Yet the result must become a single work, with its own dramatic identity.

For choreographers Ja’ Malik and Richard Walters, that challenge is part of the attraction of creating Jekyll & Hyde, a new full-length ballet opening the company’s 45th anniversary season.

See JEKYLL & HYDE @ Madison Youth Arts Center October 29 - November 1, 2026

(And hear more about the creative process behind Jekyll & Hyde in EP 15 of At the Barre with Madison Baller. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music!)
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#dancepodcast #balletpodcast #madisonart #madisondance madisonballet

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🎙️AT THE BARRE WITH MADISON BALLET // Episode 16 | Jekyll & Hyde: Costume Designer Janessa Urwin

In this episode of At the Barre with Madison Ballet, host Chris Fahrenthold sits down with Janessa Urwin, costume designer for Madison Ballet’s upcoming production of Jekyll & Hyde, to explore how costumes help tell a story.

Janessa shares her journey from professional ballet dancer to costume designer, including how an unexpected opportunity at American Repertory Ballet opened the door to a new career in the arts. She discusses the creative process behind designing costumes for Jekyll & Hyde, from researching Victorian influences and medical imagery to using color, texture, and structure to bring each character to life.

Drawing on her experience as a dancer, Janessa explains why functionality and safety are essential to costume design and how every garment must support the dancers’ movement as well as partnering demands.

Key points in this episode:

✨Janessa’s journey from professional ballet dancer to costume designer

✨The balance between visual storytelling, movement, and safety in ballet costume design

✨The research and creative collaboration behind the costumes for Jekyll & Hyde

✨How color, texture, and historical influences help distinguish the production’s characters

✨Career paths in the arts beyond performing and advice for dancers exploring their next steps

See JEKYLL & HYDE @ Madison Youth Arts Center October 29 - November 1, 2026

🎙️Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon music
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#dancepodcast #balletpodcast #madisonart #madisondance madisonballet

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🎙️AT THE BARRE WITH MADISON BALLET // Episode 15 | Jekyll & Hyde: Ja’ Malik & Richard Walters on Bringing a New Story Ballet to Life

Choreographed collaboratively by Ja’ Malik and Richard Walters, Jekyll & Hyde explores the duality of human nature, the tension between our public and private selves, and the ways beauty and darkness can coexist.

Key points in this episode:

✨How Michael Nyman’s score for the documentary McQueen inspired the production

✨How two choreographers with different creative processes collaborate to build a cohesive, full-length production

✨Exploring the duality of human nature, from the personas we present to the struggles we keep hidden

✨The contrast between ballet’s seemingly effortless beauty and the physical demands and sacrifices behind the scenes

✨How Ja’ Malik and Richard Walters are blending classical ballet technique with contemporary movement to develop characters and tell a more complex story

✨The role of costumes, projections, lighting, and visual design in building the world of Jekyll & Hyde

Whether you’re a longtime ballet enthusiast or new to the art form, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at how a new story ballet takes shape, and an invitation to experience dance with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to be challenged.

See JEKYLL & HYDE @ Madison Youth Arts Center October 29 - November 1, 2026

🎙️Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon music
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#dancepodcast #balletpodcast #madisonart #madisondance madisonballet

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🎙️AT THE BARRE WITH MADISON BALLET // Episode 14 | Welcome to Madison Ballet Outreach

Season two is here! In our first episode, Director of Outreach Chris Fahrenthold sits down with Outreach Programs Coordinator Caitlin Sloan to talk about Madison Ballet’s exciting new chapter and what audiences can expect from the 2026–27 season.

Key points in this episode:

✨What’s changing, and what isn’t, with the transition from Madison Ballet Special Projects to Madison Ballet Outreach

✨How becoming part of the company will allow Outreach to expand its programming

✨The role of the trainee program and why trainees are such an important bridge between student life and a professional ballet career

✨How Madison Ballet is bringing ballet directly into schools, libraries, bookstores, and other community spaces

✨The importance of creating context around ballet and helping audiences understand what they are seeing on stage

At its core, this episode is about connection: connecting Madison Ballet with its community, connecting audiences with the artists who make ballet, and creating more opportunities for people to discover (and fall in love with!) the art form.

🎙️Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon music
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#dancepodcast #balletpodcast #madisonart #madisondance #madisonballet

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📢 INTRODUCING! At the Barre: a Madison Ballet Podcast

At the Barre is your behind-the-scenes look at the ideas, stories, and creative processes shaping Madison Ballet’s work.

Hosted by Chris Fahrenthold, each episode brings our community a little closer to the dancers, choreographers, and collaborators who are making ballet in Madison right now.

Whether you’re a seasoned balletomane, current or former dancer, or simply curious about how dance gets made, we warmly invite you into the room where it happens.

🎙️SEASON TWO available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon music
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#dancepodcast #balletpodcast #madisonart #madisondance #madisonballet

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We feel a little bit like Stefon from SNL when we say that this weekend has ✨everything✨. Pumpkins, ballet, pinball, burlesque, chili, Gilmore Girls, puppets, crafts, puppy photo shoots, and so much more.

So grab your pumpkin, your puppet, and some chili, put on your best Lorelai Gilmore costume and we’ll see you out there, friends!

Save this, share it, and tag the friends/family that will be joining you this weekend! Happy October!

@danchinhomes | @realbrokerage

#OctoberinWisconsin #ThingsToDo #MadisonWI #DaneCountyEvents #VisitMadison

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At the Barre with Madison Ballet is your behind-the-scenes look at the ideas, stories, and creative processes shaping Madison Ballet’s work.

Hosted by Chris Fahrenthold, each episode brings our community a little closer to the dancers, choreographers, and collaborators who are making ballet in Madison right now.

Whether you’re a seasoned balletomane, current or former dancer, or simply curious about how dance gets made, we warmly invite you into the room where it happens.

🗓️ Season two premieres 10.9.26 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon music

📸: @matthew.a.ulrich
🩰: @dancing_danalynn
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#dancepodcast #balletpodcast #madisonart #madisondance #madisonballet

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📢 INTRODUCING MADISON BALLET OUTREACH!

New name. New look. Same great content.

TAP the link in bio to learn more!

#madisonballet #madisondance #madisonart #madisonevents #madisonwi

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October is here! 🍂🎃

As the leaves change and the nights get cooler, the fall events are beginning! Here’s our guide to Madison this October — don’t miss events, free family fun, Halloween activities, fall color spots, and more! 🍁

What did we miss? Let us know what to add to our plans this October 💬

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#mwrep #madisonwiguide October Events Madison WI

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