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Show Friday, Nov. 19, 2010 Page 5 A&EDI'VerSiOlIS Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Ballet creates magic on stage By CHELSEE NIEBERGALL staff writer Extravagant costumes, colorful scenery and beautiful choreography have combined to make magic at the Nutcracker Ballet at the Ellen Eccles Theater for each of the past 29 holiday seasons. Cache Valley Civic Ballet (CVCB) will present the ballet for the 29th time Nov. 26, 27 and 29. "The Nutcracker has been in production for 60 years, starting in 1950, and we have been doing it for almost 30," said Sandra Emile, Cache Valley Civic Ballet's artistic director. The story of the Nutcracker starts when young Clara receives a toy nutcracker as gift. At night Clara sneaks out to the tree to visit her new gift. When the clock chimes midnight, the magic begins. Clara envisions a fantasy world where the Christmas tree and presents grow larger than life. With magical help from magicman Herr Drosselmeyer, the audience is taken along with Clara as she protects the Nutcracker Prince from the evil Mouse King, travels through a magical snow forest and visits the land of sweets. "The magic of the Nutcracker is the brilliant blend of costumes, sets and choreography that whisks you away into Clara's enchanting dream world filled with myriad surprises, enhanced by the most beloved and time-honored music of Tchaikovsky," said Debbie Eskelson, president of Cache Valley Civic Ballet. Eskelson said everyone should attend the ballet to experience the magic of the Nutcracker. She said the best part is to see the joy in the eyes of those who see the ballet. The Nutcracker is one of the most attended and easiest ballets to understand, Emile said. She also said all the cast members are local this year, which is rare. Usually CVCB has to bring in dancers from other parts of Utah to fill the roles. "We also have students and professors from USU involved with our production," she said. The Nutcracker will also have a live orchestra this year, directed by Dr. Mark Emile, a professor at USU. Becky Erickson, who dances the Sugar Plum Fairy, said the Nutcracker is a great ballet to see because it gets you in the holiday season and can be a great Christmas tradition. "Also, if boys want to win brownie points with their dates, bring them to the ballet. They will earn major points," Erickson said. To choose the dancers to be in the Nutcracker, CVCB holds auditions in August. The auditions are open to any serious dancers. The auditions consist of one hour, 20 minutes of bar and center work exercises. Selections are then made from those closed auditions Eskelson said. The chosen dancers start practicing for the Nutcracker in September. Company members are required to attend two or more technical ballet classes each week in addition to a strength training class. They also go to company rehearsals on Saturdays. MEMBERS OF THE CACHE VALLEY Civic Ballet, above, perform the snow scene in last year's performance of the Nutcracker. Below, Clara receives the Nutcracker in a scene from last year's performance. photos courtesy DEBBIE ESKELSON I See BALLET, page 6 Winter sports: knock down the front door It is one of those gut-check moments. You know the ones that I am talking about. It's the moment when your finger hovers over the button to call the girl you are crushing on. It's the moment when you are standing on top of the cliff looking 50 feet down to the water. It's the moment when you think about clicking that button that sends your application off to your dream professional school. It's like a moment when you step up to that climb that has a high likelihood of kicking your butt. Like I said, it's a gut-check moment. A lot could have brought you to this moment. Maybe Dusty's Trails it was goals or maybe it was peer pressure. It could have been pride or it could have been dreams. It doesn't matter what brought you here; what matters is what you decide to do next. Each gut-check moment is supplied with two doors: one in the front and another in the back, providing you with two options. Option one: You can sheepishly retreat through the back door, eyes lowered, tail between your legs, having decided that the risk is too great, your confidence too low and your fears too large. Option two: You can kick down the front door, knocking your fears and misgivings aside like bowling pins and SNOW IS ON its way, and winter sports are quickly coming to a start. Nash said some of these winter sports may include a gut-check moment in an individual's life. DUSTY NASH photo charge out ahead into whatever is waiting. I suppose there are pros and cons to each option. Option one neatly eliminates the chance of failure, but just as succinctly destroys any chance of success in the un-attempted endeavor. In order to bypass the possible shame, strains and struggles involved in a botched attempt, one must also circumvent the elation, ecstasy and the excitement that accompany a successful one. Option two, while holding higher risks, also promises greater rewards. When one charges out the front door, he does so fixed upon embracing whatever it is that lies on the other side, both the terrible and the terrific. So here I am, in one of those gut-check moments. For the last decade, I have counted myself among the ranks of the snowboarders. Since the age of 14, I have always chosen to strap myself to one big piece of plastic when I go to slide over frozen crystallized water. I have always thought myself happy there and never have seriously considered the option of converting to skis. One day, on impulse, I borrowed some skis from a friend and spent half a day taking my first turns. This first exposure was enough to spark a curiosity within me. Somehow, this curiosity solidified itself into a desire concrete enough that this fall at a ski swap, I walked away with a pair of skis. Within a couple of weeks, I had also purchased boots and poles. I now had everything I needed to ski. Well, almost everything. When Paul told me we should go follow some boot pack trails and then ski at Alta ski resort on Saturday, I envisioned finding a low grade bunny hill to match my low grade ski skills. I agreed, and that morning found Paul and me en route to a preseason ski session. Low grade bunny hill didn't even register on Paul's radar. After following a steep trail of boot tracks for almost two hours, I find myself high on a saddle of a mountain, a steep powder bowl directly below me. Paul has shrugged off my attempts to tell him that this is probably above my level, telling me that I will be fine. I take my pack off and set my skis in the snow, and then turn and look once again down the steep slope. I gaze back at the unfamiliar plastic pieces that lie there, looking back at me. I heft the poles in my hand and, with some trepidation and hesitation, step onto the bindings of the skis. As the click of the bindings reaches my ears, I close my eyes for a second. I See WINTER, page 7 |