Ballet Theatre Company Announces Nutcracker Production for 2007
‘Brilliant Choreography and Staging by Brett Raphael with Guest Artists from Connecticut Ballet – Special Guest appearance by Senator Jonathan A. Harris’

Continuing what has become an annual holiday tradition for many families in the Greater Hartford community, Ballet Theatre Company is pleased to announce its sixth Nutcracker season. Eight performances will be offered from December 15 – 23. This year there will be five afternoon performances. All performances are at the Hoffman Auditorium at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, CT.

Brett Raphael, Guest Artistic Director, returns to set his brilliant production, which premiered at the Hoffman Auditorium in 2006, on the Ballet Theatre Company dancers. Guest artists are from Connecticut Ballet in Stamford, CT and sixty children from Ballet Theatre Academy and many dance schools in the area will be performing. Senator Jonathan A. Harris will be making a special guest appearance on Friday evening December 21 and Saturday afternoon December 22 at 4:30 pm. The theater lobby will be a collection point for the Salvation Army’s Toys for Tots program. Attendees are invited to bring a new, unwrapped toy to support this worthwhile endeavor.

Under Mr. Raphael’s direction, such renowned dancers as Cynthia Gregory, Lynne Charles, Ann Reinking, Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky, Stephanie Saland, Johan Renvall, Yoko Ichino and Katherine Healy have appeared with Connecticut Ballet. Under his leadership, the Dance Exposure Project brings assembly programs to over 15,000 youngsters and satellite dance instruction to over 450 elementary, middle and high school students annually.

His freelance choreographic credits Boston Ballet’s 1980 International Choreographer’s Competition and works for Joffrey II Dancers, Nederlands Dans Theater, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, and competitors for several international ballet competitions. In 1982, he was named Choreographer of the Year by the International Beaux Arts Society. He has choreographed sixteen original works for Connecticut Ballet along with stagings of  the full-length Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Coppelia, Nutcracker, Brigadoon and an original ballet, La Belle Otero. In 2000, his ballet, Blue Light, won second prize in the St. Sauveur Choreography Competition in Canada. In 2002, he was awarded a choreographic fellowship by the Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico.

In 1999, he created Zig Zig Ballet, now the resident dance company of the Stamford Center for the Arts. Zig Zag Ballet’s repertoire features cutting-edge contemporary ballets by Mr. Raphael, Lar Lubovitch, Ann Marie de Angelo, Ramon Oller, Darrell Grand-Moultrie, and Michael Uthoff.
Mr. Raphael’s  production of “Cinderella”  was recently seen at the Bushnell Memorial’s Belding theater.  

TO ORDER TICKETS

Saturday, December 15, 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 16, 1:00 pm and 4:30 pm
Thursday, December 20, 6:30 pm
Friday, December 21, 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 22, 1:00pm and 4:30 pm
Sunday, December 23, 1:00 pm

Tickets are $30 for adults, $26 for seniors, and $22 for children 12 and under. Tickets are available from the Ballet Theatre Company box office (860-570-0440) or online at www.ballettheatrecompany.org. Discounted rates are available for group of 10 or more. Matinee performances sell out quickly, so be sure to call soon.

ABOUT BALLET THEATRE COMPANY

Ballet Theatre Company was founded in West Hartford in 1999. In December 2002, the Company staged its first Nutcracker at the Hoffman Auditorium in the Carol Autorino Center for the Arts and Humanities at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford. The Company’s annual Spring Repertoire program, also held at the Hoffmann Auditorium, has become a showcase for new, exciting works by regional choreographers. The Company also performs throughout the year at other venues, bringing dance to local schools and community events. The Company’s dance school, Ballet Theatre Academy, has quickly established itself as a center for excellence within the Greater Hartford cultural community. The Company and school are located at 20 Jefferson Avenue in West Hartford.