Photo courtesy of Jimmy Orrante
Jimmy Orrante was trying to take his career to New York City when he stopped in Columbus to train during BalletMet’s summer program.
An experienced performer from Los Angeles, Orrante started dancing at the age of 16 through his performing arts high school. His journey took him to Las Vegas’ Nevada Ballet Theatre, and later to Ballet Memphis.
Taking his craft to the Big Apple seemed like a natural progression but, Orrante says, Columbus was home.
Orrante was in his early 20s when he arrived in Columbus. At 41, and with 19 seasons under his belt, he retired from the company on May 3 following the company’s season-closing American Masters.
BalletMet’s artistic director when Orrante came on board in 1995, David Nixon, played a role in keeping Orrante in the city where he would later marry and start a family.
“(Nixon) saw something in me that was teachable, (and he saw) that I was eager to learn,” Orrante says. “He gave me opportunities I don’t think I would have ever had.”
Ballet dancers typically retire during their mid-30s, Orrante says. Sometimes injury plays a part; sometimes dancers lose their passion. But Orrante stayed because he couldn’t imagine parting ways with the company. He intends to stay in the Columbus area during retirement and has plans to teach.
“It’s hard for dancers to find a spot they can call home,” he says.
Orrante graced Columbus stages in several standout roles. He was the original title character in Nixon’s Dracula, and has danced the title role multiple times since. Herr Drosselmeyer from The Nutcracker is another role that resonates with Orrante.
“I know the effect that role has on kids,” Orrante says. “(Before I had kids), I would dance the role and not realize how special it is. I see how true and real it is for them and how they relive it over and over.”
Orrante and his wife, former BalletMet dancer Sonia Welker, have 3 children: Isaac, 11, Aiyana, 8, and Imara, 5, all dancers themselves. The kids remember performances from several seasons back, Orrante says, which sometimes results in his having to re-enact sequences at their Clintonville home.
Anyone who keeps tabs on BalletMet knows that, in recent years, Orrante has expanded the scope of his work to include choreography as well as dance. The Great Gatsby, which premiered in 2009 and was most recently performed in February, was his first full-length production.
He’s also collaborated with other dancers to choreograph shorter works, such as Watercolor and his most recent work, one of the pieces from this past fall’s Twisted: A Trio of Excellence. Delving into choreography was a natural progression as people within the company – such as Gerard Charles, who was artistic director from 2001-12 – encouraged Orrante to continue pushing his limits.
“Dance is hard,” Orrante says. “But what’s really hard is to find your own path as a dancer. We all learn cursive writing the same way, but when we do it more and more, we develop our own style. So, what’s going to set you apart? Sometimes that develops naturally, and sometimes it takes someone to pull it out of you.”
Hannah Bealer is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Related Stories
-A look back at Twisted, for which Orrante choreographed a piece
-Orrante on his choreography work for The Great Gatsby
-2013’s The Rite of Spring, for which Orrante choreographed an accompanying piece
