Students with the Tri-City Dance Centre will perform alongside Ballet Victoria professionals next week in The Gift.
The youth and teens — under the leadership of Shannon Stewardson — will show their talents in The Nutcracker-inspired ballet with principal Andrea Robyn Bayne and Luke Thomson, at the Evergreen Cultural Centre on Dec. 18, 19 and 20.
The company’s executive and artistic director Paul Destrooper, who is also a dancer, told The Tri-City News that Ballet Victoria is including local dancers as they tour Revelstoke, Coquitlam, Chilliwack and Victoria this month (in the provincial capital, they’ll also have the Victoria Symphony in the pit to play Tchaikovsky’s most famous score).
In Coquitlam, it’ll be the first time Ballet Victoria has graced the Evergreen stage.
“In this version [of The Nutcracker], the children are very much performing in it,” Destrooper said. “They are central to the story… with the lead, Clara, always a student.”
But it’ll be a tight schedule for the young dancers as they’ll only have one rehearsal with the pros.
No matter, Destrooper said. “It adds to the spontaneity. The Nutcracker has a party theme and there’s lots of guidance on stage, with our dancers helping them be at the right place at the right time. It’s a very nurturing environment.”
• For tickets to The Gift, call the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) at 604-927-6555 or visit evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
