On Wednesday, December 7, 2016 dancers from Studio for the Living Arts Dance Complex in Gray performed excerpts from “The Nutcracker” at the Memorial Elementary School in New Gloucester. Students from the Russell Elementary School in Gray also joined in as they were provided a “Nutcracker Performance field trip” to Memorial. The Nutcracker performers arrived in costume to dance scenes from the holiday classic for over 300 students gathered in the cafeteria. Students sat enraptured as the dancers leapt and turned in front of them!
The studio hopes that community performances like this will help to inspire some young students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to go to the theater and see the production themselves. Next week the studio will expand their area school presentations for the Mabel I. Wilson School in Cumberland so they too can experience the magic and beauty of ballet and the Nutcracker story.
The cast, directed by Studio for the Living Arts faculty members Elizabeth Avantaggio and Kate Smedal is comprised of over 100 ballet dancers age 6-adult, and it is made up both of students from the studio in Gray, as well as local dancers who audition for parts in the ballet. This year’s full length Nutcracker production took place on the stage at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center on Saturday December 3. The studio is celebrating their 25th season of dance!
Cast members dance the popular “Snow Scene” from the Nutcracker