Over the last five years, The School of Ballet Arizona has grown into one of the finest institutions for dance in the Southwest! Building on the past production successes of Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, we will premiere a new production of Cinderella this holiday season.
School Director, Carlos Valcárcel, and Ballet Arizona Company member, Nayon Iovino, are taking this classic ballet back to its storybook roots. Drawing inspiration directly from the book, Valcárcel and Iovino have developed new choreography and incorporated the high performance standards expected from the students at SBAZ.
“Cinderella is about magic and imagination. Everyone can relate to it. The level of the SBAZ performances during ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ were pretty high. They were professional level productions. You often forget that they are students dancing on stage, but the level of performance standards expected is that of the Ballet Arizona Company.” – Carlos Valcárcel, School Director.
Cinderella is a tremendous challenge and a learning process for the students at SBAZ. It involves everyone enrolled, from the youngest of dancers to the Studio Company. Casting and placement were determined by the production’s needs, so each student had an equal opportunity. Each dancer learned the new choreography, accepted the challenge and saw just how vast their capabilities are.
Carlos hopes that Cinderella will be a rich and rewarding experience for everyone involved, students and parents alike. Ballet is not just a commitment on behalf of the student, but it takes very dedicated parents and family. Cinderella will give students the opportunity to become a part of the story, and physically and emotionally participate in the telling of it. Parents will revel in watching their children on-stage in a full length production, seeing all their hard work and dedication come to fruition.
