Luminario Ballet Gala and Performance - ZARATHUSTRA!
Judith FLEX Helle, Director of Luminario Ballet and Bianca Sapetto, founding member of the Luminario Ballet
Hollywood, California, USA. 22nd October, 2023. The Luminario Ballet held it's "Lucky 13 Season" gala fundraiser and performance - ZARATHUSTRA! at the Avalon Hollywood in Hollywood, California. Luminario Ballet of Los Angeles is an award-winning repertory ballet and aerial dance company reflecting the vibrancy, diversity, and global relevance of Southern California dance.
The guest performers were Thelma Houston, the Grammy Award winning Motown and Disco Queen superstar who performed on stage with the Luminario Ballet, Bianca Sapetto, founding member of the Luminario Ballet, a dancer, aerialist, and choreographer, and Jesus Florido, a Yamaha violinist who brought his creativity and colorful graphics and background images to brighten up the stage. Florido is an accomplished musician who has been on tour with many other music artists including Gotan Tango, Zubin Mehta, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant.
Thelma Houston performs onstage with Bianca Sapetto and the Luminario Ballet
Music artist Jesus Florido plays the violin
Luminario is a contemporary ballet and dance company founded in 2008, with ballerinas “en pointe”, and thrilling aerialists and acrobats. The choreographer's works in Luminario’s repertory range from the past 50 years - Los Angeles modern dance legend Bella Lewitzky, San Francisco Ballet’s Michael Smuin, to choreographers of the here and now: Jamal Story, ballet Maestro Stefan Wenta, Cirque du Soleil’s head choreographer Debbie Brown, and the award-winning artistic director Judith FLEX Helle’s classical to dance theater and aerial dance choreography. Her wild imagination and passion for dance won the accolade of ‘cultural ambassador abroad’ from the US State Department in 2020, allowing the Luminario Ballet to tour India as representatives of US democratic values of equality, justice, and diversity.
Luminario Ballet
Luminario Ballet
Luminario Ballet
Luminario Ballet
Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) founder Joey Zhou attended the gala with tenor singer Jianli Tian. LABA Blue-chip artist Jiannan Huang attended by international video conference and wished the ballet a successful fundraiser and wonderful performance.
LABA founder Joey Zhou
Tenor singer Jianli Tian
LABA Blue-chip artist Jiannan Huang attended by international video conference with LABA founder Joey Zhou
Luminario Ballet founder, managing and artistic director Judith FLEX Helle is a 2022 recipient of the
President’s Lifetime Service Award; and the United Nations Humanitarian Award. She was recognized in July 2014 by Dance Magazine as Top 5 of Southern California’s Women in Dance Leadership; is a judge for the World Choreography Awards, a judge for the Reno Aerial dance Awards and was nominated for a 2012 World Choreography Award in Concert/Live Performance for her ballet and aerial dance piece “Lift Ticket”.
Judith FLEX Helle, Director of Luminario Ballet was honored with a certificate from the City of Los Angeles
LABA founder Joey Zhou with Judith FLEX Helle, Director of Luminario Ballet
LABA founder Joey Zhou with silent auction items that he won
Karla Gordy Bristol and Thelma Houston
Joey Zhou and Thelma Houston
Luminario Ballet performance finale
Luminario Ballet has been honored with many awards and has received grants from the US Department of State, State of California, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the Los Angeles City Department of Cultural Affairs. They are supported by the Charles Evans Foundation, the Aileen Getty Foundation, the Tutu Foundation, The Charitable Foundation, and many others.
The Beverly Arts News is sponsored by The Beverly Arts Foundation