Photo by Hub Willson
The Pennsylvania Youth Ballet/Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley will perform “The Nutcracker” on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 1 and 4 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University in Bethlehem.
There are many Saucon Valley students in the production, including:
- Jillian Sinko (11th grade – SV High School) – Dewdrop
- Meghan Altemose (10th grade – SV High School) – Mechanical Doll, Snow, Flowers
- Madelyn Mondschein (12th grade – SV High School) – Mechanical Doll, Snow, Flowers
- Abigail Altemose (8th grade – SV Middle School) – Marzipan
- Katie Lohr
- Emma Shelby
- Olivia Bortz
This year’s performance will be the youth ballet’s 47th annual consecutive production, which makes it the oldest “Nutcracker” performance in the Lehigh Valley.
Photo by Hub Willson
The production will be set to the music of a 48-piece orchestra, the Southside Sinfonietta, under the direction of Eugene Albulescu of Lehigh University.
The cast will include more than 100 professional, pre-professional and student performers, with more than 60 area students singing for “Waltz of the Snowflakes” and singing holiday music in the Zoellner lobby before each performance.
A total of seven performances–including four performances for school students and three for the public–will take place.
Approximately 250 students from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bethlehem, Allentown, Easton and Northeast Ministries will be guests at the public performances thanks to the generosity of sponsor Cohen, Feeley, Altemose & Rambo, who covered the cost of tickets and transportation, according to a news release.
The performance’s artistic director is Karen Kroninger Knerr and its music director is Eugene Albulescu.
To purchase tickets visit www.zoellnerartscenter.org or call 610-758-2787.
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Photo by Hub Willson
More Information about “The Nutcracker” at Zoellner Arts Center:
Guest Artists:
- Lauren Fadeley – Sugar Plum Fairy – Principal Dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet
- Francis Veyette – Cavalier – Principal Dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet
- Marcello Bernard – Snow King (see below for a biography)
Student Info:
- Clara – Olivia Lovell and Lindsey Swanson
- Dew Drop – Jillian Sinko (11th grade at Saucon Valley High School)
- Arabian Lead – Kaitlyn Fritz (11th grade at Lehigh Valley Charter School for Performing Arts)
- Snow Queen – Corinne Walden (recent graduate of Duke University and a Ballet Guild alumna)
Guest Artist Biographies:
Lauren Fadeley was born in Orlando, Fla., where she began her dance training at age four. She trained at the Orlando Ballet School and the School of Performing Arts in Florida, along with summer intensives at The Rock School for Dance Education and The School of American Ballet. In 2000, at age 15 and after attending SAB for three consecutive summers, Fadeley moved to New York City to study there full-time.
Once completing a year at SAB, Fadeley was invited by Peter Martins to join New York City Ballet. While there, she performed in numerous works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Mr. Martins and Christopher Wheeldon. After two years with New York City Ballet, she decided to further her academic and dance education by attending Indiana University. While at IU, she performed principal roles in Serenade, Sonatine, The Nutcracker, Spring Waters, Cinderella, Who Cares?, Paquita, Napoli and Allegro Brillante. In May 2007, she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an outside field in kinesiology.
Since joining Pennsylvania Ballet in fall 2007, she has originated featured roles in Peter Quanz’ Jupiter Symphony, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose and Matthew Neenan’s Pampeana, Keep, At the border, Beside them, they dwell, and La Chasse. She has performed principal roles in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania, Divertissement Pas de Deux), Emeralds and Diamonds from Jewels, The Prodigal Son (The Siren), George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (Sugarplum Fairy, Dewdrop), Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (Striptease Girl), Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Serenade (Waltz Girl); Jerome Robbins’ In G Major and Other Dances; Giselle; Coppélia; Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain (Pas de Deux); and Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan (Wendy).
Fadeley also has performed featured roles in The Four Temperaments (First Theme, Third Theme, Sanguinic), Agon (Pas de Deux), Ballo della Regina, Messiah, Kazimir’s Colours, Cinderella (Summer Fairy), Octet for Strings, Five Tangos, La Sylphide, Barber Violin Concerto, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove, Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land and Petite Mort and William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite (Pas de Deux 2), The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and In the middle, somewhat elevated.
In March 2011, Fadeley premiered as Odette/Odile in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake. She was also one of 14 Pennsylvania Ballet dancers who performed in the Academy Award-winning film Black Swan. She has appeared as a principal guest artist with Carolina Ballet at An Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone, N.C., in 2012, and with BalletX at the Vail International Dance Festival in 2012 and at The Joyce Theater in New York City in 2013. Fadeley was promoted to Soloist for the 2011-2012 Season and to Principal Dancer for the 2012-2013 Season. She is married to Principal Dancer Francis Veyette.
Francis Veyette, a California native, began his dance training at age 10 at Dance Arts in Visalia, Calif. He also studied at Westside Ballet in Santa Monica and took summer sessions at The School of American Ballet in New York City and The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia.
Veyette joined Pennsylvania Ballet as an Apprentice in 1997 and was promoted to the Corps de Ballet in September 1999. His featured roles included Candy Cane and Tea in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Titania’s Cavalier in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In August 2003, Veyette joined Kansas City Ballet under the artistic direction of William Whitener, where he danced for two seasons. His featured roles included the principal couple in Balanchine’s Square Dance and Theme and Variations, Cavalier and Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, the Husband in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert, the principal couple in Paquita and the Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle. He appeared as a guest artist for Pennsylvania Ballet on three occasions during the 2004-2005 season, before returning to the Company for the 2005-2006 season as a member of the Corps de Ballet. Veyette was promoted to Soloist for the 2007-2008 season and to Principal Dancer for the 2011-2012 season.
Veyette’s principal roles include Prince Siegfried in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake, the Pas de Deux in George Balanchine’s Agon and Diamonds from Jewels, Father in The Prodigal Son, Colas in Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, Franz in Coppélia and Pas de Deux 2 in William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite. In 2012, Veyette danced the role of Count Albrecht in Giselle opposite former Principal Dancer Arantxa Ochoa in her final series of performances. He has created featured roles in Jorma Elo’s Pulcinella, Benjamin Millepied’s This Part in Darkness and several Matthew Neenan ballets, including 11:11, As It’s Going, Penumbra and Pampeana No.2.
In addition, Veyette has made guest appearances with Massachusetts Youth Ballet, Westside Ballet and Festival Ballet Theatre. He appeared in Japan during the summers of 2002 and 2004, dancing Balanchine’s Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Giselle,and Le Corsaire. He also has had the opportunity to work with cutting-edge choreographers as a guest artist with Matthew Neenan and Christine Cox’s BalletX and has created several of his own works for both Shut Up and Dance and Kansas City Ballet’s “In the Wings” program. He is married to Principal Dancer Lauren Fadeley.
Marcello Bernard trained at Harmony Dance in his native Susa (Torino) and completed his studies with Marit Bech (International Vaganova Method Society), Frederic Olivieri (La Scala of Milan) and at the Rotterdam Dance Academy under full scholarship. As the recipient of the DanzaEuropa Competition 2010, Marcello attended AjkunBT’s summer intensive, performing in New York where he was invited to join the Ajkun Ballet Theatre Company as a Trainee. Marcello performed with Ajkun Ballet Theatre at the Dance in Italy Festival and was promoted Company Artist in 2011. He was featured as Tom Sawyer and Jean Valjean in Leonard Ajkun’s The Adventures of Tom Saywer, Les Misérables and as Alan in Chiara Ajkun’s restaging of La Fille Mal Gardée.
Photos courtesy of Hub Willson
