Ballet Indiana to Present "Nutcracker" at North High School
By: Laura Kirtley
Updated: December 6, 2012
Ballet Indiana, a local nonprofit performing company, will present its third annual Nutcracker at 7:30 p.m. Friday, December 7 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday, December 8 at the new North High School auditorium (15331 U.S. Highway 41 North).
Tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for children (ages 12 and under), and $40 for a family pack (two adults and two children, with tickets for additional children priced at $5 each). General admission tickets will be available at both performances. To reserve tickets, members of the community may call Acros at 812-476-5999, then pick up and pay for tickets at the performances.
"Since Ballet Indiana's founding in 2010, we have been dedicated to making the art of classical ballet affordable and accessible in the Evansville community," said Ballet Indiana Artistic Director Keith J. Martin, a former principal dancer with England's Royal Ballet. "We're proud to continue that tradition with our third annual Nutcracker, showcasing the talents of around 60 local dancers and professional guest artists."
Ballet Indiana is proud to welcome Saint Louis Ballet's Lori Wilson, courtesy of Artistic Director Gen Horiuchi, and Jason Keith Martin in the roles of the Sugarplum Fairy and Cavalier.
Wilson trained at Ballet Lubbock and The Rock School for Dance Education, and since joining Saint Louis Ballet in 2008, she has performed featured roles such as Columbine, Lead Marzipan, and Chinese in The Nutcracker, and Odile (the Black Swan) in Swan Lake.
Martin has danced professionally with Sacramento Ballet, Columbia Classical Ballet, State Street Ballet, and Saint Louis Ballet. At Saint Louis Ballet, he has been featured as Candy Cane, Harlequin, and Spanish in The Nutcracker, in Dennis Nahat's Brahms Quintet, the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, and the Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle.
The guest artists join a local cast of children and adults who make up Ballet Indiana. The company was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Fall 2010 and is led by Bj and Keith J. Martin. Keith J. Martin is an internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and director who has been a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and Maryland Ballet, director of San Diego Ballet, and founding director of the Phoenix Ballet Company, Ballet California, and Ballet Indiana. He was named Arts Educator of Indiana in 2007.
His wife, Bj, is ballet mistress of Ballet Indiana. She has danced as a soloist with the San Francisco Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Pennsylvania Ballet, and as a principal dancer with the San Diego Ballet and Phoenix Ballet Company.
To schedule media interviews or appearances, please e-mail ballet.indiana@gmail.com.
