ON STAGE
‘The Nutcracker’ Returns to Loudoun Loudoun Ballet Performing Arts Company will bring a holiday tradition back to the stage with performances of the “The Nutcracker.”
Photo by Chas Sumser Photography
Loudun Ballet Performing Arts Celebrates Fifth Anniversary with fairy folklore and was performed in October.
BY JAN MERCKER
For the past 18 months, Lindsay Yee and her fellow dancers at Loudoun Ballet Performing Arts Company have been putting in countless hours of training with few opportunities for public performance. “We’re all so thankful that we’ve been safe and healthy throughout the pandemic. Our studio has worked so hard this whole time, and it’s really made us stronger,” Yee said. “We love performing so much, and when we don’t have live performances and live audiences, you don’t get the whole experience.” Yee, a senior at Heritage High School and the Academies of Loudoun, starred in LBPAC’s fall show—the company’s first live performance since the COVID pandemic hit. “Deep in the Forest” was an original ballet written and directed by LBPAC’s artistic director Maureen Miller and based on her childhood fascination 12
LBPAC is bringing back a live “Nutcracker” this year after releasing a modified film version last year because of COVID restrictions. The fulllength “Nutcracker” is scheduled for Dec. 3-5 at Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville. LBPAC returning to its pre-COVID practice of hiring professional male dancers to partner with the company’s dancers in key roles including the Cavalier, Nutcracker and Arabian Prince. LBPAC executive producer and founder Cherie Maroni said dance has been a lifeline for many of her young performers during the pandemic. And now it’s time to get them back on stage connecting with audiences. “They were so stoic through COVID. Dance is their life. It’s sort of one of the only things that they continued to have that was normal through COVID,” she said. “They pushed through and
GET OUT LOUDOUN
ON STAGE
13
NOVEMBER 2021
