Continental Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ to light holidays

• Dance practice

Kay Williams-Prunty’s Dance Academy ballerinas will perform at “The Nutcracker” presented at the Memorial Auditorium in Worthington. The dancers auditioned to be a part of this special event.

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WORTHINGTON — For the Toy Soldiers, it’s all about angularity and precision. For the Gingersnaps, gracefulness and good cheer are required.

And for each of the 17 dancers selected by audition to participate as “extras” in this Saturday evening’s performance of “The Nutcracker,” it’s a singular chance to watch a professional dance company up close as they share in relating the classic Christmas tale of Clara and her beloved nutcracker prince.

“I decided to audition because I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” volunteered Rachel Drietz, a 13-year-old Worthington Middle School seventh-grader who is in her eighth year of instruction at Kay Williams Prunty’s The Dance Academy. Drietz is one of eight local 12- to 18-year-old dancers featured as Gingersnap girls in the production.

At a recent rehearsal for the nine Toy Soldiers — girls who range in age from 8 to 12 — Prunty encouraged and coached as they lunged and marched their way across the studio floor.

“Make yourself three inches taller,” exhorted Prunty by means of inspiring good posture. “Keep your knees up, your lines straight and your fingers strong.”

Prunty was joined in preparing her dancers for “The Nutcracker” by Jill Thomas. Thomas is assisting with ballet instruction at The Dance Academy this year after the departure last spring of longtime ballet instructor Eileen Phelps.

“I’m really excited to see the girls perform in this,” expressed Thomas, who moved to Worthington with her husband, veterinarian Peter Thomas, in May 2007. “There are always some nerves that come with performing, but once they work through that, they’ll do fine.”

Audiences have delighted in “The Nutcracker,” with its widely recognized score by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, since it premiered in December 1892. It remains one of the favorite ballets of all time, and one that even non-ballet fans admit to enjoying.

“The Continental Ballet Company has incredible sets and lavish costumes, and their dancers are very impressive,” assured Margaret Hurlbut Vosburgh, manager of the Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center (MAPAC). MAPAC has hosted the CBC several times before; last year, the company staged “Swan Lake” in Worthington, and in 2006, “Sleeping Beauty.”

“It’s been about eight years since they did ‘The Nutcracker’ here,” said Vosburgh. “This is a terrific opportunity for local audiences to attend a show of a caliber they’d otherwise have to travel to the Twin Cities to see, and ‘The Nutcracker’ is truly a ballet the whole family will love.”

For Prunty’s students, the chance to watch professional dancers backstage and from the wings is invaluable.

“What a wonderful experience for them to be exposed to a professional dance company,” remarked Prunty. “They get to observe the dancers’ technique, discipline and poise right before their eyes, and witnessing that is of value to them no matter what they go on to do.”

“Plus, it’s magical to be part of this classic Christmas ballet even just once in your life.”

The Continental Ballet Company, founded in 1988 by Riet Velthuisen van der Blij, is staging “The Nutcracker” for its 20th year. Principal dancers include the husband-and-wife pair of Pavel Homko, who trained at the Belarus Choreographic Ballet Academy, and Tatiana Berenova, a product of the Moscow Choreographic Ballet Company under the Bolshoi Ballet.

“It’s not easy to travel with an entire ballet company,” said Vosburgh, “but for a large group, the Continental Ballet Company is very easy to work with. There will be about three dozen dancers here, and I know the audience will be impressed.”

Besides getting to see local dancers intermixed with professionals, “Nutcracker” attendees will benefit by getting an early boost to their holiday spirit.

Assured Prunty, “It’s a spectacular way to start off the Christmas season.”

Tags: news, continentalballetcompany, toysoldiers, gingersnaps, thedanceacademy, tchaikovsky, the, nutcracker