Press Release: The Chelmsford Ballet Company's excerpts of The Nutcracker at the Brentwood Centre and Spring 2015 double bill

[Jan McNulty]

The Chelmsford Ballet Company's excerpts of The Nutcracker at the Brentwood Centre

 

 

 

The Chelmsford Ballet Company, calling the city its home for almost seventy years, will be performing as guests of the Hutton and Shenfield Choral Society on 20 December at the Brentwood Centre. The company will be performing excerpts from its incredibly successful production, The Nutcracker, which ran at the Chelmsford Civic Theatre in March earlier this year.

 

In the perfect prelude to the official Christmas season, 20 of the company’s dancers will perform at the Brentwood Centre as part of a special evening of family-filled festivities, with performances from the Sugar Plum Fairy, fiery Russian and smooth Arabian dancers. There will be so much to feast your eyes on from the Kingdom of the Sweets with lots to delight the whole family. For more information visit www.brentwood-centre.co.uk

 

The much-loved company stages its annual production each March at Chelmsford’s Civic Theatre. For 2015, the company will present the comedic Pineapple Poll and an all-new work for the company, the prestigious Christopher Marney's Carnival of the Animals. In this delightful double bill, full of family fun, audiences will experience the Company's varied work in both genre and era.

 

The programme will run from 18-21 March 2015 at the Civic Theatre in Chelmsford, Essex. Tickets are now on sale, for which contact the box office on 01245 606505 or visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/theatres

 

The amateur company prides itself on its professional standards, and requires dancers to audition before joining. Dancers are then eligible to audition for the annual production, which is the pride of the company, its committee and the residents of Chelmsford; the company’s 2014 production of The Nutcracker achieved 98% ticket sales, which is a testament to its popularity and local reputation.

 

www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co.uk

 

 

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About The Chelmsford Ballet Company

 

In 1947, Joan Weston created the Broomfield YMCA Ballet Company in order to give the more senior students at her existing dance school the opportunity to learn and perform to the public. It was after their 1949 performance of ‘Coppélia’ at the Shire Hall that the then Mayor of Chelmsford suggested the name ‘The Chelmsford Ballet Company’, and with a small committee the Company was born.

 

Since 1949, the Ballet Company has staged a full-scale production every year. Initially a part of the

Arts Festival, and then the Cathedral Fringe Festival, they occur today as an annual event in their own right. Today the Company is led by Artistic Director Annette Potter, who is a former dancing member. Annette danced many leading roles with the company before moving on to teaching and choreography.

 

The Ballet Company is a way for skilled dancers from across the area to perform together and to showcase their considerable talents to appreciative and receptive audiences. Theatre-goers are constantly ‘thrilled’ with the productions, which always maintain the high standards set by Joan Weston. It has become a well-loved cornerstone of Chelmsford’s cultural calendar.

 

The Chelmsford Ballet Company is “an amateur Company which sets professional standards for all its work, involving professionals in its productions, courses and other teaching and workshop opportunities”. The standards are such that both junior (aged 10 and Standard/Grade 2 or above) and senior (over 14) dancers must audition to become members and again each year to perform in any production. These high standards are maintained through the monthly Company classes, where the dancers are able to meet and take a class with experienced and distinguished teachers.

In the 1960's a Scholarship Fund was created to help young dancers moving to professional training.

 

About Christopher Marney and Carnival of the Animals

 

Christopher Marney is the company's patron, having danced with the company and current Artistic Director Annette Potter in previous years. Christopher Marney is currently establishing himself as a much sought after choreographer; he has recently been studying for his Masters in Choreography from Central School of Ballet and is a longstanding member of Matthew Bourne's New Adventures. He is currently dancing the Prince on the international tour of Swan Lake. The company is excited to work closely with its highly valued patron.

 

Christopher Marney's Carnival of the Animals, a first for the company, is set in a 1930s theatre. A young stage hand falls for a dancer in the corps de ballet of a touring company: humour and romance ensue as he sets about joining the show to win her hand. This ingenious piece is accompanied by the beautiful music of Camille Saint Saëns, Poulenc and Strauss.

 

About Pineapple Poll

 

Pineapple Poll, a comedy ballet of sailors and their sweethearts, takes its form in Artistic Director Annette Potter’s adaptation. Pineapple Poll is full of fun, originally choreographed in 1951 by the celebrated John Cranko. Captain Belaye and the HMS Hot Cross Bun arrive in Portsmouth and the sailors, who are now on shore leave, head into town for the pretty girls and the local inn. Fun and games ensue as Poll and the girls, Jasper the pot-boy, sailors, Blanche, her Aunt and Captain Belaye plot to capture the attention of their hearts’ desire.