Two days until the curtain rises on The Sleeping Beauty

City Center Ballet is so excited to present The Sleeping Beauty to the Upper Valley community.  It has been several years since City Center Ballet has presented this ballet and it is back and completely refreshed! The costumes and set pieces have been gorgeously rebuilt and enhanced and the dancers are beyond excited to be presenting this ballet again.

Several professionals are joining the City Center Ballet cast on stage, don't miss this chance to see some absolutely stunning dancers in your backyard! Head over to the Lebanon Opera House website and purchase your tickets now, prices do increase the day of the show, and seats are filling up!

Plan a romantic evening out with your special someone, there are several excellent restaurants walking distance from the theater! Or plan a fun family afternoon, this classic ballet is such a fun story everyone can enjoy it!

Please remember to become a follower of City Center Ballet's blog to stay up-to-date on Company happenings and to get the inside scoop on the dancers, choreographers, guest artists, and upcoming performances!

Performances of The Sleeping Beauty are on Saturday, April 26th at 7pm and Sunday, April 27th at 1pm at the Lebanon Opera House.

Win Two Tickets to Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story

City Center Ballet is giving away two tickets to Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story for the Thursday evening performance. There are a couple ways you can enter to win! First, share a story about one of your family's holiday traditions in the comments section of this post for one entry. Then share this post on facebook for a second entry, To share, head over to the City Center Ballet Facebook page and share the status containing this post with your facebook friends! It should be fun to hear some stories from our reader and their friends!

There are so many unique family traditions, for everyone at City Center Ballet Clara's Dream has become a wonderful tradition, dancers and their families look forward to it every year.  For many community members in the Upper Valley attending Clara's Dream and/or Clara's Tea has become a tradition as a magical start to a busy holiday season.

We are looking forward to hearing your holiday stories, Ticket winners will be drawn on December 1st, for two tickets to the Thursday, December 5th performance of Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story at 7pm at the Lebanon Opera House.

Don't forget to "Like" City Center Ballet on Facebook!

Doing Double Duty...Meet 2013's Dewdrop Fairies and Snow Queens!

This year two dancers share the roles of The Snow Queen and The Dewdrop Fairy.   The Snow Queen reigns over the pine forest, she and the Snow King help begin Clara and The Nutcracker Prince on their journey out of this world and towards the mystical Land of  Sweets. To make Clara's journey more magical she leads a flurry of snowflakes in The Waltz of the Snowflakes as they cover the forest floor in a blanket of snow, and send Clara and her Nutcracker Prince on their way.

After all the countries in The Land of Sweets have performed for Clara and The Nutcracker Prince a beautiful bouquet of flowers emerge followed by the oh-so-sparkly Dewdrop Fairy, dressed in a beautiful costume constructed by City Center Ballet's own Elizabeth Lurie, she floats through rows of flowers as they dance in The Waltz of the Flowers. The Dewdrop Fairy lives among the flowers, frolicking as they sway around her, this piece builds on the excitement of the day for Clara and her Nutcracker Prince, building to the climax of the second half of the ballet when The Sugar Plum Fairy emerges to perform with her Cavalier. Two of City Center Ballet's Principle dancers share these roles that provide guidance and excitement for Clara's journey through her dream.

Beltrami Photography

Jesse

This is Jesse's first year performing with City Center Ballet, she appeared earlier this year as a Wili in Giselle in May and September.  A professional, Jesse has performed with The Charleston Ballet, Ballet Theater of Maryland, and BalletFlemming. This fall Jesse joined the teaching staff at Lebanon Ballet School, the school of City Center Ballet. 

Jesse is looking forward to working with her friend Justin Koertgen in the pas de deux as The Snow Queen and finally getting to dance her favorite role as The Dewdrop Fairy.
As a new resident of the Upper Valley Jesse's favorite thing to do when she is not dancing is spending time with her husband and two dogs exploring the area.
Jesse's favorite thing about Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story is starting a new nutcracker tradition with her new ballet family.

You can catch Jesse as The Dewdrop Fairy on Thursday at 7pm and on Saturday at 4pm, she will be performing as The Snow Queen on Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 1pm.

Madi

Madi is a Senior at Hartford High School in Hartford, VT. This is her 6th season dancing with City Center Ballet. Past notable roles with City Center Ballet include The Fairy Godmother  in Cinderella, Arabian and Marzipan in Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story, and Peasant Pas in Giselle. Madi first appeared with City Center Ballet as a mini Garland and Lilac Fairy Attendant in The Sleeping Beauty.

Madi most looking forward to dancing to her favorite music as The Snow Queen and dancing a new role as The Dewdrop Fairy in Waltz of the Flowers.

 Madi's favorite thing to do when she is not dancing is watching the Boston Bruins.

Madi's favorite thing about Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story is the variety of roles she has had the opportunity to dance. 

You can catch Madi as The Dewdrop Fairy on Friday at 7pm and on Saturday at 1pm, she will be performing as The Snow Queen on Thursday at 7pm and Saturday at 4pm.

Tickets for Clara's Dream- a nutcracker story can be purchased on the Lebanon Opera House website  or by calling the Box Office at (603)448-0400.  Read this post for information on group ticket pricing. Get your tickets soon for preferred seating! Tickets for Clara's Tea can be purchased on the City Center Ballet website, tea tickets include tickets to the show following the tea.

**Note that as of 11/22/2013 Tickets to Clara's Tea for the 1pm show are SOLD OUT, there are still a few tickets left to Clara's Tea for the 4pm show**

Have you heard about Clara's Tea?

Tables full of Tea Party goodies to delight everyone
and get you into the holiday spirit before the show!

Clara's Tea is a wonderful tradition that has grown with City Center Ballet's Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story.  This event is organized every year with a lot of hard work from the City Center Ballet staff and volunteers (Thank you dancer parents!). Monies raised from this event feed directly back into the company to pay for costumes, lights, scenery, props, and yearly maintenance for all those things essential to the day-to-day functioning of our not-for-profit company. This year Clara's Tea is on Saturday, December 7th at 11:30 am (before the 1 pm performance) and 2:30 pm (before the 4 pm performance).

Clara's Tea takes place at Lebanon Ballet School, the ballet school
 of City Center Ballet. It sells out every year, get your tickets soon!

Clara's Tea is an opportunity for kids to meet some of the cast members of Clara's Dream, enjoy some tea (or juice) and little goodies before the show! It's a little bit like Disney's Character Breakfast! Kids can ask the dancers about their rolls, and get their photo taken. Let your children dress-up and enjoy High-Tea before an experience at the ballet. This is the ultimate theater experience, and a rare opportunity to get photos with some of the dancers in costume!

Let the City Center Ballet Pastry Chefs make your Tea Party with Clara a fabulous experience!

Tickets for Clara's Tea can be purchased on the City Center Ballet website, the ticket price for Clara's Tea includes a ticket to the Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story performance immediately following The Tea.  All Tea attendees are given prime seating at the Lebanon Opera House.  Tickets sell out every year...Get yours NOW!

Welcome!

Welcome to the brand-new City Center Ballet Blog! City Center Ballet, a not-for-profit semi-professional ballet company, is the Upper Valley's premier ballet company located in the heart of Lebanon, NH. The 2013-2014 season, City Center's 15th season, is well underway.

We kicked this year off with an exciting performance of Giselle at the Lebanon Opera House on September 20th and 21st, the performance was spectacular and the story of Giselle's epic love for Albrecht brought tears to the eyes of many. Our season continues with Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story at the Lebanon Opera House December 5th, 6th, and 7th (tickets can be found here).  In April 2014 City Center Ballet is very excited to be bringing The Sleeping Beauty to the Upper Valley, performances are April 25th, 26th, and 27th at the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, New Hampshire! Mark your calendars now!

We are very excited to start this blog where we can share facts and trivia about our favorite ballets, fun anecdotes about City Center Ballet, profiles of our local and professional talent, sneak peeks of performances, and opportunities to interact with the City Center Ballet dancers at local events, with the Upper Valley Community of Vermont and New Hampshire!

We're quality ballet in your backyard!