Why I support City Center Ballet

I got involved with City Center Ballet four years ago when I became a member of the faculty at Lebanon Ballet School, the school of City Center Ballet. There are many many reasons that I have chosen to give my support to City Center Ballet and their mission to provide professional-level performing experience for young dancers in the Upper Valley.

The youth involved in the City Center Ballet company have invested hours and days of their lives to mastering their craft. Most of the girls involved in the City Center Ballet Company have committed 4-8 hours a day, 6 days a week to this organization, in addition to keeping up with their academic work. The students that participate in these performances are bright and energetic and have developed such a deep relationship with dance that has become an integral part of their lives. Because I too have nurtured my own relationship with dancing over the last 24 years, since my mom enrolled me in that first pre-ballet class, I know that this is a passion that will follow them into their adult lives and continue to bring them joy.

The discipline that comes from learning to balance school and all those hours at the studio will allow these students to be successful in whatever they choose to do after City Center Ballet, whether it is dancing or not. These students have learned to do everything they do with passion and that while perfection may not always be achievable, if that is what they aim for they will be overwhelmingly successful in whatever they do. They have learned to be critical of themselves and to take criticism from others in stride, they have learned to rejoice in their own successes as well as the successes of their friends and colleagues, and they have learned that when things don't go their way that the best thing they can do is learn from their mistakes and apply the lessons they've learned until they find success.

City Center Ballet is more than a company that presents amazing performances for the Upper Valley community to enjoy, it is an organization that is nurturing young minds that will eventually go on to do many great things. I invite you all to join me in supporting City Center Ballet as they present The Sleeping Beauty this weekend at the Lebanon Opera House, tickets are for reserved seating and are available on this website. 

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.

What's in your dance bag?

It's school vacation week for most the schools in the Upper Valley, while many kids have gone on vacation or are getting some much needed R&R at home, the City Center Ballet company has been hard at work all week! They are just one week away from Opening Night, so I thought I'd swing by rehearsal today and check in with some of the girls.

Dancers are notorious for lugging around giant "dance bags" full of all kinds of useful items for class or rehearsal.  Most things are pretty routine, an extra leotard, tights, and maybe an old pair of shoes or two, a needle and thread, some hair products, and maybe a lip-gloss. However, most dancers have one or two unusual things in their bags that they just can't live without, for me it's one of my brother's old lacrosse balls...fantastic for keeping feet warm and loosening up inevitable foot-cramps. So I asked a few of the dancers what the strangest thing they keep in their dance bag is, and what they use it for...

Lily

Lily will be performing as The Sapphire Jewel, a nymph, and one of Aurora's Friends in The Sleeping Beauty.  Lily prefers to warm-up in big-baggy clothes, so she has stolen a lot of her brother's clothing, which may be one of the more unexpected things in her dance bag. She also keep a lighter in her bag...because you never know when you may need to burn the ends of some fraying ribbons.

Lexie -Soloist

Lexie appears as the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty. If Lexie's bag doesn't contain unusual individual items, it certainly contains an unusual number of items; 4 chapsticks, a baseball, a tennis ball, several therabands, 4 pairs of pointe shoes, sweatpants, t-shirts, and a phone charger.

Kassady -Soloist

Kassady appears as the Crystal Fountain Fairy, The Ruby Jewel, a nymph, and one of Aurora's Friends in The Sleeping Beauty. Kassady keeps giant hershey kiss (or other form of chocolate) and a jar of peanut butter in her bag so she never goes hungary.

Check-out these dancers and many others on stage at The Lebanon Opera House on April 26th at 7pm and April 27th at 1pm in The Sleeping Beauty. Tickets are available here, seating is reserved and ticket prices go up $5 the day of the show, so buy yours soon! We'll see you at The Ballet!

Tutu Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Excitement is growing for City Center Ballet's production of The Sleeping Beauty at The Lebanon Opera House on April 26th at 7pm and April 27th at 1pm (click here for tickets). This classic fairy tale, set to a stunning score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, follows the story of Princess Aurora, cursed by the evil fairy Carabosse at her christening to prick her finger upon a spindle on her 16th birthday and die. Thankfully, the Lilac Fairy, not having enough power to undo the evil curse, is able to alter it and instead of dying the princess will merely fall into a deep slumber.

This ballet is full of all the royal glitz you would expect from a story full of royalty, fairies and other magical creatures.  The story is a classic, the dancing is wonderful...but this is Tutu Tuesday...so lets get to the tutus!

The Lilac Fairy

The heroine of the story, overriding Carabosse's curse, she'll be hard to miss in this beautiful tutu designed and constructed by CCB's Elizabeth Lurie. 

Photo Credit: Marcella Jane Photography

Photo Credit: Marcella Jane Photography

 The Golden Vine

Appearing in the prologue to gift the baby Aurora with courage, the Golden Vine Fairy wears this stunning tutu was also designed and constructed by Elizabeth Lurie. Still under construction in the photo below, come see the finished product on stage!

Photo Credit: Marcella Jane Photography

The Meadow Rose

Appearing in the prologue, the Meadow Rose Fairy gifts Princess Aurora with the gift of charm. This Tutu was designed and constructed by Elizabeth Lurie.

Photo Credit: Marcella Jane Photography

The Woodland Glade

Appearing in prologue, the Woodland Glade Fairy gifts Princess Aurora with the gift of beauty. This Tutu was designed and constructed by Elizabeth Lurie.

Photo Credit: Marcella Jane Photography

Catch these tutus, and many others in just a few short weeks at the Lebanon Opera House! I hope to see you there!

See City Center Ballet at the HOP! For FREE!

The first half of 2014 is packed full of opportinities to catch the City Center Ballet crew at it again.  Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story was an amazing success, thank you a million times to all of our community supporters for coming out in droves to support City Center Ballet. We are so hoping you will join us for the ballets we're presenting this spring.

Your first opportunity to join us is at The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College on March 15th at 11am. A small cohort of City Center Ballet dancers will present an abbreviated version of Cinderella.  City Center Ballet presented Jennifer Henderson's full-length version of Cinderella in 2012.  This year, with the addition of Rob Royce to the artistic staff at City Center Ballet, we are thrilled to present his take on this classic tale to exhibit some of the younger company members. Many are familiar with the tale of Cinderella, a beautiful young girl forced to live under the rule of her step-mother and two step-sisters.  Cinderella, forced to stay home from the royal ball by her step-family, is surprised by her magical fairy godmother who summons the power of the four seasons to help Cinderella make it to the ball, you know the rest...the prince falls in love, the clock strikes mid-night, Cinderella runs away and looses her slipper in the process, the prince commisions an investigation to find the young lady who lost her slipper, the prince finds Cindreella and everyone lives happily ever after.  This performance is part of the HopStop Family Series designed for children age 3 and up accompanied by an adult...and the performance is FREE! Bring your family to see this story about how the right pair of shoes can change your life!

More information is available on the Hopkin Center website

In April, you can catch the full company in their performance of The Sleeping Beauty....more on that soon!

Which Performance of Clara's Dream Should You Go To?

While all performances are exciting, there are some things you might want to consider when deciding which show you'd like to attend. If your calendar is leaving you with a couple options for which day you see Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story, here are somethings to keep in mind about each show time.

Thursday, December 5th, 7:00 pm

Opening Night! For me, nothing quite beats the energy that performers have on opening night. Their legs are fresh, they've got a good flow of nervous energy going, and this often leads to just explosive amounts of energy on stage.  Opening night also happens to be a Thursday, so you can keep your weekend open for other activities. The show is just over an hour long, so you can be home and in your PJs by a reasonable time. If you want to grab dinner before the show at one of the many eateries walking distance from the theater, they won't be nearly as crowded as they would be on a Friday. 

Friday, December 6th, 7:00 pm

Some of the major roles in this ballet are double cast, so you'll still get that same first-show energy from many of the principal dancers.  That is not to say that you won't get energy from all the other cast members, but they won't be quite as nervous, having worked through some of their jitters the night before.  Plus, what better way to end your busy week than by relaxing at the ballet? Grab dinner before the show, or drinks after, make it a fun night out! Get a group of friends together, since it's an evening show, if you're looking for a nice, quiet, night-out there will probably be fewer children at this show than at the Saturday shows. 

Saturday, December 7th, 1:00 pm

This show is sure to be exciting, Because it's an early-afternoon show the audience will be full of families and children.  If you have kids, take advantage of Clara's Tea before the show, but tickets are selling out fast, get yours soon. Kids help create a really energetic audience, this fuels the dancer's performance. As a performer, there is no better feeling than performing for an audience full of kids, and as an audience member, you'll feel it too. Tickets for this show are selling really fast, so get yours soon!

Saturday, December 7th, 4:00 pm

The closing performance, similar to Opening Night, dancers kick it into high gear for this show to end the first half of the City Center Ballet season with a bang! And, like the 1 pm show, the audience will also be full of kids and families, further energizing the dancers.  There is also a Clara's Tea connected with this show, again tickets are selling fast, so don't wait to get them. By this show the dancers have really worked out any small kinks that came-up, and they are ready to give the show everything they have left.

So look at your calendar, and pick the show that best fits your theater style! Each show will be wonderful.  The cast has worked very hard to bring this production to a new level, so come out and support the Upper Valley's Ballet Company on December 5th, 6th, and 7th at The Lebanon Opera House!

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**

I'll see you at the ballet!

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!