Local Dancers Shine in Connecticut Concert Ballet's Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is an iconic holiday tradition across the country and one of the longest running productions occurs in the town of Manchester, Connecticut. For over 40 years and counting, the show has been put on by Connecticut Concert Ballet (CCB) which has been on Garden Grove Road since 1973. This year the shows will be Saturday, December 8th and Sunday, December 9th at 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. both days.

The Manchester High School Bailey Auditorium is a wonderful place to put on a large show like this. It has one of the biggest stages in the greater Hartford area to fit the 200 plus performers in a dramatic fashion. Professionally staged with full costumes and lighting, Connecticut Concert Ballet's talented local students are highlighted alongside professional guest artists from the Festival Ballet Providence, David DuBois and Kristy DuBois, as the Nutcracker Prince and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Led by Artistic Directors David Lawrence and Wendy Fish-Lawrence, auditions are held in September and rehearsals begin right away to prepare for the show.

Six dancers have been selected to play the most visible lead roles in the show.

Caitlen Chaniewski will dance as Young Clara and Sara Margaret Hearne will perform as Fritz. Both dancers are 11 year old students at Gideon Welles School in Glastonbury.

Dorothy and Vivian Lawrence (pictured), sisters from Vernon, will be performing the roles of Clara the Princess and Young Clara respectively. Dorothy is 15 years old and returns to CCB this year. For the past 3 years she has been training at the American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Vivian is 12 years old and has been performing in CCB's show all of her life, starting as a 2 year old in the Party scene.

Angelina Piotroski is a 9 year old from Coventry and will be dancing the role of Fritz. She is a 4th grade student at Oak Grove Montessori School. Her siblings Isabella and Julian are also in the show and parents Bill and Janina perform in the party scene.

Tess Ryan (pictured) will be performing the role of Clara the Princess. She is a 16 year old junior at Ellington High School where she is on student council and in the National Art Honor Society. This is her 10th Nutcracker. The entire Ryan family can also be seen on stage, sister Melissa and parents Matthew and Michelle also perform.

The area dancers with lead roles are:

Bolton: Kaleigh Davis (Mouse Queen, Shepherdess, Spanish Dancer); Coventry: Angelina Piotroski (Young Clara); Ellington: Eileen Liu (Lead Angel), Tess Ryan (Clara the Princess, Chinese Dancer); Enfield: Elizabeth Nichols (Military Doll); Glastonbury: Caitlen Chaniewski (Young Clara), Angela Gibbons (Snow Queen), Sara Margaret Hearne (Fritz), Alia Hurley (Chinese Dancer, Shepherd Girl), Isabel Leal (Military Doll); Hartford: Saige Alexandra Hollis (Military Doll); Manchester: Leanne Baldwin (Snow Queen), Ana Cortese (Military Doll), Aislinn Gara Grady (Lead Angel), Dakota Jusem-LaPorte (Lead Angel), Kayla Sandoval (Chinese Dancer, Shepherd Girl), Sarah Silberberg (Military Doll); South Windsor: Joanna Donovan (Chinese Dancer); Tolland: Kate Beck (Chinese Dancer, Shepherd Girl), Olivia Person (Spanish Dancer, Shepherd Girl), Vanessa Polidoro (Russian Soloist, Spanish Dancer); Vernon: Dorothy Lawrence (Clara the Princess, Ballerina Doll, Shepherdess), Vivian Lawrence (Young Clara); West Hartford: Isa Simoes (Mouse Queen, Arabian Soloist, Spanish Dancer); Windsor: Sage Hanlon (Ballerina Doll, Arabian Soloist, Russian Soloist), Sarah LaPorto (Military Doll).

Traditions of this ballet include a giant Christmas tree that grows, valiant toy soldiers, twirling snowflakes, waltzing flowers, and visions of sugarplums. In CCB's version, holiday dreams really do come true. Come experience the magic!

The advance ticket price for preferred front and center seats is $40; general admission is $30 for adults, $20 for children, students and seniors. Tickets are available at CTConcertBallet.org and will be $43, $33, $23 at the door.

Proceeds from the annual Nutcracker show fund the not for profit school year round keeping the tuition and total cost for its students the lowest in the area.

Connecticut Concert Ballet is a semi-professional 501(c)(3) classical ballet school and performing arts organization with studios in Manchester on the Glastonbury line and in Windsor in the Great Hall at Grace Church. For information call 860-643-4796 or visit at CTConcertBallet.org or facebook.com/ConnecticutConcertBallet.

CCB offers a robust, year-round schedule of classes in ballet, modern and jazz for ages 3 to adult. It has 300 students from over 40 towns in the Greater Hartford, northern and eastern areas of the state.

Connecticut Concert Ballet proudly employs the AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE® National Training Curriculum.

CCB is a multi-year winner of “Best Dance Lessons” and CCB's Nutcracker has been a runner up for "Local Annual Event" in Hartford Magazine's “Best of” readers’ poll.