This December, Tacoma City Ballet will be performing The Nutcracker with original scenery and costumes as it was first presented in Russia in 1892. Performed at the Pantages Theater, the cast of talented dancers will be accompanied by the professional musicians of the Tacoma City Orchestra on Saturday, December 10 and 17 at 2pm and Sunday, December 11 and 18 at 2pm.
According to Erin Ceragioli, Artistic Director of Tacoma City Ballet, “Audiences will be treated to excellent dancing, live orchestral music, and beautiful costumes and scenery for ticket prices that are not as expensive as Seattle.” She added, “No other ballet company in Tacoma performs The Nutcracker with a live orchestra in a professional theater.” The cast is composed of professional dancers of the Tacoma City Ballet Company and students of Tacoma City Ballet School who dance the children’s roles in the ballet. Children as young as eight are allowed to audition.
Celebrating their 67th anniversary this year, Tacoma City Ballet is a non-profit organization that hosts both a performing company and a ballet school. Students from the age of four through adulthood study classical ballet at the school, while the Company performs the season repertoire. This season, upcoming performances include The Haunted Theatre, The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, and Pinocchio The Ballet.
Tacoma City Ballet School offers scholarship opportunities based on need. “Miss Jan Collum never turned anyone away,” stated Ceragioli, referring to founder Jan Collum for whom the ballroom theater at the historic Merlino Art Center is named. More than $1.5 million in scholarships have been awarded since the scholarship program began in the 1990s. There are four scholarship categories that include: the Jan Collum Memorial Scholarship; the Kabby Mitchell III Scholarship (for young men and boys of color); the Lt. Colonel Rudolph Ceragioli Military Scholarship (for active-duty military personnel); and the Weatherby Scholarship for Dancers of Color (for all dancers of color).
Since 1983, Tacoma City Ballet has performed in the Pantages Theater and resided in the Merlino Art Center. In these two architectural crown jewels of our city, the ballet educates, rehearses, and performs the art of classical ballet. Last year’s performances of The Nutcracker were standing room only, so get your tickets early!
For Additional Information
tacomacityballet.com
LYNN CASTLE