Poem to Degas
Julia O’Malley-Keyes has made her mark as a classic marine and sailing painter. If you look closely at the crew in her paintings you’ll see that she is interested in highly detailed figurative painting. Although the artist still creates commissioned paintings of the sea, coastal harbors and sailing, she has started a new series of paintings reflecting her love of dance and in particular ballet. A number of ballet schools on the East Coast have generously allowed the artist to take reference photography. This reference photography, copious notes and impressions garnered on site with the dancers are then translated into highly detailed oil paintings which are also available as fine art prints.
Rhode Island’s Ballet Theater, a non-profit and its artistic director Nancy McAuliffe have generously allowed me access to these beautiful ballet dancers. A portion of the sale of every original ballet painting or fine art print from this talented company is given in support of Rhode Island’s Ballet Theater
ABOUT RIBT
Rhode Island's ballet theatre is a classical ballet company training talented young dancers for regional professional companies and college dance scholarships. The company's goal is to help promising young dancers reach their full potential through a pre-professional training program consisting of weekly company class, a series of Master Classes, regular evaluation & feedback, learning experiences with leading professional ballet companies, and ongoing performance opportunities to enhance a dancer's stage presence.
The company is a non-profit, community-based ballet company admitting gifted dancers from all ballet schools and studios. Admission to the company is through juried auditions held twice each year.
All company members share a passion for ballet and a love of performing. By showcasing their talent and their joy in dance, we also hope to build the audience for classical ballet in our community and increase appreciation for dance as an art form.
Rhode Island's ballet theatre is the only classical dance company in the region dedicated to enhancing the artistic gifts of talented amateur dancers by featuring them in roles normally reserved for professionals.