Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A.V.A. Ballet Theatre's Secret Garden

The spring gala season for A.V.A. Ballet Theatre opens with the classic children’s story, The Secret Garden, on April 9th and 10th at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. The A.V.A Ballet Theatre Orchestra will perform the illustrative score to this charming ballet. Choreographed by Alexander Van Alstyne, The Secret Garden is the story of a sickly and orphaned girl named Mary who goes to live with her paternal aunt’s husband, Archibald Craven. The solitary widower, still mourning the loss of his love, has not entered his wife’s once-beautiful garden since her death. With the help of a robin, Mary finds the key and entrance to this “secret” place. Mary and her new friends eventually bring the garden back to life. The beautiful transformation of the garden from near-death to life is a sign of the change in the sad and desperate lives of everyone in the family.

Professional dancers from Utah’s Ballet West will star in the lead rolls. The large cast includes many talented dancers from different ballet studios in the Reno area. The guest conductor is David Van Alstyne from Utah’s New American Symphony.

The Saturday April 9th performance will be held at 8pm and the Sunday April 10th performance will be at 2pm. Ticket prices for adults are from $25 to $40. Ticket prices for children 12 and under and seniors 65 and older are from $15 to $35. For tickets call the Pioneer Center at 775-686-6600 or on-line at pioneercenter.com. Box office hours are Monday through Friday 11am to 6pm.

A.V.A. Ballet Theatre is the resident ballet company of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. They are northern Nevada's largest company under the instruction of a professional faculty with years of performing experience in renowned metropolitan ballet and production companies across the United States and Europe.

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