Festival Ballet Providence - Center for Dance Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2004

Festival Ballet Providence, 401-353-1129

Center for Dance Education's, May 30th Performances

Providence, RI - The Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education announces its annual Culmination Performance May 30th at Rhode Island College’s Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. This two-hour production by some of the region’s most promising young dancers illustrates the progressive skills and artistry that are developed at the Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education. The performance is appropriate for the entire family, and is an excellent introduction to dance.

The Center for Dance Education, under the leadership of Mihailo Djuric and Mary Ann Mayer, is the official school of Festival Ballet Providence, Rhode Island’s leading professional dance company, and is housed in the company’s new state-of-the-art studios at 825 Hope Street. Over 400 students aged three to adults from throughout Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts study dance with the school’s international faculty.

The May 30th performances of choreographed dances showcase the talents and skills of over 180 of the school’s young dancers aged 6 to 18 who are finishing the year of study at the Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education. In addition to ballet pieces, the professionally staged performance will also feature jazz, modern, and character dance styles.

In keeping with the school’s emphasis on strong ballet education as the core training, the major work of the production is Paquita, an exciting classical ballet danced by the school’s top three levels of dancers. Ann Morsilli will stage her intriguing contemporary ballet, Musical Cirque, featuring three advanced dancers, Sarah Medeiros, Jessica Whiteley, and Ashley Andries with a cast of a dozen others.

Advanced level dancers will also be featured in Artistic Director Mihilo Djuric’s Piano Cencerto to music by Mozart. The advanced students will be joined in several of the pieces by Davide Vittorino, Cameron Baldassarra, and Ty Parmenter, all members of the Festival Ballet Providence Company.

Other works include period piece Italian Renaissance, character dances Tarentella and Dance from Prince Igor, as well as The Garland Waltz from Giselle, The Magical Forest, Mirlitons from The Nutcracker, and Nagelschmeid Polka. Pre-ballet classes will charm audiences with Wild Mountain Thyme, Irish Medley, The Syncopated Clock, and Scapricciatello. Jazz works include Compromise, Sing, Sing, Sing, Popa’s Got a Brand New BAG, and Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves.

This performance is open to the public, and is an excellent introduction to the school’s standards of dance education for parents who are considering dance classes for their children. Children in the performance include both recreational track and pre-professional track dance students.

There will be two performances on Sunday May 30th at 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM at Roberts Auditorium, Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, Rhode Island College, 600 Mt. Pleasant Street, Providence. Reserved tickets priced at $15 are available for purchase now at the Festival Ballet Providence reception desk Monday through Saturday, or by calling 401.353.1129. Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the day of the performance. The theater is handicapped-accessible.

The Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education offers a comprehensive dance program for children and adults suitable for the professional, pre-professional and recreational dancer. The Young Children’s Program is available for students ages 3-7 and the Core Dance Program is designed for students ages 8-adult. In addition to its classical ballet training, the Center for Dance Education offers enrichment classes such as Jazz, Pilates Mat Classes, The Festival Ballet Workout and more.

The international faculty at the Center for Dance Education includes: Mihailo “Misha” Djuric, Mary Ann Mayer, Vera Kurmsheva, Ann Morsilli, Milica Bijelic, Gleb Lyamenkoff, Dawn Marcoux, Rebecca Moore, Cassandra Plater, Marrie Hadfield, Barbara Malloy, Audrey Monahan, Karla Kovatch, Marissa Gomer, William Wilson, Davide Vittorino, Zhanat Baidaralin and Heather Grocott.

Summer courses of study are available for all ages, from June 21st to August 27th. For further information or a registration package, please call 401-353-1129.

Festival Ballet Providence and the Center for Dance Education are together a not-for-profit arts organization whose EIN is 05-0377245 and whose Rhode Island Corporate ID number is ND-27-137.