Photo Flash: Dance Patrelle's YORKVILLE NUTCRACKER

Dances Patrelle presents the 15th Anniversary production of The Yorkville Nutcracker from December 9-12, 2010 at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, E. 68th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, NYC.  Performances:  Thursday - Friday at 7pm; Saturday at 2pm and 7pm; and Sunday at noon and 5pm.  Tickets are $45-90 and are available at 212-772-4448 or in person at The Kaye Playhouse Box Office. 

The company presents the 15th Anniversary of choreographer Francis Patrelle's unique rendition of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's holiday classic The Nutcracker.  Set in 1895, The Yorkville Nutcracker takes the audience on an action-packed tour of Olde New York's most beloved landmarks, including a holiday party at Gracie Mansion, dancing at the Crystal Palace in the New York Botanical Garden, and skating in Central Park.  Lavish sets and costumes, enchanting music and beautiful dancers from ages 5 to 65 complete this thrilling production, with New York City Ballet principals Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle joining the stellar cast.  In addition, Matthew Prescott, most recently of Morphoses, and Natalia Boesch, most recently of Staatsballett Berlin, Germany, will portray the Snow King and Queen.  Appropriate for all ages.

Dances Patrelle also offers a sneak peek of The Yorkville Nutcracker at Barnes & Noble's 86th and Lexington Avenue store on Sunday, November 21 at 4:30pm.  Audiences will enjoy a preview of this year's cast in full costume with choreography created just for the event, including video footage from past years' performances.  Audiences will also have the opportunity to meet the young dancers and find out how an annual holiday extravaganza sporting a cast of more than a hundred professional and young dancers reaches the stage.  Featuring choreographer Francis Patrelle and his company of dancers, Barnes & Noble's celebration of The Yorkville Nutcracker promises to get the holiday season off to a rousing, educational, and heartwarming start.

The company's 2010/2011 season will continue with the World Premiere of Francis Patrelle's GILBERT & SULLIVAN, The Ballet!, an evening-length ballet featuring live music and singers, as well as characters from several Gilbert and Sullivan favorites, including The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance.  dP will again collaborate with Warren Helms as Music Director, David Grill as Lighting Designer, Gillian Bradshaw Smith as Set Designer, and Rita B. Watson as Costume Designer.  In addition to principal dancers from Dances Patrelle and other American ballet companies, the production will feature roles for students from New York's top ballet schools.  The company will also present a special Family Matinee performance - an abbreviated version of GILBERT & SULLIVAN, The Ballet! specifically tailored for younger audience members.  Performances:  Thursday - Saturday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm Family Matinee; and Sunday at 3pm.  Tickets will be available at 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.  Appropriate for all ages.

Dances Patrelle dP is a dynamic professional ballet company that presents two annual seasons in New York -- our timeless holiday tradition, The Yorkville Nutcracker, and a spring repertory season, featuring world premieres and classic Patrelle favorites.  Mr. Patrelle's body of work includes over 50 world premiere ballets choreographed for Dances Patrelle, and spans an incredibly wide range of styles, from his beloved American Songbook collection, to such contemporary classics as Romeo and Juliet, Madame X, Macbeth and Rhapsody in Blue.  Heralded by Lynn Garafola in Dance Magazine as a choreographer with "a personal vision...classical because it is rooted in metaphor and symbolic language [and] populist because of its legibility and broad cultural resonance," Patrelle has also cultivated a long-time collaboration with composer Patrick Soluri, commissioning four original scores including last year's Fancy Nancy.  Known for attracting the great talent of each generation, Dances Patrelle is pleased to count ballet stars Marcelo Gomes, Maria Riccetto, Donald Williams, Lourdes Lopez, Jock Soto, Merrill Ashley and prima ballerina Cynthia Gregory among its past and present dancers.  For over 20 seasons, Dances Patrelle has tapped into the human experience, connecting intimately with the audience and continuously reinventing dramatic dance.
 
For more information, visit www.dancespatrelle.org.

Photo Credit: Rosalie O'Connor