The Park City Ballet West Academy is one of four Ballet West student campuses offered statewide. Classes are offered for dancers ages 3 to 20, with youth tap, jazz and hip-hop also available, along with select adult classes.
While Ballet West is in the middle of its full-length Nutcracker run at the Capitol Theatre, Academy Director Allison DeBona says the Park City production is an abridged version designed with young audiences in mind.
“We're actually in our 75th season of The Nutcracker with the main company downtown,” DeBona said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Monday. “My goal in Park City was to offer our students a similar experience. So, it is abridged and with an intermission, you're out of there in an hour and 15 minutes. We really wanted to make sure that the kids understood how it all went and the experience was the same. So, one day, when they're with the professional company, they know exactly what they're walking into.”
Two performances are scheduled Saturday, Dec. 13, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Park City Eccles Center. Tickets are $18 for adults and $5 for children under 11.
“If you have a babe in arms, you're still welcome to come,” she said. “I really want the community to understand that this is a family event, and it's the beginning of a tradition that we hope continues. So, if you have young families and you want to try to see if they can hang in a Nutcracker production, come up to Park City, and then within a few years, they'll be downtown at the main production, America's First Nutcracker.”
DeBona danced with Ballet West for 15 years and says she has performed every role in the ballet, except for the Cavalier, the male partner to the Sugar Plum Fairy.
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