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Issue: 901 Date: 11/29/2007
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118 YOUNG DANCERS HAVE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME IN NUTCRACKER AT THE FOX
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SEATED ON LION: Stephanie Lee, age 11 (16154 Pine Terrace Drive, Ballwin, MO 63021) - Chinese Boy Doll
Jessica Lee, age 9 (16154 Pine Terrace Drive, Ballwin, MO 63021) - Chinese Girl Doll
MIDDLE: Mischa Perez, age 9 (1022 Fernway Lane, St. Louis, MO 63141) - Chinese Girl Doll
TOP: Jennifer Johns, age 10 (5311 N. Kenrick Parke Drive, St. Louis, MO 63119) - Party Girl
Olivia Jensen, age 11 (939 Wellesley Place, Chesterfield, MO 63017) - Mounted Mouse |
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One hundred and eighteen young St. Louis-area dancers will have the opportunity of a lifetime when they perform The Nutcracker with the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet in Nutcracker at the Fox, presented by Dance St. Louis and AmerenUE on Wednesday, December 5 through Sunday, December 9 at the Fox Theatre.
The world-acclaimed Joffrey Ballet is bringing its breathtaking version of The Nutcracker to St. Louis for the first time, uniting the forces of the Joffrey's 39 dancers and six apprentices, the St. Louis dancers, the Cambiata Singers of the Kirkwood Children's Chorale, and the Ballet Orchestra of St. Louis in a gorgeous production that evokes the beauty and joy of an American Christmas in the 1850s.
The young dancers are currently in the midst of an intense schedule of rehearsals every weekend with Christine Knoblauch-O'Neal, senior lecturer in the performing arts department of Washington University, together with instructors from Alexandra Ballet and the Center of Creative Arts (COCA).
The dancers were selected in open auditions conducted in St. Louis on September 15 by Charthel Arthur, one of The Joffrey Ballet's two ballet masters. The performances have been completely double-cast so that 59 children are each able to appear in three of the six performances. Charthel Arthur returns to St. Louis on December 1 to conduct the final children's rehearsals leading up to the six performances at the Fox Theatre.
The children portray Christmas Eve party guests, mischievous mice, toy soldiers, mechanical dolls, Christmas tree angels, and "polichinelles" - children who hide under the giant skirts of Mother Ginger, a 16-foot-tall puppet designed by Kermit Love of Sesame Street fame.
The local dancers range from age 9 to 16. They live in both Missouri and Illinois. They are students at public, private, and parochial schools as well as home-schooled students, and they take dance classes from 40 different schools and studios throughout the region.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, December 5-7; at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 8; and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, December 9. Tickets are $20-$75 for the general public, $18-$68 for students and seniors. They are available at the Fox Theater box office; by phone at MetroTix at 314-534-1111 and via metrotix.com.
Founded in 1956, The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance troupes of the world, acclaimed for its outstanding dancers and its diverse repertory of both historical ballets and groundbreaking contemporary ballets. Originally based in New York, The Joffrey Ballet made Chicago its permanent home in 1995. |
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