Girls in the Oxford Academy of Dance and Preforming Arts dream of one day being able to preform under the bright lights in cities around the world.
This December, four dancers from the Oxford Academy will get the opportunity to perform alongside the professionals from the Cincinnati Ballet Company when they showcase the Nutcracker Ballet at the Detroit Opera House.
The Nutcracker Ballet runs from Dec. 3 through Dec. 6, and tickets are avaialable through Ticketmaster or at the Opera House. The Opera House is located at 1526 Broadway St., Detroit, MI 48226.
Tickets range from $25 for an upper balcony seat to $72 for a box seat.
On Sept. 11, Madison Ashley, 11, Brooke Chapman, 12, Kayla Lipari, 10, and Andrea Pung, 16 went for a general audition for the Nutcracker. The following day each girl was informed that there would be a role for them in the production.
Lipari and Chapman will be the rifle and sword, Ashley will be the party boy, and Pung is a nurse mouse.
Students heard about the audition after one of the parents went on-line and found out about it.
‘I think that it’s a great experience and it’s a rare opportunity to be able to preform with a professional company,? said Nicole Jones, who instructs the girls at the Dance Academy.
Their weekends are filled with practices down at the Opera House as they prepare to dance under the bright lights for five performances over four days.
The girls will dance under the artistic direction of Victoria Morgan and musical direction of Carmon DeLeone.
‘The studio is very proud of the four girls for getting the parts,? said Oxford Dance Academy Owner Kati Clark. ‘We are very proud of them and they’re very dedicated dancers and we are happy that they will represent Oxford in a big production like this with the Cincinnatti Ballet.?