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Show Colledge forms new ballet group By BETTY FOWLER A new dance company, The Utah Regional Ballet, has been organized with Jacqueline Price Colledge as its artistic director. Mrs. Colledge was the former artistic director of the Utah Youth Ballet. All members of the Utah Youth Ballet have opted to go with the new company. After auditions held recently there are 20 full-fledged company dancers and five auxiliary members comprising the new company. Betty Brady, chariman of the board of trustees, Utah Pageant of the Arts, expressed her congratulations to the newly formed ballet group. The search is now underway for a new artistic director of the Utah Youth Ballet, she said. The first major production by the Utah Regional Ballet will be "The Nutcracker" which will be presented Dec. 27, 28 and 29 at Timpview High School in Provo, as well as taking "The Nutcracker" on tour to Southern Utah State College. While Mrs. Colledge was artistic director of the Utah Youth Ballet, the company performed full-length productions of "The Nutcracker" and "Copellia," as well as 20 other ballets in the group's repertoire. Utah Regional Ballet is now working with a board of directors: William David Thompson, Bill Kirkpatrick, Larry Baum, Cindy Chipman Sumsion, JoAnn Brown and Valerie Kelson. Utah Youth Ballet has grown ana matured to the extent that they were, after an audition in Tacoma, Wash., accepted as a member of the Pacific Regional Ballet Association. Mrs. Colledge in working with the board of directors of the Pacific Regional Ballet was counseled, because of that company's past experience, to take the step that would allow the independence the company needed to broaden dance experiences, to contract tours, and participate in ballet festivals such as the Spoleto Festival in South Carolina. "This is an important and challenging venture, but it will allow us the freedom to do everything we've done in the past, as well as provide exciting new opportunities for the future," Mrs. Colledge said. "The dancers work hard, they sacrifice a lot to progress and perfect their talents. They deserve each and every positive opportunity we can give them." In expressing her appreciation to the Utah Pageant of the Arts Board and Guild, she said, "It was a wonderful experience working with members of the board of the Utah Pageant of the Arts who sponsored Utah Youth Ballet and especially the Pageant of the Arts Guild for the hours of time and effort spent on behalf of the Utah Youth Ballet." |