ALEXANDROA, VA-More than 150 Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) students will take to the stage Saturday, December 9, and Sunday, December 10, to perform Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center (4915 Netherton Drive).
Two performances will be held each day at noon and 5 p.m. Tickets range from $30-$33 per person and can be purchased at metropolitanarts.org.
“This Nutcracker promises to be extra special with the combination of exceptionally trained student artists and dynamic versatility of our professional guest artists,” said Jacqueline Doherty, Artistic Director of the “Nutcracker” and Metropolitan Youth Ballet of MSA.
Talented MSA students Cate Wiitala and Reagan Geissler will bring Clara to life in this year’s production. Molly Scannell and Meredith Odegard, both 12th graders, dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, alongside Jacob Anderson as the Cavalier.
Scannell, Odegard, and Anderson recently participated in a prestigious international experience at the Fonteyn Competition in London. The journey honored their exemplary achievements in earning distinctions in their Advanced 2 Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) examinations. The Tulsa Ballet Training Program offered Anderson and Scannell full scholarships for the upcoming year.
Two guest ballet artists, Oliver Green-Cramer and Dony’ae Bush, are spotlighted in this year’s show. An alumnus of SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Green-Cramer has performed with renowned companies such as the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Ballet Austin, and the Los Angeles Dance Project. His repertoire includes collaborations with choreographers like Pam Tanowitz and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, as well as interpretations of classics by George Balanchine.
Bush graduated with a BFA in Dance from George Mason University and trained in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive. He has performed in works by notable choreographers Alicia Graf Mack and Darrell Grand Moultrie.
MSA is a nonprofit organization that offers a performing arts academy. The school includes a performing arts studio, youth tap ensemble and ballet company, a MetroImprov company, jazz company, and a musical theatre program. In addition, MSA offers adult fitness and dance classes.
The Academy at MSA, founded in 2013, is the first DC area private, secondary performing arts school students grades seven to 12.
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