Ballet Arkansas recently announced its adding four new dancers to the company along with details for three events taking place at a variety of venues in central Arkansas as part of their 2014-15 season.
On Aug. 23, Ballet Arkansas will present “Visions: A Choreographic Competition” at Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave. The event will feature choreographers Sayoko Knode, Jerry Opdenaker, Brandon Ragland, Chris Stuart and Hilary Wolfley. The performances will be judged by Ballet West Artistic Director Adam Sklute.
Ballet Arkansas will present a performance of “The Nutcracker” from Dec. 12-14 at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center, 100 Victory Lane in Maumelle. For those who would like to participate, auditions for The Nutcracker will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 9 at Shuffles and Ballet II, 1521 Merrill Dr. A $20 audition fee is required.
The third performance is a choreography titled “Who Cares?” which will appear April 17-19, 2015 at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St. The choreography is by famed 20th-century choreographer George Balanchine, who also choreographed The Nutcracker and is known as “the father of American ballet.”
The new dancers joining the company are Tony Sewer from Milwaukee Ballet II, Megan Hustel from the University of Utah and Hannah Bradshaw from Columbus Ohio’s BalletMet Trainee Program. All hail from outside Arkansas and bring with them solid backgrounds in training and performance. Additionally, Georgia Quinn, a Little Rock native and former Ballet Arkansas Youth Division member who received her training from Jenny Cockrill at Dance Dynamics in Little Rock will be joining the company this season as an apprentice.
For more info on the upcoming season, contact Ballet Arkansas by phone at 501-223-5150 or visit their website and Facebook page.