Civic Ballet brings classic 'Nutcracker' to Elgin
Civic Ballet of Chicago brings the enchanting "Nutcracker" Christmas story to the Elgin Community College Visual and Performing Arts Center's Blizzard Theatre on Saturday and Sunday.
Share in the enchantment of toys coming to life, Clara and the Nutcracker Prince being transformed and children believing in the magic of Christmas in this universally appealing holiday classic.
Larry Long and Dolores Lipinski, co-artistic directors of Civic Ballet of Chicago, are nationally known for their experience and expertise in staging Ruth Page's beloved "Nutcracker" for 31 years at the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago. They co-founded Civic Ballet of Chicago together in 1997, and are also director and associate director of The Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance.
Civic Ballet of Chicago offers serious young dancers, ages 14 to 20, training and performance opportunities at the pre-professional level. It also engages professional guest artists from top dance companies throughout Chicago.
The company is in its 10th season, offering its own "Nutcracker" in December, combining collegiate actors with dancers in Act I and showcasing classical Ruth Page choreography in Acts II and III. The company also presents a spring performance each year. Civic Ballet is in residence at The Ruth Page Foundation Center for the Performing Arts.
Long, originally from California, began his training with Alexandra Baldina, a colleague of Nijinski and Pavlova of the Ballets Russes. He was a member of Alicia Alonzo's Ballet, and later joined Page's Chicago Opera Ballet. After becoming a principal dancer with Page's International Ballet Company, he was appointed ballet master, a position he later held with the National Ballet of Washington, D.C. and the Harkness Ballet of New York.
In 1973, he was co-founder and director with Page of the Chicago Ballet. Three years later, Long became artistic director of the Ballet International in London. He has staged Page's choreography of "The Merry Widow" and, most recently, staged Page's "Carmen" for Tulsa (Okla.) Ballet Theater.
Lipinski joined Page's Chicago Ballet as a teenager and danced in all Page's subsequent companies and productions. She was a principal dancer with Frederick Franklin's National Ballet of Washington, and appeared frequently in television and summer stock productions.
Page choreographed the role of the American Beauty Rose in her "Nutcracker" especially for Lipinski. Her strict attention to pristine classical technique along with her evident passion for dance made her performances a spectacle to experience. Raised in Chicago and chiefly trained here, Lipinski brings her vast experience and knowledge to her advanced and intermediate ballet classes.
The performances begin at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Blizzard Theatre at ECC's Arts Center, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Tickets are $20/$16 for adults and $12 for children 12 and under.
Tickets are available online at www.elgin.edu/arts or at the ECC box office, in the Arts Center. Box office hours are noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. To purchase tickets by phone, call (847) 622-0300. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are accepted. For information about the ECC Arts Center's season, visit www.elgin.edu/arts.