Several Tri-City dancers are getting a glimpse at the life of a professional ballerina as they prepare for their roles in The Gift, a modern take on the Nutcracker, in a co-presentation by Ballet Victoria and Avant Dance Company.
Sue Lee and Madison Coulter, both Coquitlam residents, are preparing this month for the lead role of Pandora, the young girl whose uncle is hosting a grand party. When she opens a large, mysterious box a collection of magical characters escape. Pandora and her uncle must put all the creatures — minions, mice, rats — back in the box.
Avant students ranging in age from six to 19 are dancing in the production as party guests, friends of Pandora’s and as the skittering creatures.
Unique to the mainland presentation of The Gift will be a piece choreographed by Avant owner Jocelyn Wozencroft, a Coquitlam resident; the Peter Pan sequence stars Port Coquitlam’s Anne Hung, a senior dancer at Avant.
“They’re ecstatic,” Wozencroft said of her dancers. “They get to step into a ballet that’s already choreographed and performed by professional company members. They’re being told that a professional company believes in them enough to perform with them. They’re absolutely so excited.”
• The Gift is at the Michael J. Fox Theatre (7373 Macpherson Ave., Burnaby) Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30/$25/$15 at dancestudio-pro.com or facebook.com/AvantDanceCo.
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