Every day at 1 p.m., Sophie Williams checks a report that reveals the daily ticket sales from The Conrad, where her new ballet company, Pointeworks, will perform Thursday in a mixed repertoire production.
Earlier this month, more than half of the seats were sold.
“There is a lot of hope,” said the San Diego-born ballerina. “I think we are getting there.”
Though this will be Pointeworks’ inaugural performance, the idea to establish a dance company and present a concert of contemporary and classical ballet has played out in Williams’ psyche for years.
It is, after all, a large and risky undertaking, with an international cast of professional dancers, many from Texas Ballet Theater, where Williams has performed as a company dancer since 2022.
Williams’ idea to stage a ballet performance came about, in part, as a response to the creative and financial limitations ballet professionals face.
Like most classical dancers in the United States, Williams is unemployed during the summer season break, when dancers scramble to find temporary work while staying in shape.
“I’ve been to hundreds of auditions and I know how challenging it can be to continuously have to find jobs,” Williams said.
“Everyone is always looking for freelance work, whether it’s applying for guesting jobs or teaching. Anything to keep dancing. A lot of it is chance; you have to persevere and keep going. Our careers are short, so we have to make the most of it.”
Williams made the most of it by realizing she had direct access to highly trained dancers who needed summer employment. She considered the possibility of creating her own dance company, but she encountered some initial criticism.
She was told that the ballet scene in San Diego was oversaturated and that she was taking away from the funding and prestige of local companies.
Williams remained undaunted.
“By creating a summer season, I can provide work and opportunities to local dancers during the off-season, as well as bring a higher caliber to the local dance scene,” she said.
“Also, by presenting a range of repertoire, I can grow the San Diego dance audiences, which in turn should help local ballet companies gain new subscribers and ticket buyers during their year-round seasons.”
Williams decided to make her dreams a reality last year, after performing to a program by all-male choreographers.
“I had this urge to put some female representation on the stage,” she stressed.
“I went home from the theater wired with energy and started filling out my nonprofit paperwork. When I officially booked The Conrad theater in September 2023, it was a real this-is-it moment. There was no backing out or changing plans.”
Williams wanted to highlight female talent, and she insisted on paying her male dancers the same as the female dancers.
Statistically, male dancers in the United States are paid more and men also hold more leadership positions, especially at large ballet companies.
As Williams went forward with renting costumes, collaborating with stage managers and posting updates on social media, she encountered more disapproval.
One individual from a dance school in another state responded to her online presence with an email that accused Williams of “failing the world of classical ballet” and that Pointeworks was “challenging the patriarchy and taking away the years of work laid down by gifted male artists.”
Williams dismissed it.
The Pointeworks I production includes five works by female choreographers, exquisite costumes and both live and commissioned musical accompaniment.
There are two world premieres, one by San Diego resident Reka Gyulai, a former California Ballet principal dancer who has choreographed the program’s opener “Off Beat.”
It’s an athletic, upbeat dance accompanied by a pulsing score from Ukrainian-American musician Katya Richardson, known for composing for dance (Norwegian National Ballet and Joffrey Ballet) and for film, such as this year’s Academy Award-winning documentary “The Last Repair Shop.”
Nicole Von Enck, also a Texas Ballet Theater dancer, choreographed the premiere of “Familiar Reflections,” a pas de deux to a romantic Claude Debussy piece that will be played live by pianist Polina Cherezova.
The dance showcases Williams and Kyle Torres-Hiyoshi, who rehearsed the piece last month at Ballet Arte studios in Solana Beach.
That’s where Williams and two of the Pointeworks dancers, Spencer Lenain and Sophie Savas-Carstens, began their training and went on to professional careers outside of San Diego.
Lenain will perform at the Vail Dance Festival this year, and Sophie Savas-Carstens has danced for seven seasons with Philadelphia Ballet.
Savas-Carstens and Williams, who are both in their 20s, grew up loving ballet.
“I feel like I owe my ballet career to her,” said Savas-Carstens.
“We even have the same name. Hand-on-heart, I have never met anyone more determined in my life. When she says she will do something, she will do it. I’m impressed but not surprised.”
An additional incentive to stage a ballet was the chance to try something different.
The majority of professional ballet dancers are women who are relegated to the corps de ballet where they must fit a mold. Whether it’s the swans in “Swan Lake,” or the lines of Wilis in “Giselle,” uniformity and conformity is traditionally the ideal.
That leaves a lot of dancers who have the talent, experience and skill to be soloists stuck in supporting roles.
Williams also wanted to explore a range of choreography, in addition to providing creative opportunities for other dancers.
She said her experience working with more than a dozen ballet companies during the summer months enabled her to cross the line from dancer to artistic director.
“I’ve been a dancer for a decade and I have worked with over 50 different directors,” she explained.
“I’ve seen how all of them have trained their dancers and how they program a season. Whether it was terrible or inspiring leadership, I’ve been an observer of different scenarios and I watched how it translated.”
Despite the challenges, Williams finds the process of presenting her first ballet production “incredibly exciting.”
“My aim is to grow, foster, and better the ballet community,” Williams said with conviction.
“I have a deep love for the classics, but ballet is a living art form and we have to keep it alive and relevant. Creating more opportunities and highlighting new and female voices on today’s stages doesn’t detract from ballet’s roots and history, it builds on it.”
Pointeworks I
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, June 20
Where: Baker-Baum Concert Hall, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla
Tickets: $58-$98
Online: theconrad.org
Luttrell is a freelance writer.