OMAHA, NE — November 5, 2016 — American Midwest Ballet’s The Nutcracker is returning to Spirit Lake this holiday season!
The Omaha-based professional ballet company will tour its original production of the classic holiday tale in Spirit Lake, Iowa, a resort-style community located at the heart of the Iowa Great Lakes area.
This year’s tour includes two performances at Sami Bedell Performing Arts Center on Fri., Dec. 16 at 7:30pm and Sat., Dec. 17 at 1:30 pm, as well as a student matinee for local school children.
The company also presents a special pre-Thanksgiving performance on Nov. 20 at Arts Center in Council Bluffs, and a three-show run at Orpheum Theater Dec. 3 and 4 in Omaha.
Along with its roster of professional company dancers, American Midwest Ballet’s The Nutcracker will feature many talented young student dancers ages 7 and up from Spirit Lake, as well as surrounding communities in Iowa and Minnesota.
Youth auditions and casting for the holiday touring production took place Fri., Nov. 4, with company-led rehearsals continuing throughout the weekend with ballet master, Matthew Carter, and company dancers, Erin Alarcon and Kelsey Schwenker.
“We are so happy to be welcomed back by this wonderful community, including Dawn Fisher of Dawn’s Dance Connection who will rehearse our student cast until we return for production week,” said the ballet company’s artistic director, Erika Overturff.
“It is a great experience to work with local students and perform at this beautiful theater.”
American Midwest Ballet’s The Nutcracker premiered to record audiences during its inaugural tour to Spirit Lake in 2010, and again in 2012 and 2014.