Ballet Rogue

Ballet Rogue, in residence at Ginger Rogers Craterian Theatre, is Southern Oregon’s professional ballet company. Diane

Gaumond Hyrst is artistic director and co-founder.

The company is famous for its series, Ballet in the Park, presented every summer in Ashland’s Lithia Park. Its annual

production ofThe Nutcracker is a holiday favorite. The company’s two film projects, The Swan Lake Story and Two For Ballet,

have aired on the Disney Channel and PBS Televisionstations. Its production of Beauty and the Beast was presented over a

two-year period to all schools of Jackson County by the Educational Services Department.

Ballet Rogue has produced over 120 original ballets since 1980; of these 75 were choreographed by Ballet Rogue’s founder, the

late Eric Hyrst, and produced specifically for Ashland’s Ballet in the Park. The company has performed The Nutcracker ballet in

the Craterian Theatre in Medford since1998. The company has presented many programs in schools throughout Southern

Oregon. It has  toured in Southern Oregon and Northern California to present full productions of major repertory ballets.

Ballet Rogue is a non-profit educational corporation 501(c) (3)

The Rogue Valley’s Professional Ballet Company Since 1980

DIANE GAUMOND HYRST Artistic Director Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Ms. Hyrst received her early ballet training from Milenka Neiderlova, who was a ballerina with the National Ballet of Czechoslovakia in Prague. Ms. Hyrst holds a bachelor's degree in pedagogy from the University of Montreal and has taught French as a second language for the Government of Canada. Ms. Hyrst first started performing with A.R.T., a resident multi-media troupe at Les Beaux Arts at the University of Quebec in Montreal. She also studied piano at the Conservatoire de Music de Montreal, jazz dance with Eva Van Ginchy, co-founder of Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, and modern dance with La Nouvele Air, the resident modern company at the University of Montreal.

As a ballerina, Ms Hyrst was featured in The Swan Lake Story, shown on the Disney Channel, and in Two for Ballet, shown on national PBS channels. Some of the roles that marked her dancing career include "Zobide" in Scheherazade and Le Spectre de la Rose, danced at the Britt Gardens. Ms. Hyrst moved in the U.S. in 1974 with her late husband and mentor, Eric Hyrst. In the U.S., she has danced ballet roles in several regional companies and gained more multi-media experience at the the Chicago Art Institute. While in Kansas City, she also chaired a new dance program at Rockhurst College. The Hyrsts moved to Ashland in 1980 and founded The State Ballet of Oregon (now known as Ballet Rogue). In August of 1980, they started their work as directors, teachers, and, dancers. Together they established the Ashland Ballet  in the Park series in 1985, and they began productions of the traditional holiday classic The Nutcracker in 1987. Along the way, they both trained young dancers who have gone on to have successful careers in dance, and they produced many original works. Several works were created to the original music of resident musicians Web Young and Eric Ainsworth. Since 1996, Ms. Hyrst has held the position of Artistic Director of Ballet Rogue and  maintained the high standard set by Eric Hyrst. She has created many original works for Ballet in the Park, choreographed for the Rogue Opera and Southern Oregon Public Television, and she has trained and developed the present company. As her contribution to the arts in the Rogue Valley community approaches its thirtieth year, she looks forward to future success and to the continued development of  Ballet Rogue's dance company.