San Benito Dance Academy presents ‘The Nutcracker’
A cast of 130 dancers ranging in age from 3 up to adults will
perform
”
The Nutcracker
”
ballet at the Gavilan College Theatre on Saturday and
Sunday.
The San Benito Dance Academy show includes dancers from San
Benito as well as nearby cities such as Salinas, Watsonville,
Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Prunedale.
San Benito Dance Academy presents ‘The Nutcracker’
A cast of 130 dancers ranging in age from 3 up to adults will perform “The Nutcracker” ballet at the Gavilan College Theatre on Saturday and Sunday.
The San Benito Dance Academy show includes dancers from San Benito as well as nearby cities such as Salinas, Watsonville, Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Prunedale.
“A lot of it is word of mouth,” said Kim Lavagnino, the owner/director of San Benito Dance Academy. “They come to the show and say, ‘Oh, I want to do that.’ Once they come they tend to stay.”
Lavagnino said out-of-county dancers make up 20 percent of the cast and 11 of those dancers take classes year round in San Benito.
The way “The Nutcracker” ballet is formatted, it has dances for a variety of ages and skill levels so Lavagnino said the younger dancers are motivated throughout the year to improve so that they can audition for different roles.
“They are improving in their dancing because they have a goal,” she said. “They are working and they have a plan and a list of who they want to be, and Clara is at the top of the list.”
Since auditions for the first show three years ago, Lavagnino said the number of boys who have roles in the show is increasing.
“We do have something we haven’t had before, which is a male (in the role of the) Nutcracker,” Lavagnino said, adding that they saw the dancer in a San Benito Stage Company show and he was athletic enough for the role. “It is the first time our Clara actually gets to dance with a boy.”
The dancer is one of 14 males in the show. The boys range in age from 3 to 12, Lavagnino said, and many of the younger boys are brothers of dancers.
“The 3-year-olds are angels so they are in the angel dance, which is normally thought of as a girls’ dance in a dress,” she said. “But we redesigned special costumes so they could be in it.”
With the increase in interest, Lavagnino said she will be starting a boys’ dance class in January.
Other changes this year included a move to a new studio. During the summer, Lavagnino moved the San Benito Dance Academy to a location on McCray Street, with double the square footage of its former spot on Maple Street. Lavagnino designed the interior to have two dance spaces, with windows so that parents can watch the classes, and a playroom for younger siblings. Parent volunteers helped with painting and preparing the studio for the Sept. 7 opening. The studio has 10 instructors and new classes that started this year include tap, jazz, modern and yoga.
“If they hadn’t done that, we would not have been able to make this move,” she said, of the help from volunteers.
More than 100 volunteers also help behind the scenes with everything from costumes to set pieces and five choreographers are working with the dancers.
Rehearsals for the show started in October, and with two dance rooms, the choreographers were able to work with two groups of students at a time, increasing the time with each dancer.
“That has made a huge difference,” Lavagnino said.
Lavagnino said she has heard from people who’ve seen the show who said they like the mix of the little kids, intermediate dancers and professionals.
Ballet San Jose dancers Karen Gabay and Rudy Candia, who are in the principal roles for their dance company, will perform the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier.
“They are really nice people,” Lavagnino said. “During the break, they do a question and answer for all the dancers. They get to see what it is like to be a professional and see all that work it takes. That is very inspiring for the kids.”
This year, Lavagnino also invited some community leaders to do a guest appearance in the four performances.
“I wanted to try and pull in community members from different areas than we have pulled before,” Lavagnino said.
She approached people she thought might be willing to participate and got four volunteers who will alternate in the role of Mother Ginger. In the scene, Mother Ginger wears a dress with a large skirt, under which dancers dressed as gingerbread cookies are hiding. The contraption includes a cart to roll the cookies and Mother Ginger out onto stage, with enough space under the skirt for 12 dancers. It is one of the props that has been tweaked this year.
The special guests include Darren Thompson, the San Benito sheriff-elect, in the Saturday matinee; Jerry Muenzer, a newly elected county supervisor, on Saturday evening; Al Guerra, a local businessman, on Sunday afternoon; and Tim Foley, the former superintendent of schools for San Benito County, on Sunday evening.
“That was my holiday tradition, always to attend ‘The Nutcracker,'” Lavagnino said. “That was part of what we did and I think that is becoming part of it for other families.
The Nutcracker
Dec. 18 and 19, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., at the Gavilan College Theatre
For a holiday tradition full of joy and memories join San Benito Dance Academy for its third annual presentation of The Nutcracker. The traditional story of Clara and her beloved Nutcracker is brought to life with a cast of over 130 dancers from San Benito, Santa Clara and Monterey counties. Guest artists from Ballet San Jose, Karen Gabay and Rudy Candia, will join the cast in the Land of Sweets as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier. Mother Ginger will be brought to life each performance by a different guest, including Tim Foley, Al Guerra, Jerry Muenzer and Darren Thompson. Get your tickets today at www.sanbenitodanceacademy.com, at the San Benito Dance Academy Studio, 101 McCray Street, Hollister or by calling 831-801-8100. Tickets are $20 for adults and $17 for children under 12 and senior citizens.
