Meeting Recap - February 9, 2016
Nothing in the past of Ron Cunningham, Artistic Director for The Sacramento Ballet, would have destined him for artistic fame. He grew up the son of a mother who had made it only to the fifth grade and a father who never attended school. He had never been inside a theater until at the age of 23 when he saw Rudolph Nureyev.
“It changed my life,” said Cunningham, a choreographer who has created more than 60 ballets. It was an odd choice for a 23-year-old who had never danced. He looked up ballet in the Yellow Pages to find a teacher who told him in a prim British accent, “Don’t you think you left it until rather late.” He was put into a class with 8 year olds.
Cunningham went on to do all kinds of dancing on the stage and arrived in New York City just as modern dance was exploding. “The idea was to break all the rules and see where dance could lead us.” He got a job choreographing ballet in Boston and his children’s ballet for “Tubby the Tuba,” was reviewed as critics as a “witty winner.”
He fell in love with Sacramento when he saw his hostess pick a lemon from her tree for dinner and the rest is history. Cunningham and his wife Carinne Binda have run the ballet for 28 years. The 61-year-old Sacramento Ballet is the second oldest ballet west of the Mississippi. Cunningham has directed performances of Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty to 18 ballets by George Balanchine.
The ballet’s next performance is “Beer & Ballet” at the Art Court Theatre at Sacramento City College from Feb. 18-28. The Ballet will move into its new home - the remodeled Fremont Elementary School which will become the E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts - and perform “Bach to Now and Beyond” Mar. 17-Apr. 2.
Also at the busy meeting, recognitions were given to several members for their gifts to Rotary including: Gene Pendergast (Wilke Fleury et al), his 5th Eddie Mulligan; Jeff Curio (Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld), his 1st Eddie Mulligan; Elfreena Foord (Foord, Van Bruggen, & Pajak) her 5th Paul Harris; Don Brown, his 6th Eddie Mulligan and 8th Paul Harris; Frank Cook (Cook Realty), his 9th Paul Harris.
Announcements included the need for two people to attend the April 2 District Assembly Training session; two men and two women are needed to judge the Youth Speech Contest; the ski trip to Squaw Valley is Mar. 16; volunteers are needed for Work Day at the Sacramento Food Bank on Mar. 19; the annual Snowshoe Walk in Yosemite will be on Mar. 12 and the Pony Express Marathon will be May 1.
Unfortunate members fined for their accomplishments included Tom Bacon because Bacon Commercial Real Estate has joined Kidder Mathews; Tim Pinkey wore his Search and Rescue uniform now that he has joined the Sacramento County sheriff’s team; and Doug Crumley was awarded the Silver Beaver award from the Boy Scouts.
President Dave Cohen thanked Dr. Don Brown for the wine reception and Kevin Williams (KVIE) and Aaron French (Zanker Road Resource Management) for the music and John Dannenfelser (JD Enterprises) for the audio visual. Mik Miklaus (Integrity Mortgage) gave the Thought of the Day. Greeters were Don Ellwanger and Jerry Haley. The head table included Bob Miller (First US Community Credit Union), chair of the day; Ron Cunningham; President Dave; Bree Cahill; Eric Solis (Wells Fargo Advisors); and Steve Lamon (Murphy Austin Adams Schenfeld). Solis was the meeting sponsor who turned his time over to Bree Cahill, who represents Social Venture Partners of Sacramento.