Connecticut Concert Ballet Announces 2009 Nutcracker Season Performances

Connecticut Concert Ballet Announces 2009 Nutcracker Season Performances Greater Hartford Area
Manchester and Windsor, CT, November 2, 2009 (PressReleasePoint) – Connecticut Concert Ballet (CCB) continues a 35-year tradition with its announcement of performances of the full-length Nutcracker in the Hartford area. Artistic Directors David Lawrence and Wendy Fish-Lawrence’s family-friendly production will be performed one weekend each in Manchester and Windsor. Three performances will be held at Manchester High School, 134 Middle Turnpike East, on December 5 (2 p.m. and 7 p.m.) and December 6 (2 p.m.). Three additional performances will be held the following weekend at Windsor High School, 50 Sage Park Road, on December 12 (2 p.m. and 7 p.m.) and December 13 (2 p.m.). The production will highlight CCB’s talented local students alongside professional dancers from the Island Moving Company, Newport RI’s resident dance company, a collaborative relationship that goes back 8 years.

As the most affordable Nutcracker in the area, CCB’s show is known for elaborate scenery, professional-quality costuming, intricate choreography and riveting dancing and has been a seasonal favorite for families and organizations such as scouting and arts groups. Grandparents are repeat customers introducing their grandchildren to the arts in a child-suitable setting. In 2008, 4500 audience members attended the shows. Tickets will go on sale to the public on November 4th, 2009 and will be available by phone (860) 418-7294 and online at www.connecticutnutcracker.com

David Lawrence said, “We were thrilled to return to our home base of the Bailey Auditorium in Manchester last year after the high school renovations were completed. The Nutcracker is the highlight of our performing year. Of course the ticket receipts help fund the year-round running of our school and allows us to keep our tuition the lowest in the Hartford area. The proceeds also allow us to offer scholarships we wouldn’t otherwise be able to.”

According to Wendy Fish-Lawrence, “It means a lot to me to stage the Nutcracker in Windsor. I began my dance career with Helen Stevenson at the Northern Connecticut Ballet as a scholarship student and I was highly honored to be chosen to lead NCB on her retirement. We dedicated last year’s Nutcracker to Helen’s memory; she will always be a part of us.”

Ticket Information: Preferred Front & Center Seats $28, General Admission $22, Students/Seniors $15, ages 4 and under $10. Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Group discounts are available.
Sponsorship and Program Advertising opportunities are also available, call 860-643-4796.

Connecticut Concert Ballet is a 501(c)(3) classical ballet school and performing arts organization with studios in Manchester and Windsor, Connecticut. CCB was founded in 1973 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1985. CCB merged with the former Northern Connecticut Ballet in 2007 and has 300 students from 30 central Connecticut towns ages 3 and up. Connecticut Concert Ballet proudly employs the AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE® National Training Curriculum. Recent graduates are currently attending the North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and the University of Hartford Hartt B.F.A. program. Current students attend the The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and the Creative Arts Program at the Watkinson School. Nationally-competitive Intensive Summer Program placements in 2009 included The Rock School, Philadelphia, American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive and Young Dancer Summer Program, Boston Ballet, American Academy of Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet. CCB also has a pre-professional Ensemble group that participates in community outreach programs such as assemblies and in-school residencies and performs at community fund-raising events and libraries across the central, northern and eastern regions of the state.

For more information on the Nutcracker please visit www.connecticutnutcracker.com or call (860) 418-7294,
for the Connecticut Concert Ballet, please visit www.ctconcertballet.org or call 860-643-4796
For more information on the Island Moving Company, visit www.islandmovingco.org or call 401-847-4470