Bns | Ballet Nacional de Sodre

SODRE CORPS DE BALLET

Since its foundation on August 27, 1935, the SODRE Corps de Ballet has been the public artistic institution responsible for developing classical professional ballet in Uruguay. Since then, the repertoire of the national company has included a vast spectrum of classical ballet and has also incorporated works of reference, promoting creations in the area of contemporary and modern dance for the enjoyment of all citizens.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Uruguay, and Montevideo in particular, was the undisputed stop for all the great figures and companies that arrived in the continent from the major centers of dance productions: Europe, Russia and the United States. The effervescence of that time, both within the corps de ballet and in the rest of the national artistic scene and the city as a whole, a result of multiple experiences promoted by artists and masters from the most remote European stages, allowed the art of ballet to become part of the life of Montevideans.

The beginning of the 1970s was tragic, as flames opened a somber period for this company and for SODRE in general. With the fire of the Auditorium, a great part of its artistic heritage, tradition and history was lost and its future jeopardized, as the institution was left with no home, framework or proposal. In 2009, after a pilgrimage through different precarious rehearsal sites, the company moved to its permanent brand new venue: the Dr. Adela Reta National Auditorium, still under construction but with an impressive stage for presentations.

BNS | BALLET NACIONAL SODRE

From June 2010 up to december 2017, under the artistic direction of renowned master Julio Bocca, the company, now called BNS | Ballet Nacional Sodre, has experienced the greatest transformation of its entire history. A new team took charge of the management and the company was refounded and began a new stage that still continues today. The incorporation of master Julio Bocca as artistic director gave rise to a strongly dynamic process of refoundation of the national corps de ballet, opening its doors to the region and the world, both regarding the composition of its members and the selection of masters, choreographers and guest dancers, restarting a gradual and safe incorporation of the company to a path of excellence attuned to the times and at an international level.

Since then, over thirty works have premiered at the National Auditorium, many of which were versions of great ballets classics (Giselle, Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Le Corsaire, La Sylphide, The Nutcracker, The Merry Widow, Don Quixote, Coppélia, Romeo and Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty to name a few, and paradigmatic works of the best modern and contemporary repertoire (Russian Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire, Donizzetti Variations, The leaves are fading, Sinfonietta, Without Words, The Consecration of the Spring, In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, Messiah, Petite Mort, among others). Original creations for the company were also staged, such as Tres Hologramas (Inthamoussú and Jorge Drexler), Gracias (Graciela Figueroa),Tango & Candombe (Ana María Stekelman), Nocturno (Inthamoussú, Juan Campodónico and Campo), One and Others (Demis Volpi/Christos Hatzis), Episodios sobre un mismo Tema (Andrea Salazar and Luciano Supervielle) and Instantáneas (Andrea Salazar and Luciano Supervielle) / Encuentros (Marina Sánchez).

Since February 2018, master Igor Yebra takes charge of the artistic direction with the clear objetive of continuing Bocca's work and legacy.

With an annual audience of over 110,000, and under modern and dynamic management, the company resumes the old tradition of having its work linked to important figures of the dance world, thus raising its standard toward excellence, positioning BNS as a benchmark in the region and as the image of a new country.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Beyond its purpose of furthering the development of dance, BNS | Ballet Nacional Sodre has also fostered its values and responsibility as a cultural player in our society. 
We understand that our contribution should not be restricted exclusively to dance. This is why we strive to collaborate and make a contribution through our work, effort and discipline, encouraging the values that transcend the strictly artistic nature. 
Through our Corporate Social Responsibility Programs and with the help of our friend institutions, we work to reach out to the society that sustains us and accompanies us throughout the year, returning the unconditional support we receive through what we love.

Main CSR actions

 Training programs for new audiences

-General rehearsals open to the public

Prior to each opening performance, BNS performs a general rehearsal open to the public with an annual audience of 4,000 people from various institutions: children and adolescents of the National Institute for Children and Adolescents of Uruguay, students from primary, secondary or technical schools and social institutions, among others.

 - Rural Schools to the Theater

This is a joint program between the Ministry of Education and Culture, the National Auditorium of SODRE and the Primary Education Council, with the support of the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), the ProSodre Foundation and the UNESCO ASPnet, of which BNS is an Associated School.

The project consists in working with boys and girls in rural schools throughout the country, their teachers and members of their families, in order to facilitate the access of children to national cultural and artistic products and services, and then work with didactic pedagogical material on the contents of theater pieces in the classroom.

In addition to the possibility of attending performances, this program offers to schools prior work and subsequent follow-up, providing teaching material in audiovisual media to prepare for the visit, and a playbill specially designed for the occasion and a playful-didactic booklet for children are provided, which adds value to the experience. At the end of the performance, the artists, still characterized with their costumes, greet the children at the hall.

In the 2015 Season, about 4,000 students, teachers and family members throughout the country participated in this program, which comprised four performances: two in Montevideo (Le Corsaire at the National Auditorium), one in Paysandú (Giselle at the Florencio Sánchez Theater) and another in Salto (Giselle at the Larrañaga Theater).

In the 2016 Season, the Rural Schools to the Theater Program welcomed more than 1,800 children throughout the country who enjoyed a special performance of Coppélia.

- Secondary Schools to the Theater

In the framework of the agreement between SODRE and the Secondary Education Council, as of 2016, special performances are available also forpublic secondary schools. In 2016, a two-event celebration was organized for the 80th anniversary of the Secondary Education Council, consisting in a special performance of Coppélia for high school students and another for primary school students under the Rural Schools to the Theater Program.

Guided visits

Since the second half of 2014 there have been guided visits to BNS facilities, with the opportunity to see fragments of classes and/or rehearsals of the company in its place of work. These visits are held twice on Wednesdays (in the morning and in the afternoon), during one hour.

Special performances and activities

BNS collaborates with non-governmental organizations and non-profit foundations.

It offers an annual performance for the benefit of the Fundación Amigos del Pereira Rossell, in addition to other cooperation agreements with Fundación Porsaleu, Aldeas Infantiles and Niños con Alas, among others. There have also been rehearsals open to the public, visits and shows in public schools during National Tours, as part of our mission and commitment to make our artistic discipline the heritage of all Uruguayans.

During the 2016 Season, as a result of climatic phenomena that struck the interior of our country, $ 795,557 were raised from a special benefit performance of Swan Lake that were donated to the National Emergency System for reconstruction of the affected areas and for addressing the situation of victims in the entire country.