10.25.08 Cuban Ballet Arts Exhibition at the Blankenship Ballet Co of Venice October 25, 2008

If you have ever been to the ballet, one usually thinks of a large theatre with stadium style seating, along with the majority of the audience members craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the distant dance program. Yes opera glasses, i.e. binoculars, do help, but often hinder the full expression of this magical event and inspiring art form.

What would it be like to be so close to witness the muscles and tendons of each dancer expand and contract? To watch the breath of each dancer, to see the sweat trickle down the arc of the neck? To see the emotion in their eyes? To feel like you are a part of it? Imagine seeing world class ballet in a venue where you were sitting so close to the dancers that you could actually reach out and touch them!

Come experience the Cuban Ballet Arts up close and personal! Come to The Blankenship Ballet Company of Venice…this Saturday Oct 25th at 7:00 pm at 132 Brooks Ave. (on the Corner of Main and Brooks at Abbot Kinney Blvd) in Venice.

Bertha Suarez Blankenship, Prima Ballerina and Artistic Director of the The Blankenship Ballet Company of Venice has hand picked a chosen few of distinguished world class dancers to work within this outstanding Ballet Ensemble. Impresario, Mark Blankenship is the visionary responsible for creating an incredible performance space called the Blankenship Ballet Studio. The structure was built in 1905 by the Christian Science church, but rarely used since 1937. In 2007, Mark Blankenship carefully renovated and restored it, creating a beautiful grand ballroom studio venue that is the new home for The Blankenship Ballet Company of Venice, located less than two (2) blocks from boardwalk and the beach.

Mark Blankenship is a Yale-educated Venture Capitalist who has been an active and persistent impresario of the ballet arts since 1996, creating and producing many highly-regarded inspirational ballet performances in many venues located in California

Bertha Suarez Blankenship is a native of Cuba who danced professionally in Cuba for over fourteen (14) years with the Ballet de Camaguey, under the direction of the legendary Fernando Alonso, considered to be the "Father" of the Cuban Ballet Arts and with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba under the direction of the iconic Alicia Alonso.

In 1994, while on tour with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Bertha defected two (2) hours before a performance of Swan Lake on the Caribbean Island of Martinique, eventually finding freedom in the United States and upon her arrival performing under the direction of the late renowned Fernando Bujones, who is quoted in the El Nuevo Herald (of the Miami Herald) as exclaiming: "Bertha Suarez is
an Extraordinary Ballerina".

The efforts and collaboration of Mark and Bertha Blankenship have created and produced the beautiful Venice venue as well as a series of performances that have inspired many spectators to appreciate the powerful and evocative ballet arts. The Blankenship Ballet Company of Venice is deeply involved in and committed to its mission of amplifying the Cuban Ballet Arts through the exhibition of ballet in a myriad of performance venues. To see some of the Blankenship Ballet Company's previous performance, click "Blankenship Ballet" on youtube.com.

The Cuban Ballet Arts will unexpectedly seduce you, engulf you, inspire you and welcome you. Come to the Blankenship Ballet's latest Cuban Ballet & Dance Exhibition on Saturday, October 25th at 7:00 pm at The Blankenship Ballet Studio132 Brooks Ave. (on the Corner of Main and Brooks at Abbot Kinney Blvd) in Venice. $15.00 prepaid reservation; $20.00 at the door. As always, kids get in for free. All major credit cards accepted. Call now 1(866) 922-5538. Or visit www.BlankenshipBallet.com.

Official Website: http://www.BlankenshipBallet.com