Sarasota area youth were selected to perform alongside 40 Moscow Ballet professionals in the 20th Anniversary Great Russian Nutcracker at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in December. ReFlex Arts was the host studio for Moscow Ballet’s Student Program in Sarasota, and a Moscow Ballet soloist serves as Audition and Rehearsal Director.

Pictured here: Student dancers in a past performance of the Great Russian Nutcracker.

Selected student dancers are: Party Guests: Brianna Gelnett, Hayley Hodge, Madison Long, Rachel Steinwachs, Mikaela Ventura, Jessie Miller, Elizabeth Butera, Hannah Smith, Bailey Boyer, Cassie Nugent, Samantha Gelnett, Braylyn Bigelow. Mice: Ella Kroening, Megan Payne, Caitlyn Mericle, Shelby Walters, Francesca Bond, Emily Neidrauer, Brooke Jaekle, Hannah Anderson, Erin Harrington, Lauren Seymour. Snowflakes: Kennedy Doran, Tessa Bonanno, Emma Trzandel, Isabella Tabone, Olivia Hufnagel, Madison Keen, Cloe Johncox, Adrianna Pratt, Caitlyn Mericle, Eve Wilczek, Elaina Benedict. Snow Maidens: Hadley Douglas, Kelsey Doty, Megan Krulisky, Mackenzie Phelps, Isabella Santos, Allison Gueli, Jillian Luckman, Megan Musall, Anna Wilczek, Alexa Hufnagel, Mahal Briola. Dancers in Act II's variations are: Spanish: Kennedy Doran, Mason Bowes, Kelsey Doty. Russian: Cassandra Wheller, Rachel Serianni, Kelsey Doty, Mackenzie Phelps, Allison Gueli, Jillian Luckman. French: Megan Krulisky, Hadley Douglas, Megan Krulisky, Hadley Douglas. Chinese: Allison Gueli, Jillian Luckman, Isabella Sants, Mason Bowes, Madison Long, Elizabeth Butera, Brianna Gelnett, Hayley Hodge.

Every year since 1993, Moscow Ballet has engaged local ballet students and host studios in cities on the North American tour, offering them the most unusual opportunity of auditioning, rehearsing, and performing in a professional setting. Children ages 7 to 16, under 5”2” and with some ballet training are eligible to audition.

Pictured: Students in cities across the country auditioned for a part in the Great Russian Nutcracker.

Moscow Ballet’s 20th anniversary Great Russian Nutcracker celebrates the 50,000+ student dancers (an average of 50 students in 50 cities over 20 years time) who have performed along-side the Russian cast of 40 on annual North American tours.  The commitment to deliver children’s programming, in tandem with acclaimed ballet performances, began 20 years earlier when Moscow Ballet producers, then working with Connecticut Dance Theatre, invited Dance Theater of Harlem directors to work with their Hartford students. Among those dedicated students was Charmaine Hunter who went on to become star of Arthur Mitchell’s Fire Bird.  Other children’s programming includes 1984 “Cynthia Gregory Celebration Tour” with the “Just Say No” campaign as it’s official message and chaired by First Lady Nancy Reagan; Russian-Cultural Ballet program produced in museums and art institutions; “Cinderella Around the World” dance and literacy program; and “First International Glasnost Festival Tours” included symposiums, screenings, poetry readings, and more for students and public at Dartmouth, Yale, and other colleges.  Today Moscow Ballet offers all children New Horizons: A Children’s Program for Life, addressing diet, exercise and creative expression through interactive experiences with Moscow Ballet dancers. www.nutcracker.com/education.