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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2019)
JANUARY 18, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3 KeizerCommunity KEIZERTIMES.COM Celtics’ resident choreographer keeps actors on their toes By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes McNary High School’s an- nual winter musical has become a staple of this community for a number of years now — the performing arts rendition of Grease opened last week. The school’s focus on per- forming arts is very apparent as students display talents in sing- ing, dancing and acting at a lev- el that is hard to match in the Salem-Keizer area. It might be a struggle for many programs to keep things fresh and entertaining for their audience year after year. But with the help of choreographer Zoe-Lisa Banton — who is the director of City Dance Theatre in Salem — students are con- tinually able to capture the at- tention of those who come to see the show. Banton has been choreo- graphing the McNary musical for the last 20 years and contin- ues to challenge and push her students to be the best that they can be. “I have pushed these stu- dents to reach beyond their expectations with the chore- ography. Most of these students are not dancers and I give them choreography that I would give my studio dancers,” Banton said. “Every show I choreograph at McNary I try to push the limit with the intensity of choreog- raphy.” “Keizer theatre has a name and reputation, so we have a lineage to live up to.” Banton, who grew up in En- gland, brings an extensive danc- ing background to her multiple roles in the community. She started dancing at the age of two and by the time she was 11 years old, Banton had earned a scholarship to The Royal Ballet School. From there, Banton used her skills to perform and compete all over Great Britain. At age 16, she was a fi nalist in both The All EASIER, SMARTER, WARMER England Dance Finals as well as Miss Dance of Great Britain. After spending time per- forming and traveling through Europe, Banton was hired as a dancer with Princess Cruises — where she wound up meet- ing her husband, Brad, who was a musical director on the ship. Banton spent more than fi ve years on the cruise ships before marrying Brad and moving to Branson, Missouri. But by the age 24, Banton’s body began to feel the results of dancing for basically her whole life, which is why she decided to get into teaching. With a love for sharing her knowledge, as well as teaching qualifi cations from the Britain Ballet Organization, it was a Featuring the award-winning TouchSmart Controls! One of the cleanest burning pellet stoves ever tested The Deerfi eld ™ is Lopi’s premium, large capacity cast iron pellet stove. This award-winning stove combines beautifully proportioned European castings with optimum performance to bring you a home heater that is both elegant and easy to live with. Director of City Dance Theater Zoe- Lisa Banton guides some of McNary’s Grease actors through a dance number. seamless transition for Banton. “I just started to realize that this is really what I wanted to do,” Banton said. After spending a year in Mis- souri, Banton and her husband moved to Keizer to be closer to his family, who are from Salem. Within three months of living in Keizer, Banton be- gan teaching dance in Keizer Christian Church. In 1996, she opened up City Dance Theatre (CDT). When she fi rst opened up CDT, Banton used to rent out the auditorium at McNary High School to allow her stu- dents to put on recitals, which is how she fi rst got connected with Linda Baker — who was the performing arts teacher at McNary from 1996 to 2011 and is the founder of Keizer Homegrown Theatre. After seeing Banton’s stu- dents perform, Baker knew that she wanted to develop a part- nership with her. “Her creativity is phenom- enal,” Baker said about Banton. “She just really understands dance and theatre.” Baker agreed to let Banton use the auditorium for recitals and performances without a fee. In return, Banton was required to be the choreographer for the McNary winter musical every year— which ended up being the beginning of a beautiful partnership. “(Banton) is the best collab- orator I have ever worked with,” Baker said. “She can deliver on the run and is just a great prob- lem solver.” Oklahoma was the fi rst play she choreographed in 1999. And every year since, Banton has played an infl uential role in the production of each Mc- Nary winter musical. Whether it’s a show like Romeo and Juliet or Legally Blonde, it’s easy to see Banton’s fi ngerprints all over the performance. Even though there has been some transition in the McNary theatre department over the years, the production value has stayed at a high level. Tom Cavanaugh, who is in his second year as the the- atre director at McNary High School said: “It was the happiest crossword Lopi Deerfi eld Freestanding Pellet Stove As an Energy Trust of Oregon trade ally, we can help you access cash incentives to make it easier to improve your home’s energy effi ciency. 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It was such an easy transition and we just clicked right away.” “Sometimes you just have to get out of her way and let her get to work.” Even though it’s been two decades, Banton hasn’t lost an ounce of her passion for kids in this community. “They are just a great cast and they are super supportive of each other,” Banton said about the cast of Grease. “McNary theatre is an amazing environ- ment for our Keizer young adults to thrive in. I feel very blessed to have been able to share my love of musical theatre with them for so long.” If you haven’t yet seen it, there is still time to catch the McNary performing arts de- partment’s showing of Grease. There will be a 7 p.m. show- ing tonight and a 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. showing on Saturday at the school’s auditorium.