Eddy Tovar Performs in Connecticut Concert Ballet's THE NUTCRACKER, Continuing 12/15 & 16

Last weekend, Connecticut Concert Ballet welcomed professional dancer and Hartford resident Eddy Tovar to the Bailey Auditorium. Eddy is performing as a Guest Artist in the title role of Connecticut Concert Ballet's 2012 production, The Nutcracker. There are three more performances this week in Manchester.

Click HERE to see coverage of the production on WTNH News Channel 8, New Haven, CT which aired December 7, 2012.

Eddy is originally from Cuba and began his training at the Cuban National Ballet School in Havana, he received other early training in Brazil. In the years 1997 and 1998, Eddy entered seven competitions in Cuba, Argentina and Brazil winning two gold and three silver metals. Eddy moved to the US in 1999 to join the Orlando Ballet, and in 2000 he was the Gold Medalist in the Youth America Grand Prix, Boca Raton, Florida. Eddy then became Principal Dancer of the Orlando Ballet, a position he held until 2009.

That same year, Eddy appeared on the television show "So You Think You Can Dance" dancing in George Balanchine's "Who Cares?, he also moved to the Texas Ballet Theatre where he became Principal Dancer under the direction of Ben Stevenson, a position he held until recently. Eddy has performed many Guest Appearances in the US as well as International Gala Performances in Latvia, Canada, Japan and Argentina.

Eddy is now on faculty at the Hartt Community Division and lives in Hartford with his wife and young daughter.

According to Artistic Director Wendy Fish-Lawrence, "We are thrilled to havE Eddy Tovar on our stage dancing alongside our former student Rebecca DeNies. His technique, artistry and passion are of the highest caliber and are inspiring to our other performers and thrilling for our audience members."

Artistic Directors David Lawrence and Wendy Fish-Lawrence's family-friendly production will hold three performances this weekend at Manchester High School, 134 Middle Turnpike East, on December 15 (2 p.m.) and December 16 (2 p.m. and 6 p.m.).

Ticket Information: Preferred Front & Center Seats $35; General Admission: Adults $25, Child/Student/Senior $15. Group discounts are available. Tickets are available by phone 860-418-7294, online www.ctconcertballet.org/Store, at Dance Village, 171 Spencer St, Manchester and Hairdresser on Fire, 176 Broad St, Windsor.

This exuberant production will light up the stage of the Bailey Auditorium, a state of the art venue that is one of the largest in Connecticut. The technical aspects of the production including costumes, lighting and stage crew are provided by professionals and 263 of CCB's highly capable students from 36 towns are an integral part of the production. Each year, Connecticut Concert Ballet's Nutcracker is one of the largest community events in the greater Hartford area.

Connecticut Concert Ballet is a 501(c)(3) classical ballet school and performing arts organization with studios in Manchester and Windsor, Connecticut, and has over 300 students from more than 40 towns in the Greater Hartford Area and statewide; ages range from 3 to Adult. CCB was founded in 1973, incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1985, and merged with the former Northern Connecticut Ballet in 2007. Connecticut Concert Ballet proudly employs the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum. CCB Alumni have been promoted to Company members (Corps de Ballet) at the Boston Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Others have graduated from or are currently attending as dance majors, Manhattanville College, Marymount Manhattan College, the North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Goucher College and the University of Hartford Hartt B.F.A. program. Current students attend the Creative Arts Program at the Watkinson School and the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Internationally-competitive Intensive Summer Program placements in 2012 include the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, The Rock School in Philadelphia, American Ballet Theatre (New York City, Alabama and North Carolina), Bolshoi Ballet, Boston Ballet, Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Princeton Ballet, Briansky Ballet, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and the Koltun Dance Academy, with numerous students offered year-round placements.

For more information on the Nutcracker, visit www.connecticutnutcracker.com or call 860-418-7294. For more information on Connecticut Concert Ballet, visit www.ctconcertballet.org, call 860-643-4796 or visit us at www.facebook.com/connecticutconcertballet.

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