CT Ballet Is Coming To Newtown With A Brand-New Holiday Production

Connecticut Ballet’s production of Island Moving Company’s family holiday ballet, The Wizard Who Wanted To Be Santa, to be presented Sunday, December 12, at Newtown High School, will feature over 50 local children chosen by open audition. There will be two performances, at 1 and 4 pm.

The Wizard Who Wanted To Be Santa is a full-length ballet with an original score by Terry Grosvenor. It is based on a poem by the novelist Gloria Nagy.

“This is based on a poem a lady wrote for her children,” Caitlyn Hydeck said this week. Caitlyn, age 12, is one of two Newtown dancers who won one of the roles following open auditions two months ago. “This wizard wants to become Santa Claus, so he challenges Santa to a singing contest.”

Caitlyn, a seventh grade student at Newtown Middle School, will be playing an elf. Emily Cieniawa, a sophomore at Newtown High School, will be playing part of a gray wall. The girls — and the other young dancers who are participating in the production — have been busy with rehearsals at the studios of Connecticut Ballet, a dance company based in Stamford. Both girls are students of the Monroe-based company Connecticut Dance.

The children’s cast is performing a variety of roles and will be on stage to accompany the professional dancers of Island Moving Company, a Newport, R.I.-based modern dance company. The professional dancers are performing in the lead roles of the full-length ballet.

Students have been rehearsing for two months under the direction of Andrea Hampford. The artistic director for Connecticut Ballet and the production of The Wizard Who Wanted To Be Santa is Brett Raphael. In addition to Caitlyn and Emily from Newtown, student dancers were selected from the towns of Bridgeport, Easton, Greenwich, Monroe, Shelton, Stamford, Stratford, Trumbull and West Haven.

“The Wizard Who Wanted To Be Santa is a treat for families with young children who wish an alternative to the sugar plums and dancing snowflakes at holiday time,” Mr Raphael said. “It’s a delightful entertainment for the whole family.” The ballet includes narration, professional ballet divertissements, jazz and hip-hop dancing selections. Connecticut Ballet’s presentation is part of a two-state touring exchange funded in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts in Boston.

Island Moving Co. is a contemporary dance company which presents original choreography by guest artists and company members ranging from story ballets to modern works. Since its inception in 1982, the company has commissioned and presented new dance works by over a dozen choreographers and has become known for its work in area schools, having created residencies through the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Artists in Residency program for ten years.

Tickets for The Wizard Who Wanted To Be Santa are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $7.50 for age 12 and under. A special family six-pack of tickets is available for $50. Tickets can be reserved in advance or purchased at the door.

Newtown High School is at 12 Berkshire Road (Route 34) in Sandy Hook. For reservations or additional information, contact Connecticut Ballet at 203/964-1211.