Annual Spring Gala, Richmond

In 1976, months of planning and secret meetings came to fruition. After plenty of soul-searching, a group of 30 dancers split from the Richmond Ballet and enlisted the guidance of artistic director Robert Watkins, who had recently resigned from the Richmond Ballet as well. Together they formed a new troupe with one goal: fostering appreciation of ballet by making it more accessible. To that end, they staged affordable, full-scale productions at convenient venues across the state. The Concert Ballet of Virginia has more than lived up to that lofty goal in the years since. Everything about the company emphasizes accessible quality, from their full-length productions of Swan Lake and Giselle to their open casting calls and their eradication of the all-tutu dress code usually demanded of ballet audiences.