From Ballet West’s development manager, Alison Hayes:

What do you get when you combine Snow Queens, kilts and Aquavit?  An evening full of fun in support of the Norwegian Outdoor Exploration Center; a non profit organization that has been teaching youth about the outdoors for over 30 years.  Saturday November 19th, Ballet West Artists, Elizabeth McGrath and Emily Adams, braved the dark and stormy night to grace the St. Regis dance floor with their flutters, twirls and Snow Queen tutus.  The crowd was dazzled, providing great exposure for Ballet West and a wonderful opportunity to partner with a great organization.

Elizabeth McGrath and Emily Adams pose at the St. Regis

Elizabeth McGrath and Emily Adams show a few dance moves for the crowd

Elizabeth McGrath and Emily Adams with the founding member of Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter, Leland Scowcroft Swaner (nickname: Tad)

-Beau

The company is in Ogden this week kicking off our Nutcracker season.  We perform tomorrow (Wednesday … well, I guess it’s today since it’s past midnight), have Thanksgiving off, then perform a show on Friday night and two shows on Saturday.  I took pictures of the tech rehearsal on stage today (Tuesday).

Whitney Huell as the Doll in party scene

Haley and Easton Smith in the Snow Pas De Deux

Adrian Fry in Spanish

Aidan DeYoung with Kimberly Ballard, Katheryn Hein and Kathleen Martin in Chinese

Sayaka Ohtaki with Allison DeBona, Whitney Huell, Katlyn Addison and Elizabeth Weldon in Mirlitons

Kuei-Hsien Chu with Alexander MacFarlan and Trevor Naumann in Russian

Rex Tilton and Ronald Tilton (legs) in Mother Buffoon

Arolyn Williams and Thomas Mattingly in The Waltz of the Flowers Pas De Deux

Katherine Lawrence and Michael Bearden in The Grande Pas De Deux

Katherine Lawrence and Michael Bearden in The Grande Pas De Deux

-Beau

Just a quick update on what the company is up to these days.  Last week the company and I had a much needed break after the run of Dracula (Ben Stevenson) and the Gala.  This week we are back rehearsing The Nutcracker.  All the new dancers have to learn all their roles this week because we perform in Ogden next week and then come back to Salt Lake to perform until New Years.  I remember my first year learning the ballet in a week.  I went on stage saying to myself, do I know this ballet?  Twenty shows later I could dance every role in my sleep, of course.  Ballet West veterans get reacquainted with their steps and partners this week and jump out on that stage as if they never stopped performing the ballet last year.

Whenever we get into the Christmas season, people always ask me, do you get bored of The Nutcracker?  The thing about The Nutcracker for me is that, yes, we perform the ballet a lot and yes, the ballet becomes routine.  However, we dance to beautiful music and I love Christmas time.  Our Nutcracker was also recognized as one of the best in the country last year to boot.  The Nutcracker is actually a good time for dancers in the company to get opportunities to dance different and possibly bigger roles than in a ballet that we perform only eight to eleven times.  This year we have seven casts so everybody dances a lot and constantly in different roles.

I took a few pictures of rehearsals today when I got a chance.

Ronnie Underwood with Aidan DeYoung and Aidrian Fry rehearsing Russian

Owen Gaj practicing his lead Russian

Haley and Easton Smith rehearsing the Grande Pas De Deux

Emily Adams rehearsing the Waltz of the Flowers Pas De Deux

-Beau

The last show of Dracula (Ben Stevenson) was on Tuesday and the very next day was spent rehearsing for Saturday’s Gala and for The Nutcracker.  I got a chance to take some photos of a few of the Gala pieces in between my own rehearsals today.

Elizabeth McGrath and Rex Tilton rehearsing the DON QUIXOTE Grande Pas De Deux

Elizabeth McGrath rehearsing the DON QUIXOTE Grande Pas De Deux

Beckanne Sisk and Christopher Sellars rehearsing the DON QUIXOTE Grande Pas De Deux

Arolyn Williams and Christopher Ruud rehearsing RUTH, RICORDI PER DUE by Gerald Arpino

Arolyn Williams and Christopher Ruud rehearsing RUTH, RICORDI PER DUE by Gerald Arpino

Katherine Lawrence and Michael Bearden rehearsing the pas de deux from THE DREAM by Sir Frederick Ashton

Christiana Bennet and Easton Smith rehearsing Val Caniparoli's NO OTHER

-Beau