A full list of cast members by town is included at the end of the release. The principals are not included in this list, their info is in the release.
Images are available at www.portlandballet.org/PB_Press/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2004

CONTACT:
GILLIAN BRITT 207-767-6488
gBritt P.R. & Marketing

VANNESSA BEYLAND/LESLIE GIBBONS 207-772-9671
Portland Ballet

PORTLAND, ME – The Portland Ballet Company (PBC) presents The Victorian Nutcracker, the company’s unique version of the traditional Christmas tale of sugarplums and fantasy, in late November and early December. Performances are scheduled for Sunday, November 28 at 2 p.m. at the Schaeffer Theatre, Bates College in Lewiston and in Portland’s Merrill Auditorium on Saturday, December 4 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 5 at 2 p.m.

The Victorian Nutcracker has young dancers from Fryeburg to Turner, Maine as well as from Dover and Conway Central, New Hampshire. In all, a cast of over 70 dancers will bring Victorian era Portland to life on the stage.

The principal dancers are:
Oliver Arana (Cavalier)
Originally from Peru, Arana has danced Principal Roles in many of the most well known classical and contemporary ballets including Ballet Municipal de Lima, Ballet Nacional de Caracas, Bay Ballet Theatre and Cincinnati Ballet. He appeared at the International Dance Festival in Tel Aviv, Festival Internacional Ibero Americano in Cuba and Gala de la Juventud de America in Venezuela. Arana has performed with Portland Ballet before, in Paquita .

Karen Hurll Montanaro (Sugar Plum Fairy) Casco, ME
Montanaro has been with the Portland Ballet since 1988 dancing numerous title roles, most recently appearing in PBC’s Pas de Quatre, Paquita and Summer Wind. Comfortable in both contemporary and classic works, she trained with the Joffrey Ballet and danced with Ohio Ballet and Darmstadt Opera Ballet in Germany. Her recent accolades include performing at The Celebration Barn Theater which was established by her late husband, famed mime Tony Montanaro.

Daielma Santos (Snow Princess, Arabian Coffee Princess) Portland, ME
Santos is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dancing in London and has extensive study in the Russian method from the College of Fine Arts at Western Michigan University. She has performed extensively in her homeland of Brazil and tours internationally with Fred Garbo in the Inflatable Theatre Company. Santos is currently a Principal dancer with Portland Ballet Company and the Director of C.O.R.P.S., the Portland School of Ballet's academic and performing arts high school program. She has performed and created various works which include her enthusiastically received Django, No Regrets, DreamBirds and Higashi. Santos has also choreographed three productions for PORTopera.

Tyler Sperry (Snow Prince, Mr. Morse, Russian Trepak) Portland, ME
Sperry is from Auburn, Maine. He has appeared in Carmina Burana, The Victorian Nutcracker, Portland Dances!, Capriccio 2003, and at Round Top Center for the Performing Arts. He has also danced in PORTopera’s productions of Faust and Lucia Di Lammermoor. Tyler is continuing his education at USM.

Derek Clifford (Mouse King, Arabian Sultan) Bath, ME
Clifford was born in Kailua, Hawaii and upon graduating from Northwestern University, moved to New York City. He danced in Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut from 1991-2000 in Brussels, New York, Edinburg and Berkeley. As a member of the New York Baroque Dance company, he danced at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and in the Gottingen Handel Festival production of Ariodante in Germany. Clifford has performed with PORTopera’s Faust and Lucia Di Lammermoor, and was featured in Portland Ballet’s Carmina Burana and The Victorian Nutcracker.

Nicole Getchell (Ribbon Candy) Standish, ME
Getchell is a graduate of Virginia Intermont College where she received her degree in dance. She then trained with Portland School of Ballet and Andrei Bossov in Waterville, while performing for both Bossov Ballet Theatre and Portland Ballet Company as a principal dancer. Her teaching skills have taken her to Encore Dance Center in Augusta, down to Steps in Florida, and back to Maine and the Portland School of Ballet where she now teaches. Her PBC performing credits include Degas, Bolero, Chopin Variations, Les Patineurs, Napoli, The Victorian Nutcracker, Higashi, Carmina Burana and Portland Dances!

John Saccone (Godfather) Pownell, ME
Saccone has an extensive history of performing with Portland Ballet including Cinderella, Don Quixote, Coppelia, Peter and the Wolf, L’Histoire du Soldat, and now again in The Victorian Nutcracker. He toured for several years with Tony Montanaro’s Celebration Theater Ensemble and currently performs and teaches with his wife Jackie Reifer. They are members of the Maine Arts Commission Artist Roster.

Elisa Sanchez Gerasin (Ribbon Candy, RoseBud) York, ME
Gerasin is originally from Mexico City. She has trained and performed extensively in Mexico, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine. She has performed with Portland Ballet as Carlotta Grisi in Pas De Quatre, in The Victorian Nutcracker as Spanish Chocolate and recently appeared with PBC at Round Top Center for the Performing Arts.

Vanessa Beyland (Mrs. Morse, Spanish Chocolate) Portland, ME
Beyland teaches and choreographs for Portland Ballet. Originally from Southern California, she studied all forms of dance before graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance. Beyland has worked with many independent choreographers throughout the country and as a member of Pennsylvania Dance Theater, she has performed in PA, NJ, NC, and NYC. She is currently Assistant to the Director of Portland Ballet and has also worked with Roundabout Theatre Company and the Jose Limon Dance Foundation. Since moving to Maine, some of Vanessa’s performances have included Lyric Music Theater in South Portland, the Capriccio Festival, Round Top Center in Damariscotta, the Portland Dances! choreographer’s showcase and Portland Ballet Company’s productions of Carmina Burana and The Victorian Nutcracker.

Nell Green (Sweetheart Rose, Spanish Chocolate) Portland, ME
Green is a Worcester, MA native and earned her B.F.A. in Dance Performance with High Honors form Butler University in Indianapolis, IN.  From there her professional performing career moved to Denver, CO where she worked with David Taylor Dance Theatre and Helander Dance Theater. Her teaching and choreography was put to use with the Bolder Moves Body Project and Dance Center. Green has performed and shown choreography in New York, Chicago, Boulder, Indianapolis and Tbilisi, The Republic of Georgia. Green danced most recently in Portland Ballet’s Carmina Burana and at Portland Dances!

Andrea Michaud Tracy (Ribon Candy, RoseBud) Augusta, ME
Tracy has been performing with Portland Ballet for over 12 years and has been Ballet Mistress at Kennebec Dance Centre in Augusta for over 5 years. She has attended School of American Ballet in NYC and has trained with Andrei Bossov since the age of 10. At the age of 13, Andrea went to Japan to compete in the 2^nd International Ballet Competition. She has performed lead and soloist roles in The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Cinderella, Carmen, Giselle, Bolero, Don Quixote, Le Corsair, and most recently PBC’s Carmina Burana.

With breathtaking sets and costumes, the sounds of the Portland Ballet Orchestra and the Victorian Festival Singers, this annual performance of "The Victorian Nutcracker" transports audiences to Victorian era Portland. Set in Portland’s landmark Victoria Mansion, the characters in this version of the Nutcracker include well-known Portland figures. Mayor James Phinney Baxter (seen as America’s first philanthropist/environmentalist), Ruggles Morse (the man who built the Victoria Mansion), J.B. Brown (known for his sugar refinery in Portland), and Hermann Kotzschmar (yes, the one the organ at Merrill Auditorium is named for) all take to the stage in this ballet.

The Portland Ballet Orchestra Conductor is Lawrence Golan. After receiving Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in music, Golan went on to establish himself as a professional musician - first as a violinist, then as a conductor. He has held positions of Principal Second Violinist with the Honolulu Symphony, Concertmaster of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and Music Director and Conductor of the University of Southern Maine Orchestra, the USM Chamber Orchestra, and the USM/Fleet Youth Ensembles. Currently, in addition to his duties as Director of the String Department for the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, he continues to conduct both the Atlantic Chamber Orchestra and the Portland Ballet Orchestra.

Mark Nordli, the Choral Director, is a teacher at Deering High School. Nordli directs the chorus and chamber singers and has been involved as an educator at the high school level for almost thirty years. Before the performance, The Victorian Nutcracker Festival Singers welcome audiences to Merrill Auditorium with their exciting acappella vocal music from Gregorian chants to motets by Durufle, Bach and Monteverdi.

Tickets for the Schaeffer Theatre performance in Lewiston are $14-18 and are available through Bull Moose Music and at the door the day of the performance. The performances at the Merrill Auditorium are $15-45 each and are available through PortTix, 842-0800 or by stopping in at the PortTix box office on Myrtle St. between noon and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday after October 6.

For more information about the company, the school and its performances, visit www.portlandballet.org.

# # #

The following dancers are members of the C.O.R.P.S. program, the Portland School of Ballet's academic and performing arts high school program. These dancers attend a minimum of 15 hours of class per week, in addition to the rehearsal time on the weekends.

Auburn - Maeghan Flynn; La Vivandiere; Snow Flakes; Waltz of the Flowers
Cape Elizabeth – Luke Tucker; Nutcracker Prince, Le Capitaine, Russian Trepak
Cumberland – Meghan Ewen; Snow Flakes, Waltz of the Flowers, Russian Trepak
Falmouth – Kelsey Parker; Governess, Spanish Chocolate, Chinese Tea
Freeport – Jamie Bourassa; Snow Flakes, Waltz of the Flowers, Chinese Tea, Angel
Portland – Molly Berry; Angel, Russian Trepak, Waltz of the Flowers
Portland - Sophia Gardner; Snow Flakes, Waltz of the Flowers, Spanish Chocolate
Portland – Whitney Harrison; Snow Flakes, Waltz of the Flowers, Russian Trepak
Portland – Andrea Haskell; Snow Flakes, Waltz of the Flowers, Chinese Tea
Portland – Alicia Pyle; Olivia
N. Yarmouth – Heather Guernsey; Snow Flakes, Waltz of the Flowers, Chinese Tea

Also appearing will be:
Maine:
Augusta
Renata Glusker; Court Herald
Kaitlyn Marks; Soldier

Bridgton
Danae Winkler; Court Herald

Cape Elizabeth
Hannah Bechard; Party Child
Chloe Tucker; Party Child

Casco
Quincy Dean-Slobod; Soldier

Cumberland
Carie Ewen; Party Child
Maddy Harris; Soldier
Helena McMonagle; Soldier

Falmouth
Adriana Fox; Baby Mouse, Court Herald
Megan Lamare; Soldier
Tina Pruyn; Mouse, Arabian Attendant

Freeport
Emily Martin; Soldier

Fryeburg
Kate Bickford; Party Child

Jefferson
Tressa Loiko; Soldier

Kennebunk
Sarah Carr; Sleigh Attendant; Chinese Dragon

Lewiston
Jaid Cherkis; Maid; Mouse
Ashton Plummer; Party Child
Melina Plummer; Polichinelle
Eden Weinstein; Party Child

Litchfield
Ashley Paradis; Solider
Stephanie Paradis; Polichinelle

Portland
Eleanor Altholz; Polichinelle
Bailey Baker-Kirwin; Captain of the Battalion
Emily Belanger; Court Herald
Rachel Friedman; Polichinelle
Sarah Gale; Sugar Doll
Lillian Garder; Soldier
Djuna Kendall; Soldier
Masha Krasnoff; Polichinelle
Valorie Lake; Mouse, Arabian Attendant
Abby Menard; Soldier
Jacob Morrow-Spitzer; Polichenelle, Jack-in-the-Box
Logan Rausch; Soldier
Noah Rausch; Party Child
Bridget Ruff; Sugar Doll
Megan Wright; Mouse, Angel, Arabian Attendant

Scarborough
Arianna Lawson; Soldier
Sarah Russell; Angel, Russian Trepak

South Portland
Kseniya Levina; Angel, Mouse
Lillian Pearlman; Arabian Attendant

Turner
Sarah Keniston; Mouse, Chinese Dragon
Vincent Ratsavong; Russian Trepak

Westbrook
Madison Drew; Soldier
Adrienne Evenson; Sleigh Attendant

Windham
Rachel Lloyd; Sugar Doll

Yarmouth
Emma Brightbill; Arabian Attendant, Mouse

New Hampshire:
Center Conway
Sarah Kravette; Mouse, Chinese Dragon
Joshua Kravette; Frank (Olivia’s Brother)
Aaron Kravette; Party Child

Dover, NH
Samantha Downing; Spanish Chocolate

Gillian Britt
gBritt P.R. & Marketing
PO Box 2134
South Portland, ME 04116
(207) 767-6488
(207) 767-6366 Fax