Nashville Ballet and the Nashville Opera offer a Saturday morning alternative to cartoons with charming, back-to-back performances of The Three Little Pigs and The Singing Tortoise, Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at their studios in Sylvan Park.
Doors will open at the Opera at 9:30 a.m. and admission is $5, with general admission seating. Children will watch the opera, The Three Little Pigs, in the Noah Liff Opera Center, at 3622 Redmon Street, and then stroll through the Ballet's warehouse to see some of the production sets and costumes. A performance of The Singing Tortoise will follow in Studio A at the Martin Center for Dance, located at 3630 Redmon Street. Tickets are limited and available by calling Nashville Opera at 615-832-5242 or Nashville Ballet at 615-297-2966, extension 10. Both organizations accept Visa and MasterCard, with the Nashville Opera also accepting American Express and Discover.
The cast of The Three Little Pigs are all members of the Mary Ragland Young Artist Program (MRYAP) which is administered by Nashville Opera. The apprenticeship offers developing professional singers valuable performance experience and prepares them for successful careers in the operatic theatre. This year's tour features the vocal and acting talents of mezzo-soprano Stephanie Foley-Davis ("Despina"), tenor Michael Foreman ("Cherubino"), baritone Joshua Zink ("Don Giovanni"), bass-baritone Aaron Grant ("Wolfgang Bigbad"), and Tour Music Director/Pianist Emily Senturia.
Nashville Ballet proudly presents a professional ballet production, geared for the younger audience, The Singing Tortoise. In this West African folk tale, a hunter named Ama meets a magical singing tortoise. Once Ama befriends the tortoise, she tries to teach him that man is simply a visitor on earth who needs to respect all things. This cautionary tale about the connection of all living beings on our planet features elaborate masks that represent animals and chieftains. The choreography by Paul Vasterling is set to an infectious percussion score composed by Belmont University professor Todd London. The Singing Tortoise will be narrated by Education Director Cathy Ratliff and features the dancers of Nashville Ballet 2, the pre-professional training company of Nashville Ballet. After the ballet, children are invited to participate in interactive activities with the dancers. This production, with four different casts, is touring throughout Middle Tennessee, presenting over 200 performances and reaching over 42,000 people in the next 12 months. Nashville Ballet recognizes the educational sponsors who provide funding for community engagement initiatives: Caterpillar Financial, Community Foundation, Cracker Barrel, Gaylord, HCA Foundation, Jack Massey Foundation, Memorial Foundation, MNAC, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Nashville Ballet, a 501(c)(3) non profit, is the largest professional ballet company in Tennessee. As the second largest producing arts organization in the Middle Tennessee area, Nashville Ballet presents a varied repertoire of classical ballet and contemporary works by noted choreographers, along with original works by Artistic Director Paul Vasterling. Nashville Ballet and the second company NB2 (a pre-professional training company) serve over 62,000 adults and children annually through professional performances, and the education and outreach initiative programming. Our curriculum-based outreach initiative brings dance education to community centers, colleges, public libraries, eight resident schools, and public elementary and middle schools throughout Middle Tennessee. The School of Nashville Ballet provides world-class instruction in Ballet for the dancers of tomorrow.
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