THE LEGENDARY HOLIDAY TRADITION RETURNS
TO VILAR PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
DECEMBER 19, 20, 21, 2024
Thursday
December 19th
Evening
Friday
December 20th
Evening
Saturday
December 2127
Matinee
Saturday
December 21st
Evening
Vail Friends of Dance Presents
2024 Nutcracker Ballet
The legendary story returns to Beaver Creek for three days only this December! The holiday tradition of The Nutcracker comes to life with beautiful performances, spectacular costumes and mesmerizing backdrops. The classic story follows Clara on a magical journey with the Nutcracker prince from the Christmas Eve party and battle scene between the soldiers and mouse army, to the Land of the Snowflakes and the Land of Sweets. They are welcomed by the Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy, with rewards of beautiful gifts and celebrations of dances from around the world. Clara awakens from her dream at home with exciting and beautiful memories of her journey with her Nutcracker Prince. This high-level production features incredible artistry, breathtaking dancing, beautiful costumes and colorful sets that are on-par with performances seen from large scale studios.
We invite you to join the talented dancers of the Vail Youth Ballet Company and Vail Valley Academy of Dance as they share their performance of this classic holiday production at the Vilar Center, Beaver Creek.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
MS. ASHLEY CALLIGAN
The Nutcracker performances are under the artistic direction of Ms. Ashley Calligan. Ms. Ashley casts and choreographs the Vail Youth Ballet Company dancers as the lead roles in exciting performances including the annual holiday favorite “The Nutcracker."
Ms. Calligan trained at The Academy of Colorado Ballet, The Academy of Russian Ballet, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre. While dancing she performed numerous roles including; Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Soloist in Paquita, Spanish in The Nutcracker, and many original works by Elizabeth Shipiatsky, Robert Royce, Angela Whitehill, and Thom Clower. She is currently in her 16th year as the Assistant to the Artistic Director and Ballet Mistress with Burklyn Ballet Theatre, under the direction of Joanne Whitehill.
About Vail Youth Ballet Company and
Vail Valley Academy of Dance
The Vail Youth Ballet Company provides those students at Vail Valley Academy of Dance additional training and performance opportunities. Company dancers are selected through an audition process, representing advanced students who choose to pursue their dance study at a higher level. Many company dancers take their training to the next professional level.
The Vail Valley Academy of Dance has been in operation since 1989 and is Eagle County’s premier dance instruction school, offering the most complete multi-talent dance instruction anywhere in the valley. Our teachers offer a variety of discipline instructions from different parts of the world, with different specialties ranging from Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Tap Dance, Jazz, Hip Hop and many other fields of study.
