Join guest host Samantha Marinko of The Boulos Company on the Boulos Beat as she interviews Melissa Martens Yaverbaum, Executive Director of Portland Ballet. Melissa shares ways the arts have shaped her life in unexpected ways, given her experiences with different museums, libraries, and cultural organizations. In this episode, Melissa also underscores Portland Ballet's work to engage new communities, build partnerships, and to make ballet approachable to all in Maine. Additionally, Sam and Melissa discuss Portland Ballet’s upcoming performances, including "New Works" and "Sleeping Beauty."
Join guest host Samantha Marinko of The Boulos Company on the Boulos Beat as she interviews Melissa Martens Yaverbaum, Executive Director of Portland Ballet. Melissa shares ways the arts have shaped her life in unexpected ways, given her experiences with different museums, libraries, and cultural organizations. In this episode, Melissa also underscores Portland Ballet's work to engage new communities, build partnerships, and to make ballet approachable to all in Maine. Additionally, Sam and Melissa discuss Portland Ballet’s upcoming performances, including "New Works" and "Sleeping Beauty."
SPEAKERS
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum, Samantha Marinko
Samantha Marinko 00:00
Samantha, I'd like to welcome our listeners to The Boulos Beat Podcast. I'm Samantha maringo, guest hosting for Greg Boulos. The Boulos Company is northern New England's largest commercial real estate services firm with offices in Portland, Maine as well as Manchester and Portsmouth New Hampshire. We've been selling and leasing real estate in Maine and New Hampshire since 1975
This podcast is designed to provide insight into Maine's leaders. It's movers and shakers. And speaking of movers and shakers, I'd like to introduce Melissa Martens Yaverbaum. Melissa grew up just outside of Philadelphia and pursued her love of learning at Denison University, where she majored in anthropology and minored in dance. She later earned advanced degrees in museum studies and American Studies at George Washington University, now living in South Windham with her husband and 10 year old son, Melissa is the new executive director of the Portland Ballet. She brings three decades of national experience in museums and libraries, where she's made a name for herself in strategic visioning, community partnerships and coalition building, all driven by her deep passion for the arts and humanities. Melissa, welcome to the podcast.
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 01:13
Thank you. It's such a pleasure to be here. So someone that is also from away, tell me about how you made your way to Maine, yeah, my family and I decided to move here in 2021 we had been living in Brooklyn, in New York City. And my sister-in-law had moved here about 13 years ago, and she kept saying, you would not believe how wonderful it is to live in Maine. And it just it sounded so far away to us at the time, my father in law decided to retire in Maine right around the same time in 2021 and so we started visiting, and as soon as we visited, of course, we fell in love with it. Couldn't imagine living any place else, and just picked up and moved to Maine and started our lives here. Oh,
Samantha Marinko 01:51
that's amazing. I think that's a that's what Maine tends to do to people. It does. So in college, you majored in anthropology and you minored in dance. So where did you see that taking you?
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 02:07
Well, at the time, I could say my parents definitely didn't see either of those things taking me anywhere. So I always like to encourage people that have those deep passions and interests to follow up on them and to really pursue them. I also had the advantage of doing so in a liberal arts education. So for me, that was the perfect recipe, because I was probably not meant to be dancing on a professional stage, and I was probably also not going to be doing archeology in the dirt. So for me, it was always partly an intellectual exercise, a societal exercise, and then one about finding my own voice and figuring out what I could bring to leadership and the things that I really cared about. So in college, we had, you know, like many liberal arts educations, so many required classes, like from geology to kinesiology, history, foreign language, all the things. And I really think all those ingredients of our liberal arts education made it possible me for me to advance in my interests. So I knew when I got out of college that I would be looking for work, either in the arts or in academia. And for me, the perfect pathway to that was looking at museums, because they kind of represent both worlds, and they're deeply tuned to the communities that they serve. So I got out of college and I started applying for museum jobs and library jobs, but the first gig I picked up as a summer thing was working at Glimmerglass opera in upstate New York, and it was called an arts administration internship, which, at the time really meant you were just doing everything, which is still true When you're an executive director of an organization too. So fair warning to everyone. But it was really fascinating because it was an opera company I had never heard of, even though it is an extremely substantial and well respected opera company. It's up in Cooperstown, New York, a sleepy little town, but gorgeous in the summer. They're known mostly for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but also for this high end arts experience that's so beautifully integrated into the landscape, they do outdoor performances, or at least at the time, they have this giant opera house where the door swings up and everybody's outside, and it kind of introduced me to an art form I wasn't yet comfortable with or fluent with in any way, such as opera, just having that regular experience of viewing an art form that was outside my standard vocabulary, seeing who gravitated to it and for what reasons, which sometimes. Is the high arts experience that you would expect audiences to be drawn to. But for some people, it was picnicking with their families on the ground right, or part of their vacation experience, or introducing their children to the arts so that that kind of early immersion in that world, I think, was, was really important. I then went on to working with rare books, working with museums, going on to get a graduate degree in museum studies and American history. And then that really set me up for the next stage of things I wanted to try in the museum world, such as curatorial work, again, something a title that's really fun and glamorous, but is really about collecting all the pieces and watching all the moving parts, and that that kind of behind the curtain view that I've gotten of how deeply arts Workers invest their whole selves in what they're doing really prepared me to understand what that what that would mean for me personally, and what that means for pathways for young people starting out in the arts, and how to equip them for futures, how to open doors for them, How to make sure they realistically understand the sweat equity that goes into arts, but how to philanthropically champion new possibilities for them and advocate for the arts as something that's really valuable to society. So I'm getting a little theoretical and away from biographical, but a long career in museum work took me from Washington to Baltimore, right nearby, and then on to Chicago, where I was curator of Jane Addams Hull House Museum of Immigration, and then going to New York City to be the head curator at Museum of Jewish heritage. After that, I went on to run the Council of American Jewish Museum, which is a national organization that does professional development and is kind of a think tank for the field, and that's where I was able to forge a lot of partnerships with people working in other types of culturally specific museums and the art sector, and really looking around at the national dialog of the value of the arts. So I've really had this fun journey that's been very community focused and focused on the real experiences of people on the ground, and at the same time allows me enough space to ask the big picture questions and bring those to people that care about those issues. Yeah,
Samantha Marinko 07:48
that it seems like you've been very even though your experience has been very varied, it's also been very much focused on academia and arts in one capacity or another from the very start. So how have all of those past experiences now translated into your current position as the executive director at the ballet in Portland? Right? So
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 08:10
as I explained, we moved here, and I was still working remotely on national museum issues for the first few years I was in the Portland Maine area, and I really we because we so fell in love with the community, and I really see me and my family being here for the long haul. I thought, you know, where is it that there is work to be done, and who are the colleagues that want to look at both the micro questions and the macro questions? And so one day, I was looking at LinkedIn and saw a posting for executive director of Portland Ballet, which wouldn't have been something that I necessarily would have sniffed out on my own, but the way that the job description was written really signaled the values of the organization, and I think a lot of arts organizations are in general, this isn't specific to any one organization. Are trying to find their voice in terms of being mission specific to what they excel in, whether it's ballet or the presentation of art or theater or opera or symphonic music, and also signaling their values, signaling the potential impact they could have in their directionality, but also not going so big picture that they're losing sight of their specific mission and what they can contribute to that. There's also, and I think this has been part of the culture wars, is the nervousness around performative values, right? Like when our organizations over stating just because they think it will impress other people. And so I think finding that a. Authentic voice is part of the real navigation now for the arts, because I think the arts do fulfill greater societal agendas, but knowing how to articulate our future is is the work of a lot of leaders in the arts now, right? Yeah,
Samantha Marinko 10:18
no, that makes sense. You mentioned the values of the ballet as you were reading the job description resonated with you a bit. What are some of the values now that you've had some time at the ballet, though short time, you're still relatively new, but what are some of those values that you appreciate and that you resonate with? Yeah,
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 10:35
one thing that is it's so it's so interesting when you look under the hood of an organization, because when you scratch the surface, you say, like, Okay, what is publicly palpable about this organization? And I think what people know about Portland Ballet is that it is Maine's professional ballet company. So if there was only one tagline for the organization, that's probably what it would be known for. The company attracts ballet dancers from around the country and around the world. They do professional repertoire all year round, 12 months a year. So the company is always performing at the highest level. But what I saw also in the job description and in other materials about the organization and its website, was the expression of community engagement, service to communities, belonging and inclusion and the the spirit of, how do we make a greater impact and serve more people? So I think the organization has, through so many chapters of growth and stability, been able to refine the artistic production of what it delivers. But when you think about how does this translate to everyday people on the ground who aren't ballet dancers, there are endless possibilities. So it's so exciting because I've been trying to work with our board, which is very community minded and represents different facets of the community. Like, okay, we're playing a venue in Westbrook, so we're not just there because it's a terrific stage, which it is the Westbrook Performing Arts Center. But what does that mean for the town of Westbrook? Is the community aware that we're there? Have we extended radical hospitality? Why would we have any empty seats? Right? Who can we get into those seats? If we have the right relationships, who are potential art audiences that are the next tier, not just because they feel comfortable with the arts, but they really might light up from it. Might be transformative, and as a young kid who didn't have any special talents in the arts, let me assure you, the arts was still transformative for me as a child, as someone who didn't play sports, as someone who was looking for their identity, as someone who was maybe like just a little askance, different than the average kid. I was looking for communities to compliment who I was in high school and in middle school, and things like community theater and dance classes and figure skating, all of those things open doors that led me on a 50 year journey to have a lifetime of experience in the arts, and so I would love to see that even people that maybe aren't destined to be on the stage still have those doors open to them, not just for the sake of arts participation, But because it will give them the confidence, the skills, the in tuneness, the sensitivity, a different fluency, a different vocabulary to face the challenges of tomorrow.
Samantha Marinko 14:11
Yeah, wow. Very thorough answer. I like it. So I mentioned you're relatively new, but I think you've done a very good job getting your arms around this very quickly. It's been very impressive what you've done in just a short time. But now that you've gotten to know the organization a bit, what are some of the challenges that you foresee for the ballet? Yeah, I think
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 14:36
one of the things that multiple arts organizations are looking at is that Portland is known for many things, Portland and Maine, right, like lighthouses, tourism, summer camps, amazing restaurants, a great place to live, a great place to retire, a great place to raise a family. Now to me, every single flavor I just named Len. Itself to the future of the ballet, but those roads don't that roadmap doesn't lead people to the arts. So one of the things I've been talking about with other arts leaders around Maine is, how do we take the natural assets of the state and the city of Portland and show people that the arts are integral to that and life enhancing. So I think the kind of strategic roadmap that I want to help navigate is instead of ballet being only intuitive and obvious to an arts going audience, or to the schools that we already serve, which Bravo that we serve them. But you know, there's with such a small capacity staff, we are going to want to reach many more than we have time to pick up the phone and call. So how do we expand our capacity to do that, and how do we also signal that so that way we're magnetic to new audiences and communities. So audience development is a huge priority, not just for the sake of our seats in our box office, but, like I said, for the good of Maine cooperation with other arts organizations. How can we work together to more effectively market what the arts mean in Portland and Maine, maybe Portland will someday be known not just as an amazing restaurant town, but an amazing arts town, which it already is. How do we work with non traditional partners, not just arts and not just schools, but also communities where the impact of the arts would be exponentially greater and beneficial. Even though we are Portland Ballet, how do we make inroads into new communities around the state? We are certainly not limited to Portland, and venues that we have played have definitely been well beyond Cumberland County. So we're really looking to build new relationships beyond Cumberland County, find new venues, find people that wouldn't have ballet in their community otherwise, and look for the philanthropists and the audience that will make that possible for us artistically. This is really in the bucket of our artistic director, Nell Shipman, who has been there for a long time and does gorgeous work, how do we make sure that the dancers and our audiences are partaking in the most robust artistic experience that we can deliver, And by robust artistic experience that points in multiple directions. There is classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and also incubating the future of ballet without throwing out the baby with the bathwater. How do we maintain the vocabulary, the exquisite training, the works we've inherited from the past, and also build new stories for the future that are going to show the leadership that Portland Ballet can have in that arena, and really distinguish Maine as an incubator for the arts and a new voice.
Samantha Marinko 18:17
I love that. My question was about challenges, and you turned that into a really great perspective on opportunity and that, and it's true and that, I think that just lends itself to what makes you a good executive director, because all of these challenges really do just turn to opportunity when you put them in a different perspective. So one thing that you alluded to, and I want to dig in a little bit more is community partnership. So how do you envision strengthening community partnerships and fostering inclusivity within the Portland Art scene through your new role? Yeah,
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 18:51
one thing that I think is very much reflected in our company and on our board is a range of people with different community passions and connections, and that's something that we're going to continue to grow and invest in. But whether it's working with families that foster children, whether it's working with communities of color, whether it's working with people with different abilities that are approaching the arts and want to dance and want to engage, whether it's people that typically don't go to performances because it might be overwhelming for some children with different sensory needs or different back stories to be in a seated performance. These are a lot of the questions that a lot of arts organizations are asking. I think we're in a very community spirited, community minded stance.
Samantha Marinko 19:44
Yeah, I think a lot of what I have seen and what I've heard from you is about collaboration, and not all of it seems intuitive to somebody that's not in a role or position like yours. Like two nonprofits working together is. An interesting way to look at it, because I would think, you know, nonprofits are, they need to do fundraising, and they need to do that on their own to but, but the collaboration that I think, that you know is part of your community building has been very, a very interested, interesting perspective. And I think it's, I think it will be fruitful too, from a relationship standpoint, and potentially fundraising as well. Yeah, and
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 20:23
I think one of the things that really drew me to the organization, beyond the kind of strategic language that they were using to try to attract next leadership and describe who they are, is that built into the DNA and the operations the organization for years, whether it's our current staff, or people who preceded them, is this attitude of Yes, like, when somebody calls Portland Ballet, you know, we can't say yes to absolutely everything, but I would say the vast majority of questions inquiries that we get like, hey, is there any way we could work in a discount? Is there any way you could let us know if there's more availability or seats? Is there any way you could do a special outreach with the public library, with our school, with our church group, etc, that we really start with an attitude of Yes, and is yes, we want to help you if we possibly can. And then what does that imply? Right? Like, what else could we do together. And so I loved that in the organization, that even though it wasn't written up as like formal policy or procedure or formal operation, that, like I said, what I could see from the ballet is they were doing the professional performances in their brand. That's what I was easily discernible. But what was only known to me operationally was, Oh, look at how generous this organization is and how they have become a magnetic, meaningful organization in the lives of so many people.
Samantha Marinko 21:55
Yeah, that's great. So you mentioned earlier, I think, I think you use the word nerdy. Your your background was not, was not in ballet specifically or in sports, but so, having not grown up in the ballet studio, what do you see when you watch Portland Ballet's performances, rehearsals, you know, how do you how do you see that now? Yeah,
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 22:23
it's, it's interesting to me, also having this tremendous privilege of watching a piece in development and also seeing it in, you know, in my imagined i through the experience of who's in our company and on our staff and in our volunteer core, that before I was ever involved or employed by a ballet company, I was a ballet audience goer, not hardcore, just kind of a sampler like, you know, as a kid The Nutcracker, which I think, is an introduction experience for so many people. So many people have had that experience, and then living in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia and Baltimore and Washington and all of those, going to see productions at Washington Ballet by Sep team Weber and Trey McIntyre and things that were really exciting. Or in New York seeing Justin Peck's choreography for Illinois, something like that, that that, you know, those are exciting choreographers, but they were also playing with the medium in a lot of ways. It wasn't all Swan Lake and it wasn't all classical ballet, and so I think I really also gravitated to to pieces that are merging the art of ballet with new stories. So when you're asking about the nerdy side of me, I love seeing the the evolution of narrative through the arts. And this is, you know, this is tricky territory, because a lot of the stories we've inherited sometimes don't graft onto our contemporary experience or our hopes and desires, but there's a reason that they also stay and get picked up again and again and again, because there's still something there to play with. So one thing you know, with looking through my my nerd glasses is, how do we both hold the narratives that we've inherited in the arts and also play with the ingredients, right? Like whether that's the costuming, the lighting, the the character, mood. How do we pair guest artists, like we're going to do in February of 2025 for new works, taking guest artists from other companies and people who that who have evolved contemporary ballet stories in really bold new directions. And how. Them and come work with our dancers and our emerging choreographers. So it's respecting the form, but it's also allowing it to become a 21st century art form that will reflect 21st century experiences too. Yeah,
Samantha Marinko 25:17
I think a common way of viewing ballet would be as an elite art form. How does the Portland Ballet make it more approachable to somebody that may not be as familiar?
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 25:33
Yeah, a lot of what we try to do with our artistic season is to provide a range of different types of work. So kind of the headline shows are often story ballets. So whether that's something like Sleeping Beauty, which we have coming up in April 2025 The Nutcracker, of course, right? Other ballets that tell stories that speak to multiple generations. And so some people might be there because they relate to the characters in the story, and other people might be there because they relate to the art form, or because we have a live orchestra with our Nutcracker, which is the only Nutcracker performance in the state of Maine that does so. So I like to believe that almost all of our shows could be experienced at different levels by different people, irregardless of their familiarity with the art form of ballet. So whether it's through ticket pricing, different experiences of the performance itself, or our educational program, Nell Shipman created something called Building ballets, in which school groups and and families and students get to experience segments of different ballets, not a full ballet, and then it's broken down and explained from different vantage points. And I think that also opens up the way of dissecting a production of what does it take to put on a show? Right? And for those that are involved in show business, we know that it's not always about the 10 to 20 people on the stage, but the many dozens of people that are working in other capacities, either through stage management, the freights, the trucking, the costuming, the set production, and so that also opens up a whole other range of possibilities for people thinking about this exciting art form.
Samantha Marinko 27:30
Yeah, I think that's a great way of approaching it. As somebody that has little kids that would not be ready or willing to sit through a long performance, having things that are tailored to younger kids too, I think opens up a whole other opportunity for little kids, you know, toddlers, to be involved in ballet from such an early age and get interested in the arts, you know, something like your thrills and chills Halloween performance, where they can wear costumes. And I think that the Portland Ballet does a very nice job of making something that could be intimidating. You know, a professional ballet company so accessible and so approachable. Yeah,
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 28:10
another thing we experimented with this year that was very popular is we decided to, in addition to doing our Victorian Nutcracker performance, is create something that was much shorter, called the nutty Nutcracker, which was about half the length and had many of the same scenes, but where things mysteriously go awry. During the snow scene, there was a lot of snow coming not just from the ceiling of the stage, but it piled up on the stage and kind of became the shoveling situation. So we we did that for people who maybe didn't want to sit through a full length version of Nutcracker. Maybe they've seen it 100 times, or they just wanted the humor. And I could say there's, you know, a lot of kids I know that are my child's age that definitely would go for the nutty Nutcracker instead of the long form one. And as we think about the Portland Art scene and the state of Maine and the art scene, like I said, you know, we're known for restaurants, we're known for tourism, we're known for summer camps, we're known for retirement homes, all those things, how do we activate and harness tourism and the partners in tourism to really bring the arts forward in a way that people who are here as either for whether they're here for a few days, a weekend, a week, or for as part your residence, to really make the arts part of their experience, and that a lot of that is just coordination, you know, part of its marketing, part of its coordination. But I bet there are tons of people that come and after a week, they've gone to their the five restaurants they wanted to go to, and what are they going to do after they go out to dinner? Right? And we have so many vibrant arts organizations here, and typically. Really in many American cities, we don't think about summer as the Maine stage season, but I think it really could be here in Maine that would be something really special.
Samantha Marinko 30:09
Yeah, absolutely. So we're talking about the future now. Where do you see Portland Ballet in five or 10 years? What sort of evolution should we should we keep our eyes peeled for? Yeah,
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 30:23
I think we're going to be looking at several different strategic pillars moving ahead, and we're about to embark on a whole strategic process with our board and with stakeholders in the community. So we're really hopeful to be kind of developing these ideas alongside other arts leaders, other leaders in the state of Maine, conducting community listening circles, hearing from the artists that are in our studios, hearing from our partners and our audiences. So, you know, part of it will be, will take shape based on those things, but I think some of the starting questions are, how do we flourish artistically? And I think that, in addition to what we already deliver with artistic excellence, we, you know, we might break the mold. In a few cases, we might do some unexpected things with partners and with what's possible for the artistic future? I think the looking at the depth of community engagement and impact is going to be key for us, really asking the tough questions and really making some bold strides to to find new ways to be an integral part of the community, not just something fancy on top, really looking at the what is a healthy arts organization in every single aspect, and being a lead voice at the table in that, and then turning that outward, that other organizations that serve people with different abilities, from excellence and talents through everyday experiences and those that maybe express themselves in different ways, for which movement could be a breakthrough for them. That's what I'd love to see the ballet do, is really bridge those divides from high art to What does movement mean for the people of Maine,
Samantha Marinko 32:24
yeah, I love it. So you did mention a couple of upcoming shows you're going to make your announcement for the next season this spring. Any other upcoming initiatives or performances that we should know about.
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 32:42
So now that we're in year 2025, we have several things immediately coming up that I would love for people to know about, starting the last weekend in January, we're going to be showing keepers of of the light in collaboration with Colby College. We'll be doing a performance at Westbrook Performing Arts Center, and then doing a performance up at Colby College as well. By March 14, we'll be showing new works, which will feature contemporary new pieces by emerging choreographers in our professional company. Going into April, we're going to have Sleeping Beauty available. That will be end of April at Westbrook Center for Performing Arts, and you'll be hearing from us later this spring about what's ahead for fall, winter and beyond
Samantha Marinko 33:30
wonderful. All right, so if any of our listeners are interested in getting involved with the Portland Ballet in some capacity, aside from, you know, attending a performance. Are there opportunities for people to somehow be involved with the organization?
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum 33:45
Yeah, we always have opportunities at different levels. First of all, for anyone who is already a professional dancer, we do sometimes open up auditions, so you should keep your eyes open to that. We also have our pre professional division, and provide classical training to people that are aspiring dancers and want to have the that foundation and that really professional level experience. We also offer community classes for all levels, from creative movement classes through adult classes and continuing education so almost anyone could come in and sample a class. We also have volunteer opportunities, whether that's helping be an usher at our audiences for our shows. Some people help behind the scenes and help with sets or setup or events, we are always looking to engage community voices to inform our processes. So people that express interest are often welcome to come and be part of a listening session. We also offer internships for people that are here looking for arts careers, students at colleges and. And others that show interest, talent or curiosity in exploring a future in the arts. So those are some of the obvious ways. But it takes many, many people in our community to make us the healthy, thriving artistic organization that we are. So if you are interested in Portland Ballet, check us out@portlandballet.org or give us a call anytime.
Samantha Marinko 35:21
Wonderful. Well, Melissa, thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for engaging in such a great conversation, enlightening us all a little bit more about the Portland Ballet. We appreciate your time. A real pleasure to be here. Thank you, Sam. Melissa, thank you for being our guest today on The Boulos Beat a Boulos Company podcast. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. You can learn more about Melissa and Portland Ballet@portlandballet.org and on Instagram at Portland Ballet. And if you'd like to learn more about The Boulos Company, please be sure to visit us@www.Boulos.com you can also find The Boulos Company on Facebook and LinkedIn and at The Boulos Company on Instagram and X.