After more than 20 years dancing in Atlanta, the formidable artist will perform as a member of Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre for the last time Sept. 14-22, before stepping out to a new life in Houston.
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION | ArtsATL.com — When dancer Rachel Van Buskirk performed in Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre’s “Out of the Box” program in September 2023, she was visibly pregnant with her first child and gave a beautiful performance in the world premiere of Darian Kane’s “Adoption of Faith.” This year, “Out of the Box: Series II” will mark another life-changing event as she leaves the company she cofounded with four other former Atlanta Ballet dancers and relocates to Houston, where her husband is starting a tenure-track job at the University of Houston.
The move means leaving behind the city and community where, over the last 20 years, she has grown from a talented young ballerina into a formidable artist at the top of her game. Van Buskirk still vividly recalls the first time she saw Terminus Artistic Director John Welker, another original “Terminator” and co-founder, dance. She was a 15-year-old student in the Atlanta Ballet school, and he was in the company. “When I saw John in class, my jaw was on the floor. It was just incredible the crazy things he could do.”
She also remembers watching Terminus co-founder Tara Lee perform the lead role in Atlanta Ballet’s production of “Madame Butterfly.” “I stood in the wings with tears streaming down my face,” Van Buskirk said. “It was the most beautiful, soulful thing I’d ever seen.”
When she joined Atlanta Ballet and took on more challenging roles, she went from admiring her future Terminus colleagues from afar to counting Lee, John and Christine Welker, Heath Gill and Christian Clark among her most trusted artistic collaborators and friends.
At Terminus, they continued to hone this partnership in countless ways in multiple ballets. “Rachel is a singular force of artistry and passion,” Clark said recently. “Our longtime partnership on stage has been a major highlight of my career, and I will miss dancing with her dearly.” [MORE]
