Milwaukee Ballet will open its doors to approximately 50 people per show when it resumes in-person performances on Feb. 25.
The city of Milwaukee’s newest health order relaxes gathering restrictions from 10 people to 25% of capacity, allowing the organization to plan for larger in-person audiences when it launches its next production “To the Pointe.” The show will run from Feb. 25-March 7.
“Returning to the stage during this pandemic is like recovering from injury. Rehabilitation is slow and steady, you must commit to a goal and keep working diligently towards it. That’s what we’re doing here at Milwaukee Ballet,” said artistic director Michael Pink.
Milwaukee Ballet made a step towards returning to live performances in December 2020 with an abbreviated adaptation of “The Nutcracker,” presenting 26 shows to 10 subscribers per performance at its new Baumgartner Center for Dance in the Third Ward.
“We went into that production knowing the audience size would be small, but our dancers were grateful to perform live, and we were committed to providing inspiration to those who were comfortable joining us at the theater,” Pink said.
In July 2020, the ballet resumed operations in its School & Academy. Pink noted that the organization has not experienced transmission of COVID-19 related to the school and academy, nor with “The Nutcracker” production.
The ballet requires masks in the Baumgartner Center for all audience members, dancers and staff at all times. “To the Pointe” will be one hour with no intermission. It also will be filmed and available On Demand, thanks in part to support from United Performing Arts Fund Kasey’s Fund.
