FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 
Moscow Ballet announces auditions Tue, Aug 25, 5:30pm at En Pointe Danse for local student dancers to perform beside the pros in Great Russian Nutcracker on Dec 14 & 15 in Cleveland
“The inclusion of…local children in the ballet as part of Moscow Ballet's "Dance with Us" program was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those dancers,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2014
  
High-resolution images: http://www.nutcracker.com/promo 
Contact: Sally Michael Keyes sally@nutcracker.com  (413) 499-1733 x21
 
 
(Berkshires, MA) Aug 5, 2015 Announcing open auditions Tue, Aug 25, 5:30pm with Moscow Ballet Audition Director Olga Aru for local student dancers, boys and girls, ages 7 to 16 years. The selected local children will perform beside the professional company in the Great Russian Nutcracker December 14 and 15, at 7:00pm, at Music Hall at Public Auditorium. Auditions will be held at local host dance studio En Pointe Danse, 516 East Washington St, Chagrin Falls 44022. Student dancers must have at least one year of ballet training, dress in dance attire and may bring Pointe shoes. Moscow Ballet’s “Dance with Us” program, in its 23rd year, selects student dancers to perform ancillary roles of Party Children, Mice, Snowflakes, Angels, and more. Audition Director Olga Aru will be in town for several days to lead the audition and to rehearse the selected student dancers. “The true highlight of the night was seeing all the Calgary children who... should be congratulated for their very skilled and enthusiastic participation. It really brought the idea home that the Great Russian Nutcracker is a wonderful chance for children to be in a full-length production and experience first-hand an authentic classical ballet from this uniquely Russian company of remarkable performers,” Calgary Herald, 2014. Register online today at www.nutcracker.com/youth-auditions/sign-up-to-audition . Performance tickets at www.nutcracker.com.

Olga Aru is a rising star ballerina and dance pedagogue who received her degree in ballet and dance pedagogy from the Kiev State Ballet and Choreographic College, Ukraine. Olga is a Laureate and award winner of the “Crystal Shoe - Dance Beyond Boards” competition and she performed at the “Mikkeli Ballet Festival” in Finland. In addition to touring with Moscow Ballet she dances with Compagnia Aleph, Piroetta Dance in Rome, Italy and with Les Ballet Persans in Stockholm and more. Click for more.

 
At En Pointe Danse our goal is to provide students with a strong technical foundation in ballet, and other dance forms, while encouraging a joy for dancing that they will take with them wherever they go. We want our students to be able to apply the lessons learned in dance, such as discipline, perseverance, creative thinking and a developed sense of physical well-being, to the rest of their lives. We also promote the growth of our students’ self-confidence, self-expression, and their ability to thrive in a performance setting. Contact Gail Friedberg 440-247-5747.
 
Dance with Us offers student dancers personal exposure to Moscow Ballet’s highly skilled dancers and experience with a professional performance, an especially unique opportunity for students in smaller markets. Danville mother Amy Lewis says, “My daughter participated with Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker production. It [was] a wonderful experience for her. She will never forget taking part in such a special and enjoyable event.” Dance with Us Audition Directors  travel to 70+ North American cities in September and October auditioning and rehearsing local children ages 7 to 16 years. Dance with Us is underwritten solely by Moscow Ballet. Partnerships with local dance studios in performance cities are developed by co-producer Mary Gianonne Talmi who also developed Dance with Us program. Click for more.

Moscow Ballet - In addition to the Great Russian Nutcracker, Moscow Ballet repertory includes classic ballets Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and more. For more than 20 years the company has featured award-winning and rising star dancers, from Lilia Sabitova in 1994 to Alisa Voronova in 2014. The company performs 100 engagements annually across North America in most of the top twenty demographic market areas and in over 70 cities. Moscow Ballet receives critical acclaim and is regularly invited to present at National Press Club events.   In addition to public performances, the company’s mission and national platform enables it to share the Russian Vaganova ballet training with over 5000 American dance students annually in Dance with Us. Intensive cultural immersion project “New Horizons – A Children’s Program for Life” benefits thousands of school children and programs Musical Wunderkind and Summer Intensives also touch the lives of many children and young adults. For over 20 years Moscow Ballet’s partnership with corporations and not-for-profit organizations such as the President’s Challenge Program and Children’s Hospitals has raised revenue for significant causes. www.moscowballet.com.

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