Young performers who are constantly daydreaming of sugar plumb fairies can now put their passion and skills to good use at the Squamish Youth Ballet company.
The newly formed company is the idea of Howe Sound Dance Academy director and owner Shalimar Blanchard.
The seasoned dance instructor with more than two-decades of experience said hit TV shows like So You Think You Can Dance have made dance more popular over the years but it was only after noticing how excited her students got when they learned some Nutcracker choreography last winter, that Blanchard finally decided to teach ballet.
"I think it's great that dance is coming into the everyday person's life and they're appreciating all sorts of disciplines and the rest of it," said the North Vancouver born and raised instructor.
"But I do feel the beauty of ballet - the passion and purity of it - is getting a little bit lost in all of it. Hip-hop always gets the popularity contest and jazz is always going to win the popularity contest. I think sometimes it's difficult for people to appreciate ballet because it's part of a past era, so it's nice to bring it back," said the London, England Royal Academy of Dance trained instructor and licentiate.
Blanchard is going all out to bring ballet back. She's organizing the first production of the Squamish Youth Ballet to be none other than the wildly popular, Christmas season must-see, the Nutcracker.
"For years and years and years I had said I would never do Nutcracker and I don't know what possessed me but I'm finally ready to do Nutcracker. I wanted to do it properly. I didn't want to do Nutcracker with a little bit of jazz and little bit of hip-hop."
The entire production will be performed in nearly original choreography, using original compositions by Tchaikovsky.
Blanchard said the Nutcracker is a great piece to perform because it's a ballet with roles for young dancers.
"And that's a pretty special thing because typically when you think of a ballet you think of adults and professional dancers who have years and years of training."
The Squamish Youth Ballet will currently only accept dancers into its company who are a part of the upcoming Nutcracker production, which is determined through an audition process.
Anyone between the ages of 8 and 18 with a couple of years of formal ballet training is welcomed to audition for the winter production which can accommodate approximately 30 dancers.
Auditions were held on Wednesday June 24 at the Howe Sound Dance Academy studio located at 41340 Government Road starting at 4 p.m.
Rehearsals for the Nutcracker will start in September and take place every weekend until the Saturday Dec. 4 show.
Since Blanchard is donating all of her rehearsal time and studio space, the only cost incurred by each dancer is a $30 costume rental fee.
"But it is a serious commitment, obviously with time. Not just for the dancer but for the family as well It's not just the dancer that's committing but the family as well."
Anyone interested in more information on the Squamish Youth Ballet can contact Blanchard at [email protected].
