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Coming up on Rob at Home for more than seven decades, the Sacramento Ballet has been part of the fabric of our region's cultural identity.

Doctor Kiera Anderson is the executive director of the Sacramento Ballet and joins us to talk about the healing power of the arts and what's ahead next.

And now Rob on the Road exploring Northern California.

I'm thrilled to introduce Doctor Kiera Anderson here on Rob at Home.

It's great to see you.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thrilled for you to be here with the Sacramento Ballet.

New executive director.

First of all, how does that feel?

Oh, amazing.

Overwhelming.

I'm just I'm filled with gratitude.

This really was a dream job for me.

So to be here about two and a half months into, my tenure at the ballet, it's really been incredible.

I'm so happy for you.

It's it was so interesting reading about your background.

Which you have a lot of varied experience.

Tell me what you feel.

in your background has led you to this moment.

Well, I have, always had a passion for the arts.

That is a lifelong journey for me.

I started taking ballet when I was three years old.

With, you know, so many incredible teachers here in Sacramento and, continued my journey as a performer.

I was a professional and musical theater performer for many years.

But throughout that, I've always had a deep love and passion for dance education.

And I worked with the national dance education nonprofit organization for many years.

I taught, drama in the theater.

I was a yoga teacher for a long time.

I stayed home with my children for five years, which was, you know, lesson in patience and, flexibility and creativity.

And, kind of maybe the hardest job you've mentioned so far.

Oh, yes.

Being with the children.

I thought for sure a it's a big job.

It is.

It's an important job.

It's a big job.

I felt really lucky that I got to do it.

And, and transition back into the workforce.

That can be, you know, a big challenge for women in particular.

So I do feel really lucky that I have had the journey that I've had, you know, throughout the, arts space, nonprofit space, education space.

And I think that for an executive director, being a generalist can be really valuable.

I know, a little bit about everything.

I know a lot about some things, but, just really having that understanding and appreciation for what it takes to produce, a piece of theater to produce a ballet production.

I think that knowledge has really served me well since I started this role.

I know the board of directors did a national search.

And when you were announced and I was reading, you also had experience.

Is it Saint Francis?

Yes.

Yes.

Saint Francis.

So with.

And school systems, you really see the need for the arts.

Oh my gosh, do we ever.

Yes, I worked at Saint Francis, but I also, as you know, part of my career, was working with that dance education nonprofit, and that was really serving students across the country in school districts all over.

So I can speak to that need.

It's it's everywhere.

Some places are, you know, really able to address that critical need for arts education and arts integration in our schools.

But it's tough.

Even communities like ours, where I think there has been a concerted effort and a push to, serve more young people with arts education, programing.

It's still really, really difficult.

We've seen a bizarre attack, on the arts, on the national stage, and it and it's, it's discouraging to see, anything that helps someone live a better life.

Come under attack, if you will.

How how have the arts made you who you are?

And when you worked with students across the country in the program you just mentioned, you saw lives changed over and over and over and over.

It's what does it mean to you to see how it affects people's lives in such a positive way?

Yes.

There's so many aspects of performing arts education that are life changing.

You know, the basic ones, the transferable skills that you learn, the flexibility, the creativity, problem solving in the moment.

You know, you have to think critically.

Those, of course, are also important, those ever important skills for your life, no matter what career you choose.

But I think the, the main thing for me is the humanity.

You know, you just you are stepping into someone else's shoes.

You know, when you, when you attend, a performance and you become part of that story and you, you learn about, you know, someone who might be different than you or have a different life experience than you.

And you walk away and I think you have a deeper appreciation for the people around you, for humanity.

And it's beautiful.

And I think that, you know, that's also really important to acknowledge the beauty of the world around us.

I love the collaborative nature of the performing arts.

It is so collaborative.

It takes so many different people to bring a performance to life.

And you learn that in, in performing arts education classes as well, you know, you are collaborating with the people in the room.

And so you build those skills in teamwork, communication, learning how to communicate with someone who sees the world differently than you.

I really don't think it can be overstated.

And there's research to support this as well.

You know, just the academic performance improves when young people have access to arts education.

There there are just so many reasons why we should support it.

Academics improve, and mental health improves.

Yes, yes.

Mental health, which, you know, our young people are just bombarded now with, because there's just so much access to what's going on in the world.

You know, our smartphones, you know, kind of taking over.

And when you're in a dance class, you're not on your phone.

You're not, you know, watching TV.

You are present and participating, and and I think that's such a beautiful thing.

The sacramental ballet is, is such an institution in Sacramento, in our and in our region.

And in and of itself is home to some serious.

I would, I would say Olympic style dancers because they're so strong and they're so they're such athletes.

Yes.

And has launched many national careers as well.

But make no mistake, that national quality is in Sacramento at the Sacramento Ballet.

Yes.

What's coming up on the in the future for the ballet that has you excited?

You're.

No, you're now at the helm.

You're you're flying this ship.

You're leading this production.

You know, how how does it deal with what's coming up in the future?

Can you share some of that?

Yes.

Thank you for acknowledging the athleticism.

And just incredible artistry of our company.

Dancers, they it's huge.

It's it really is amazing.

They have spent their whole life working to master this craft.

And we do have the best of the best here in Sacramento.

And one of the things I want to highlight is that our artists live and work here.

So they're from all over the world.

And they choose to make their lives here in Sacramento.

They're not coming in from out of town, you know, just for a production here and there.

They really do dedicate their lives to being a part of this community.

And I think that's one thing that's really, really special about Sacramento Ballet.

We are very excited about our upcoming season.

We are going to be announcing it, this weekend, actually.

So, information will be available, but I would love to tease some of this out with you and with your viewers.

So next season will start with, an incredible mixed rep program called Long and Winding Road.

We'll have three pieces as part of that program.

Long and Winding Road, which is the title of the whole program.

Which is set to baroque Beatles music.

We will have, a special of Beatles music.

I certainly did, all right.

I know, I know, it's so neat, so unique.

Really excited about this piece.

Stanton Welch's the, choreographer of that.

Will have a Balanchine ballet to be announced.

As well as a special piece that was originally choreographed by our former artistic director of 30 years, Ron Cunningham, who recently passed away.

So we are entitling next season Legacy in Motion to really honor the institution of Sacramento Ballet, the legacy and foundation upon which it's built.

Part of that foundation, part of the history of the ballet is innovation and evolution.

And Ron Cunningham really pushed the envelope in so many different ways throughout his tenure.

So it really is acknowledging, you know, what, what has come before us that has led us to this really exciting moment in time.

And our sympathies come out to you with the ballet, with the loss of Mr.

Cunningham, Rons a legend.

Yes, with his wife, to his daughter, his family.

And to all the dancers who have worked with Ron over 30 plus years.

What a what a legend.

And what a loss for our community.

When I, when it when it came out that he passed away.

It just kind of reverberated.

You know, you always thought Ron Cunningham would be alive.

Yeah, I know.

You know, and he he touched thousands and thousands of lives in our community, but also around the world.

I mean, he staged ballets all over the world.

And I've learned so much about him, since he passed.

You know, I had grown up going to the Nutcracker.

I was in the Nutcracker for several years.

So, you know, and always was at the ballet, but just reading, about his life and his history, it was really inspiring.

And, I just my heart goes out to his family.

And I also know he lives on.

You know, he he has produced these incredible works of art that that are living on.

And, so we're excited to highlight that for audiences.

While you talk about that, I have to tell you something about, art and healing.

Yes.

About five years ago, a very well right before Covid, a very close friend of mine passed away, and it was so unexpected.

And I had I couldn't figure out, I couldn't express any emotion.

And a friend of mine, invited me to go to the ballet, some Sacramento ballet with him.

And I went and thank goodness it was dark because I just lost it in my seat.

And because you saw life living, you saw things continuing.

You saw it with on the stage.

People just moving through life so gracefully.

And the friend that had died was a ballet dancer when she was young.

And so it just it helped bring that back to life, that life goes on, like you said about Ron.

And I just have to say that there is something so healing about what you do.

And I love that you're naming the season this.

Thank you.

Oh my gosh.

Thank you for sharing that.

That makes me emotional to hear the impact.

Oh it's huge.

That experience time was able to process it.

But about also with Ron's passing.

You know you said he goes on and lives on.

There's so many dancers you can find healing or in the arts you really can if you're if you're looking for a way to to express healing, check out the arts, check out the Sacramento Ballet.

It's fantastic.

Keep going about your season.

I did not mean oh no, I just I so, so deeply believe that art is the answer.

You know, whether I like that coming to Sacramento Ballet or we are so lucky in our region, we have just unbelievable arts organizations in our region.

So if it's not the ballet, you know, they'll go and support any of any one of these, incredible organizations really doing important work.

So this season's coming up.

You're giving us a preview of some of the things that are coming up this season.

You talked about, the baroque Beatles piece, then you talked about another, another ballet and then the keep going from there.

Okay.

Well, at the holidays, of course, we're doing our signature Nutcracker, which is just such a fun, accessible way for families to come and join the ballet.

We're doing an extended performance round of that and a sensory friendly matinee as well.

That's an addition this year.

I'm really, really excited about that.

Then in the spring, we'll do another mixed rep program called Wild Sweet Love.

Featuring three again, three shorter ballets that we pull together into one program.

One of the pieces in that program I'm excited about is called Hearts and, that is choreographed by Julia Feldman, who is one of our company dancers that is just having, an unbelievable journey as a choreographer.

She is home grown.

She is from Sacramento.

Dance has been dancing in our company for many years.

And just, honed her choreography skills with Sacramento Ballet and is now being nationally recognized as a choreographer.

So really excited that we get to present her work next season.

And then we'll have Giselle in April, which, will have live music by the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera.

So I love when we can collaborate with other arts organizations.

That makes me really excited.

And our friends at the Phil Op are just phenomenal.

And it just it brings such a magical element when we have live music with our dancers.

Very excited about that.

And then we will round out the season with beer and ballet, which is a Sacramento favorite.

Our company of artists create the choreography on each other.

And it's really a lot of fun.

Complimentary free beer and wine.

Everybody gets a glass.

Then you sit back and enjoy, our company dancers presenting their work.

You have a great season ahead.

Yes we do.

Yes.

So when you found out that this was that you got the job, how did you feel?

Oh, wow.

You know, I, I really had this feeling throughout the interview process.

It felt so, Right.

It just felt like such a good fit.

And, so when I got the call, I think I was a little in shock.

I didn't have, you know, big feelings right away.

But over the week that followed, you know, there was some terror.

I'm leading, you know, an institution in that has been in Sacramento for 72 years, you know, serving audiences for 72 years.

And so there were there were some times of feeling overwhelmed, questioning, you know, am I the right person?

Can I do this?

But mostly it was joy and excitement and gratitude.

Just like I said, this, this really is a dream job for me.

To lead an arts organization has been my secret dream for for a long time.

And I didn't know if that dream was ever going to become a reality.

So, even with, you know, all the, the challenges of running an arts organization and, you know, interesting time.

I just, feel so much gratitude.

I inherited an amazing team, of really dedicated, passionate, hard working people.

And it's just it's a wonderful organization.

So I think I feel really hopeful about the future.

It is a wonderful organization.

When you walk through the halls, when people are rehearsing or you're having a group in, it is like you're watching a, dance school in New York City on television.

It is so alive.

Yeah.

And there's what?

It blow up.

Blew my mind because I've profiled.

And I've loved it all along the years, probably for at least 16 years on on the ballet.

And it's always so alive.

It's always so forward.

And you know, it's it's it's I think dance dance puts you in the now.

Gosh it does and it puts you in the moment and it keeps you you know.

Right.

Just glued to the presents and the gift of the this present moment.

Yeah.

And I think that that just is something that I see a lot in the arts world.

And, and in dancers.

And you're able to bring that to leadership, which is so important as well, to be in the now, the Sacramento Ballet.

Yes, yes.

Just being grounded in that presence, I think, and when I start to get, you know, a little frazzled and, you know, start to worry about the future, maybe too much.

One of the gifts of my job is I walk outside my office and I go and watch rehearsal for a bit.

And it just absolutely grounds me and, and reminds me what we're all here for and the importance of what we're doing.

And then I go downstairs to our school, and there are young people starting their dance journey.

You know, so I just get to see this full picture of what it means to have a life in the arts.

What does all of this is at the Clara?

Yeah.

What does having such a, a huge institutional place to do all of this, mean for the Sacramento Ballet?

You're not spread out all over the place.

You're able to do this and in a central location.

That's big.

The Clara building is such a huge component of what we do.

It allows us to do what we do.

Like you said, we're all together.

You know, we have our school, we have our rehearsal studios and our administrative, offices all in one right here.

Yeah.

And and also, we have other organizations that share the building with us.

You know, the Clara is an incredible nonprofit organization on its own.

A lot of people don't realize that.

But they manage the building.

They have unbelievable arts education programs that and serve thousands of young people throughout our city.

So we are very honored to be included in the Clara and as part of their mission to provide a home for the arts in Sacramento.

So, really, want to shout out the Clara, for doing that for us?

You know, and we share this building with some other organizations that are also just doing amazing work.

And it's, gosh, such a vibrant place.

You know, you've got actors rehearsing down the hall.

You have the Irish dancers upstairs, you know, tapping away.

You walk down the upstairs hallway, Alliance Francais is there and you can hear, you know, the French language and it's just, among other many, many other organizations.

It would it would take a while to name them all.

But it's a really special home for us.

And, that the city, was so supportive of this and so many people, patrons, who supported this effort to bring this building to life.

It's truly incredible.

What do you hope your impact to be with the Sacramento Ballet?

What do you want your role to to do in Sacramento in the arts and at the ballet, particularly, I think, sustaining this organization and, you know, this is not going to be this is maybe a boring answer, but making sure that it's stable and strong and that all that the foundation is there to, really, I see my role as removing barriers and providing stability so that our artists, our production team, our staff, our faculty can do their best work.

That was beautifully said.

There's nothing boring about that at all.

Removing barriers and sustainability is huge.

It is important.

And and it allows the art to flourish and to thrive.

I really want to create a culture both internally and externally.

That is really, positive and, and focused on, on how we can serve our community.

Accessibility is really important to me.

I, you know, have a background in outreach, community engagement.

And I really like I, I am determined to continue to grow our outreach programs so that we can reach more people in our region.

With this incredible art form.

And there's so many ways that that can happen.

You know, dance education can happen in so many different ways, in so many different settings.

And I really want to make sure that we're out in the community and, and giving people an opportunity to experience this beautiful art form now.

It's not also just in the community and in the ballet.

It's in your home.

You have two children, and your husband is an actor.

Yes.

May I say that he's on General Hospital?

Is that okay?

Of course.

Yes.

Which is so he plays Damien, right?

Yes.

Damien Spinelli.

That's right.

Yeah.

That's.

That's not his real name.

But that's.

No.

No.

Yes.

No.

That.

Yeah.

On the show he plays Damien Spinelli.

It's it's a lot of fun.

So yes, we have, both of my girls, just happened to love performing arts.

We we did encourage them to try, you know, all kinds of activities and things, but, our house is is full of dance and music and and art, and it's really lovely.

Do you see the children leaning one way or another toward a specific expression of the arts?

So my little one is a dancer.

She loves jazz and tap and contemporary and lyrical.

She takes it all.

She loves it.

And ballet.

And then my older daughter, loves theater and Irish dance.

Those are her passions.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's a lot of fun.

What matters most to you as we close here that you feel must be shared, that you want to say that if we left this interview and you think I wish I would have said that, or, you know, we all think those things right when we leave.

Sure.

Yeah.

And you think of something that you feel must be shared.

About anything.

Yeah I think, I think I would just want to go back and reiterate how, how much I feel that, that art is the solution to what ails us and, and what you shared about how healing art can be and just encourage people to take a chance, maybe on an art that they haven't experienced, and to get curious about what that experience might look like if they participated.

There's so much to do here in Sacramento.

We we really, just won the lottery.

In terms of, of arts offerings.

So I would just encourage everyone to get out there and, go see a play, come to the ballet.

I would love to see more folks at the ballet.

You know, go go see a concert.

Go to the Philharmonic.

There's just so much to do.

And, and I think the more that we connect as a community in these shared arts experiences, the better off we will be.

I found unexpected healing in the arts in Sacramento about, like I really did, unexpected healing.

You never know where you will find that.

And it is also there's a wide scale of ways to see these, as you mentioned, performances.

They're not all expensive.

You can do that.

You can get in to see so many things.

So if you think that there's a barrier.

Break that barrier.

Look for answers and you can find it because there's a way to see all of the arts.

Yes doctor Kira Anderson I'm so glad to talk to you.

Thank you for joining us.

Oh thank you so much for having me.

So exciting to have you here on Robert Home and to have you leading the Sacramento Ballet.

Congratulations on this chapter for you.

Thank you so much.

thanks for joining us.

You can watch when you want at Rob on the road dot org Murphy Austin Adam Schoenfeld LLP, focusing on business law and commercial litigation, is proud to support Rob on the Road Region Rising.

More information available at Murphy Austin.com.