Rachel Van Buskirk and Christian Clark, principal dancers with Terminus Modern Ballet Theater, return as guest artists.
Montana Ballet Company (MBC), under the direction of Elizabeth DeFanti, presents its 35th anniversary production of The Nutcracker, at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Willson Auditorium in Bozeman.
Celebrating 35 years, MBC’s Nutcracker is a true Bozeman original and a treat for the entire family.
Montana Ballet Company welcomes back guest artists Rachel Van Buskirk and Christian Clark, principal dancers with Terminus Modern Ballet Theater. Both guest artists have notable careers and have danced professionally across the United States and abroad. They will share the stage with MBC’s own company dancers and nearly 100 dancers from the community.
Also featured in the cast is Soren Kisiel, co-director of Broad Comedy, who will once again dance the role of Drosselmeyer.
MBC’s production of The Nutcracker, set to Tchaikovsky’s beloved score, is one of the largest artistic collaborations in the region featuring the work of accomplished dancers, local and national level choreographers, guest artists, live musicians, seasoned stage technicians, lighting and costume designers and a host of dedicated volunteers.
Audiences will delight in exciting choreography, new costumes, and theatrical elements.
The Bozeman Symphony will again provide live music, conducted by guest artist and Belgrade native, Maestro Lee Mills, who is resident conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and winner of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award in both 2014 and 2017.
Tickets range from $20-$60 and are available by phone at 406-582-8702 or online at www.montanaballet.org. All seating is reserved. There will be a $2 service fee added for “day of show” sales.
MBC takes Nutcracker to Big Sky
The Arts Council of Big Sky brings the MBC production to the Warren Miller Center for the Performing Arts in Big Sky at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2. For this special show, a live chamber orchestra will perform the music and local dancers will take part in the production, portraying mice and angels.
Tickets are $15-$35 and available from the performing arts center.
Next up: “The Little Mermaid”
MBC’s next production is the world premiere of The Little Mermaid, Feb. 23-24. Artistic Director Elizabeth DeFanti reinterprets the famous Hans Christian Andersen tale – infusing it with messages of self-acceptance, self-truth, and empowerment.
The ballet tale, told through original choreography and music and exquisite visuals, traces Marina’s “steps” under the sea, as she gives up her precious gift of song and beautiful mertail, to her journey on land, where her love for the Prince is unrequited, and ultimately comes full circle, as she embraces who she is at heart.
MBC has enriched Bozeman and the greater Gallatin Valley since its inception in 1984, and continues to delight and inspire the community with the fine art of live dance in collaboration with world-renowned professional dancers, musicians, conductors, filmmakers, composers, and set designers.