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Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Academy and Education & Outreach Division Present Annual Spring Concerts

Nevada Ballet Theatre is pleased to announce its upcoming Spring Concerts featuring over 800 students from the Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre and its Education and Outreach Division, Future Dance. “A Night on Broadway” will be presented on Wednesday, May 20 at 5:30 pm at the Las Vegas Academy’s Performing Arts Center, 315 S. 7th Street. Tickets are free for friends and family. Nevada Ballet Theatre’s affiliated Academy will present its annual Spring Concert on Saturday, May 30 at 7pm and Sunday, May 31 at 1pm & 5 pm at Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. They can be purchased on-site or by calling the UNLV Performing Arts Center Box Office at (702) 895-ARTS (2787).

Featuring students from the Future Dance Program’s Future Dance In Schools, “A Night on Broadway” will honor the iconic Broadway musical with each participating school performing their own version of some of the world’s most celebrated shows seen on the “The Great White Way.”

Serving almost 600 students in grades three through five in 12 underserved Clark County public schools, Future Dance In Schools offers 25 weeks of free, school-based dance instruction by qualified Nevada Ballet Theatre teaching artists in a variety of disciplines, including ballet, jazz and hip-hop. The program is performance driven with the classes leading up to the annual Spring Concert.

Students from elementary schools Booker, Lunt, Culley, Hollingsworth, Mountain View, Paradise, Gilbert, Wynn, Rex Bell, Roundy, Elizondo and Dondero will perform numbers from their favorite musicals such as Annie, Grease, West Side Story and The Wiz among others.

In addition, graduates of the Future Dance In Schools program and the Dance Discovery Program who reside on scholarship at the Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre will perform with their classes, grades 3, 6 and 7 from the Academy.

Future Dance is made possible in large part by The Lied Foundation Trust. In addition, 2009 marks the second year that Cox Communications will generously provide five $1,000 scholarships to Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Future Dance Scholars. Other contributors to the Future Dance Program include Clark County Public Education Foundation, Clark County School-Community Partnership Office, Clark County School District, Las Vegas Library District, MGM Mirage, Nevada Arts Council, Speedway Children’s Charities, Summerlin Children’s Forum, Target, US Bank, West Las Vegas Arts Center and the William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation.

The Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre’s annual Spring Concert includes over 400 students from all ages and levels. Divided into three separate productions over the course of a weekend, The Pre-Professional and Training Programs open the show with “Classical Repertoire” featuring Academy grades 1 through 3 and levels 1, 2, 3 and 7. The second act is “Aurora’s Wedding Celebration,” a modified version of the famous fairytale, Sleeping Beauty. Dancers Cameron Findley and Sarah Fuhrman from Nevada Ballet Theatre’s professional company are featured guest artists, performing in the roles of “Aurora” and “Prince Florimund.” Finally, Act three brings “Aurora’s Wedding Celebration” to a close with the Academy’s Junior and Senior Youth Company.

The following day will include The Children’s Program whose students will dazzle with “When I Grow Up,” featuring the Academy’s youngest students from Creative Movement, Primary and Preparatory levels. The 2009 Spring Concert culminates with The Dance Program showcasing the Academy’s Tap, Hip-Hop, Modern, Fosse, Theatre Dance, Teen Ballet, ipHipHiCharacter and Lyrical Jazz students who will transport audiences on a time traveling adventure with “Quantum Leap.”

The Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre’s 2009 Spring Concert is generously sponsored by Embarq.