The stage lights will again capture the struggle between good and evil when Newtown Centre of Classical Ballet presents Swan Lake for its annual performances later this month.

Admission is free and open to the public for the Friday, June 20 show at 7:30 pm, and Saturday, June 21 show at 12:30 pm. Both will be in the auditorium of Reed Intermediate School.

Earlier this week the dance troupe, along with Artistic Tory Gozzi, offered highlights from the show for residents of Masonicare at Newtown and Maplewood at Newtown, with brief performances at both senior assisted living locations.

Excited about “our first full-scale production,” Ms Gozzi explained that this year’s performance includes original choreography by Marius Petipa throughout most of the play. Ms Gozzi contributed some restaging, “but for the most part it is original, which you don’t normally get.”

In a recent email, she wrote: “We wanted to put on a show this year that the community could enjoy and that a lot of people would recognize already.”

Swan Lake is the story of a prince who finds a beautiful swan maiden, Odette. She tells him that she and the other maidens have been turned into swans by Countess Rothbart, an evil magician.

The Prince and Odette fall in love, but the Prince is tricked into a vow of marriage to Odile (the Black Swan), thinking that she is Odette in a later scene.  The Prince fights the magician and breaks the spell, returning the swans to human form and reuniting with Odette.

One year after taking over for NCCB Artistic Director Jennifer Johnston, Ms Gozzi described this past year as the company’s artistic director as a “roller coaster.

“Parents, family, friends, and students have offered the needed assistance and expertise,” she added. Regarding her students, she said they have been great. “It has been a wonderful experience getting to know all of them this year, their unique personalities, their talents, and how they treat each other like family and the studio like home.”

Reed Intermediate School is at 3 Trades Lane. Call 203-241-5362 or visit  for additional information.nccballet.com