NORA SMITH
Staff writer
As the 2026 Summer Season’s curtains draw to a close, Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance Sasha Janes reflected on Chautauqua’s School of Dance program and looked toward the 2027 Season.
Janes said this season’s dance program was especially unique, as the Chautauqua School of Dance put on its first full-length performance and story ballet of Janes’ rendition of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.
“Time-wise, we were constrained a little bit more, but I think it was very successful to have [Wuthering Heights in the program], and it just gave the dancers another opportunity to get on stage, which was amazing,” Janes said.
He said he would always like to stage the production again or put on a different full-length story ballet, but it all depends on how the program comes together.
“It’s a big puzzle, not just with dance but with all the things that go on the Amphitheater stage,” Janes said. “So, finding that ideal moment to do something like that is tricky, but if the opportunity arises, I would certainly jump at the chance to present something like that again.”
Janes said, in addition to the program’s unique structure, the program also featured what he said was a great group of dancers that contributed to “performances of a particularly high caliber.”
Janes said another unique aspect of the season’s program was staging the second and final Student Gala of the season on a Wednesday evening rather than a Sunday afternoon, as in previous seasons.
“Doing it on Wednesday evening allowed it to feel more like a proper performance where we had lighting and all that stuff,” Janes said. He added that this gave students a “fully fledged performance opportunity.”
With the program currently in the works for next season, Janes said, “I am hoping to do something from the famous classical canon for the dancers at Chautauqua School of Dance, so they really have the opportunity to do some of that really important court ballet and soloist-type classical ballet from the classical canon.”
Janes said that the program will, of course, include something from George Balanchine, with Director of Ballet Studies and Principal Repetiteur for Chautauqua School of Dance Patricia McBride on faculty as such a valuable resource.
“We’ll just keep trying to get better and better at what we do,” Janes said.
