Nashville-Area Ballet Students Encouraged to Audition for Moscow Ballet's NUTCRACKER

Nashville-area ballet students ages six to 18 are invited to audition Tuesday, October 17, at 5 p.m. for Moscow Ballet soloist and audition director Maria Morari at Dance South Performing Arts in White House. The Moscow Ballet audition is open to students from dance studios across the region with a minimum one year of ballet training.

Ballerina Maria Morari leads auditions and will rehearse the young dancers in their assigned roles. Successful auditionees perform side-by-side with the Moscow Ballet company in the Great Russian Nutcracker in roles that were created exclusively for their age and skill levels such as Party Children, Mice, Snowflakes, Snow Maidens and more. Morari also leads the young dancers at dress rehearsal with the Russian company the day of the performance.

This is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience for aspiring young dancers. The Dance-with-Us program is in its 25th year of auditioning and rehearsing student dancers in each tour city to perform with the professional company. Auditions are free, there may be a casting fee. Sign up today to audition at www.nutcracker.com/auditions.

The selected children will perform in the Great Russian Nutcracker on Christmas Eve Sunday, December 24, 2 p.m. matinee at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium. Tickets are available at www.nutcracker.com/your-city.

Maria Morari started her professional career as a ballerina at the National Theatre for Ballet and Opera in Chi?in?u. Since she was five years old, Morari has performed ballet in combination with gymnastics and is recognized as one of the most talented students at the Moldova National College of Choreography.

Dance South offers a diverse curriculum ranging from the pre-school student to the advanced student, and strives to meet each student's individual needs, whether they are a dedicated pre-professional or the individual who wants to learn the art of dance for fun. Dance South is committed to the development of each student's fullest potential by offering a positive, non-competitive, and value-centered atmosphere where every student will learn proper dance technique from caring, professional instructors. The goal of the school is to teach students of all levels and ages dance for enjoyment, while instilling in them a love and appreciation of the art of dance. Offering classes in classical and contemporary ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical/modern, and hip-hop, Dance South focuses on technique. Knowing that performance technique is also crucial to a dancer's education, Dance South encourages students to further his or her training through performance opportunities made available throughout the year.

Dance-with-Us is the Moscow Ballet education program which has brought over 100,000 (about 5000 per year) North American student dancers on stage to perform side-by-side with the company of 40 Russian professionals since 1994. Ballerinas from the company arrive in early fall and travel to cities on the tour to audition and rehearse the young dancers in 6+ student roles. Dance-with-Usis underwritten by Moscow Ballet. Partnerships with local Host Dance Studios in tour cities are developed by producer Mary Gianonne Talmiwho also developed the choreography for the Dance-with-Us program.

Moscow Ballet - 2017 marks Moscow Ballet's 25th consecutive year touring North America performing the acclaimed story ballets the Great Russian Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and more. The company is known for presenting award-winning Ballerinas and Danseurs, from Lilia Sabitova in 1994 to Honored Artist of Russia Tatiana Predenia in 2002 to Andrey Batalov, former Principal Danseur with the Mariinsky Theatre in 2016. The company performs more than 100 engagements annually across Canada and the United States' to sell-out audiences in the some of the finest performing arts venues. In addition to public performances, Moscow Ballet's North America tours have always included community engagement programs. "Dance with Us" shares the Russian Vaganova ballet training with over 6000 American dance students annually bringing them on stage in ancillary roles to perform side-by-side with the professionals. Underwritten by Moscow Ballet, the program was developed by choreographer and co-producer Mary Giannone Talmi. "New Horizons - A Children's Program for Life" is a cultural immersion program benefitting thousands of children across the country annually and Musical Wunderkind also connects the Russian dancers directly with American children and young adults. In addition, many Moscow Ballet performances have a fund-raising component for organizations such as hospitals, children's museums and more. www.moscowballet.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.