SWAN Hill’s most promising young dancers will join the Victorian State Ballet on stage next week in front of a home audience.
The ballet was in Swan Hill on Wednesday to audition young local dancers hoping to take part in the performance of the Christmas ballet The Nutcracker.
This continues an international tradition that surrounds the performance as young dancers from local dance schools join the professionals on stage.
When the company performs at Swan Hill Town Hall on Saturday, December 16, dance students from local dance schools will appear in the first act, a Christmas party scene, in the 2pm and 7.30pm shows.
Victorian State Ballet managing director Michelle Serra said The Nutcracker was so much a part of Christmas worldwide it was just like putting up a Christmas tree.
“Even if people don’t know too much about ballet, they have heard of The Nutcracker.
“We at the Victorian State Ballet perform the ballet anywhere from September through to December each year.
“Presenting the performance at the Swan Hill Town Hall has become an annual event and we are looking forward to travelling there.”
Principal dancers Tynan Wood and Elise Jacques were at the town hall to audition the students.
Wood said that he loved coming to regional areas and getting engaged with the community.
“It is a very rewarding feeling getting the kids involved in the shows and giving back to these small regional areas and really try to bring ballet alive,” he said.
“Ideally we would love to take all the kids that come along but, unfortunately, we are limited by costumes.
“But we do try to bring in as many as possible.
“At most we will be able to select 16 or possibly 18 dancers.
“We always get a great response, especially when you think of the population and the amount of people we get, it’s always a great turnout.”
Jacques said rural communities loved the company giving the children an opportunity to perform.
“They get to experience what it’s like to be on a big stage with real professional dancers,” she said.
“I think it is very special that The Nutcracker is coming to Swan Hill because at Christmas time it is a ballet that is very special to a lot of people and I think it will really bring the community together.
“The kids are always very excited and sometimes a little starstruck at the start, but then they really start to learn a lot from being around us and what we can offer them.”
