The curtain came up, the orchestra played, and finally, they danced onstage as the angels, Christmas trees and polichinelles (little clowns) that they had practiced so long to become.
They were the 30 students of the University of Iowa Youth Ballet and School of Dance, who had the incomparable experience this past weekend of performing in a professional production of “The Nutcracker,” Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet, with Ballet Quad Cities and Orchestra Iowa at the restored Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids.
The performance by the young dancers, ranging in age from 7 to 17, was the culmination of a semester-long rehearsal schedule with UI Youth Ballet administrative director Kathryn Smith and artistic director Jason Schadt.
“It was a unique experience for our students,” Smith says. “They were able to perform to live music, with professional companies, and in the Paramount Theater, which is just beautiful.”
The collaboration with Ballet Quad Cities and Orchestra Iowa was a first for the UI Youth Ballet, she says.
The executive director and artistic director of Ballet Quad Cities contacted the UI Youth Ballet in July, inviting its students to audition, Smith adds.
“We have a reputation for being a strong ballet school, and they were looking to work with dancers who have the training and discipline that comes from ballet,“ Smith says.
It wasn’t without its challenges, including the monumental task of coordinating weekly rehearsals. “Even making out the rehearsal schedule was something else,” Schadt says. “Our dancers were cast in multiple sections of the ballet, some of which were rehearsed at the same time, so we had to make certain that it all worked out.”
Smith and Schadt cited the contributions of others from the UI, including two of their instructors—Peggy Mead-Finizio, a UI Master of Fine Arts graduate, and current grad student Alexandra Bush—who were asked to choreograph portions of the UI Youth Ballet’s performance.
Students participating come from Iowa City, Coralville, Solon, and Mount Pleasant. They are Althea Downing-Sherer, Catie Ingrisone, YiYing McGraw, Eliza Woodard, Gwen Heywood, Aileen Norris, Emily Schartz, Meghan Sinn, Ellie Conrad, Zoe Hopewell, Liza Heimer-Lang, Lucy Wagner, Ruby Anderson, Ted Wilber, Avery Schartz, Tinarui Wang, Adelle Jenkins, Vivian Tomek, Lydia Cui, Isabella Hoeger-Pinto, Katie Hagan, Marina Beachy, Sophia Davis, Hanna Kitazaki, Badra Kalil, Elena Lee, Misha Canin, Lilou Beachy, Charlotte Hanfland, and Sophia Wagner.
The UI Youth Ballet and School of Dance was established in 1972 and offers outreach and training to aspiring dancers in Iowa City and surrounding communities. Housed in the UI’s Halsey Hall with the UI School of Dance, it offers programs for children as young as ages 2-3 as well as teen and adult classes.