Arts & Entertainment

Four Locals Featured in Nutcracker

Ballet Theatre Company Celebrates its 10th Anniversary of the Nutcracker

Ballet Theatre Company of West Hartford, Connecticut, celebrates its 10th annual performance of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker," featuring a cast of 60+ performers along with professional dancers from Connecticut and New York City, and choreography by Roman Baca. To bring alive this magical holiday ballet, Lisa Fitzgerald, a member of Exit 12 Dance Company and formerly with the Nutmeg Ballet and Connecticut Ballet, will appear as the Sugar Plum Fairy.  Her Cavalier is Andrew Notarile, principal dancer with American Repertory Ballet and BalletMet.  

In Ballet Theatre Company’s 10 years of performing this holiday classic, over 400 dancers, ages 4 to adult, have performed in this Greater Hartford holiday tradition. The entire community welcomes this festive production, with guest appearances by West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka, and TV personalities Jill Konopka and Heather Hegedus.

Joining the world of party children and their parents, mice, snowflakes, and Sugar Plum Fairy, Baca has introduced a few military touches. The ballet opens in the workshop of "Colonel" Drosselmeyer, who is creating a very special gift for his nephew Alexander a Nutcracker Soldier, who comes to life for a young girl, Clara.  New this year will be Army Rangers to help Clara battle the Mouse King.

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The Company's version has a unique military twist, which it comes by naturally - choreographer Roman Baca enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2005 and served a combat role after his deployment to Fallujah, Iraq.  Roman Baca has taken his experiences in war and transformed them into pirouettes and plies." (from an American Public Media interview with Roman Baca upon his return from Iraq, Dec 2009). A graduate of the Nutmeg Conservatory in CT and dancer with the Nutmeg Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, and the New Mexico Ballet, Mr. Baca will take the role of "Colonel Drosselmeyer."

Margot Paul of Berlin will again be performing the lead role of “Clara” in this year’s production (*December 17 and 18 only). Also in the cast from Berlin are Megan Leary, Louis Houle and Anastasia Houle.  Paul and Leary are both members of the Ballet Theatre Company’s Junior Company and attended rehearsal in New York City with the professional dancers.

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Ballet Theatre Company is dedicated to supporting children in the greater Hartford area. Ballet Theatre Company will again stage a free performance for 600 underserved Greater Hartford area children and have Marine Toys for Tots collection boxes at all performances.

Ballet Theatre Company is supported in part by the United Arts Campaign of the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the CT Office of the Arts, Department of Economic and Community Development.

Performances:

  • Thursday December 15 at 6:30 PM
  • Friday December 16 at 7:30 PM
  • Saturday December 17 at 1 and 4:30 PM
  • Sunday December 18 at 1 and 4:30 PM

Location: Carol Autorino Center for the Arts and Humanities on the Saint Joseph College Campus, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford , Connecticut, 06117

For tickets call 860-570-0440 or visit dancebtc.org

www.dancebtc.org


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