 Mt. Kisco, NY - With more than 90 talented performers dressed in 200 colorful costumes and a set decorated with magnificent scenery, the Westchester Ballet Company will take the stage with its 12th annual production of The Nutcracker at the Westchester County Center in White Plains in December.
This year, the company will be joined by several internationally renowned dancers who will star in the lead roles of this story of Clara and her beloved nutcracker doll and a journey they take one Christmas Eve.
Ana Sophia Scheller (Sugarplum Fairy) began her dance training in Buenos Aires. She received a scholarship as part of Argentina's National Presidential Prize for Cultural Excellence in Classical Dance for three consecutive years before moving to New York in 2000 at age 13 to enroll as a full-time student at the School of American Ballet. She is currently a soloist with the New York City Ballet.
Mikhail Ilyin (Cavalier) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and received his early training at the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy there. He was a member of the Boston Ballet before joining the Miami City Ballet as a soloist in 2001. Mr. Ilyin was awarded the highest prize – the silver medal – at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2000. He is presently working with Space Coast Ballet and serving as Artist-in-Residence with Ballet Mississippi.
Myles Thatcher (Nutcracker) is currently with the Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program. His early training was with Margo Clifford Ging, and later at the Harid Conservatory, where he received the Dance Study Award and the Reuger Family Award. He was awarded second place in the Youth American Grand Prix finals for his performance in the Giselle Pas de Deux and has performed at the Miami International Ballet Festival.
Nicholas Logrea (Butler, Mouse King, Gopak, Coffee from Arabia solo) has performed in the Westchester Ballet Company’s Nutcracker for 15 years, and with Ballet Etudes in Connecticut. He has also performed as a soloist in WBC productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Peter and the Wolf (Peter; the Wolf), La Boutique Fantasque, Tales of Vienna and A Glenn Miller Nutcracker.
Performances are scheduled for Friday, December 14, 10 a.m.; Saturday, December 15, at 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 16.
Advance-sale tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for children under age 12 and for senior citizens with a Senior Citizen identification card. All tickets are $22 per person on the day of each performance.
General admission tickets can be purchased in person at the County Center box office, open Mondays through Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster.com.
The Nutcracker is sponsored by Westchester County Parks and Friends of Westchester Ballet Company.
The Westchester County Center is located at 198 Central Avenue in White Plains, at the junction of the Bronx River Parkway.
For more information about The Nutcracker, call the County Center at (914) 995-4050 or log on to www.countycenter.biz.
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