New Orleans Local
NORDC/NOBA Center for Dance Students in Holiday Performances
More than 200 participants of NOBA’s nationally award-winning
dance training programs to be featured in community production of The Nutcracker Suite
It’s that time of year again! This holiday season, bring the whole family to see local dance students showcase their talents in a community performance of The Nutcracker Suite. Performances will take place on Sunday, December 15, at 3 pm and 6 pm, at Dixon Hall, Tulane University. The production features participants of the NORDC/NOBA Center for Dance’s programs for youth and senior citizens, along with students of NOBA’s free after-school partnership programs with Wilson Charter School (Orleans Parish) and St. Jerome Church (Jefferson Parish). Tickets for The Nutcracker Suite are $5 per person and can be purchased by phone at 504-522-0996 or in-person at 935 Gravier Street, Suite 800, New Orleans, LA 70112.
The Nutcracker Suite brings together more than 200 youth and senior NORDC/NOBA Center for Dance students throughout the greater metropolitan area. The Center for Dance, a cultural community partnership between the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORDC) and the New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA), offers year-round, tuition-free dance programming to ages 6-80+ at NORDC centers. Each community center where classes are taught is assigned a part in The Nutcracker Suite (angels, mice, soldiers, etc.), and students learn choreography from their respective instructors during the fall. The student participants from each community center come together for the first time the day before the performance for production rehearsals at Tulane University.
Through the extraordinary generosity of Chevron, the production for the second year will feature new costumes. “Chevron believes that supporting the arts directly improves the quality of life in the Greater New Orleans area,” says Warner Williams, Vice President, Chevron North America Gulf of Mexico. “The arts create measurable value because of the economic benefits they generate. A community with a thriving arts sector also enables companies to attract talented professionals.”
Community Open Houses
In addition to The Nutcracker Suite performances, each after-school dance center will also host an open house for the community to celebrate the young dancers’ achievements. The students will perform dances learned throughout the semester, as well as excerpts from The Nutcracker Suite. The free open house performances will mark the culmination of weeks of ballet, tap, modern and hip-hop instruction. This fall, more than 400 students are receiving professional training tuition-free at partnership sites in three parishes (Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard).
The open houses will take place:
December 5, 2013, 6 p.m. – St. Jerome Church, 2402 33rd Street (Kenner)
December 6, 2013, 6 p.m. – Lyons NORDC Center, 624 Louisiana Avenue (Lower Garden District/Irish Channel)
December 9, 2013, 6 p.m. – Cut Off NORD Center, 6600 Belgrade Street (Westbank)
December 10, 2013, 6 p.m. – Behrman NORD Center, 2529 General Meyer Avenue (Algiers)
December 11, 2013, 6 p.m. – Treme NORDC Center, 900 N. Villere Street (Treme)
December 12, 2013, 6 p.m. – Joe W. Brown NORDC Center, 5601 Read Boulevard (New Orleans East)
December 18, 2013, 6 p.m. – Wilson Charter School, 3617 General Pershing (Broadmoor)
January 9, 2014, 6 p.m. – St. Bernard Parish at the Chalmette High School Cultural Arts Center, 1100 E. Judge Perez Drive (Chalmette)
About the Center for Dance
Founded in 1992, the NORDC/NOBA Center for Dance was born out of a need to make high-quality, professional dance training accessible to all school-aged children. A program that began with just 30 students at the Behrman NORDC Center now boasts an enrollment of more than 400 children per semester at nine sites citywide. Through expanded partnerships that include schools, churches and community centers, NOBA and its collaborators have provided more than 40,000 free dance classes to over 13,000 children. With a core curriculum of ballet, modern, tap and hip hop, classes are open to any child with a demonstrated interest in dance. The Pre-Professional Program, open by audition to youth ages 8+, provides more intensive training classes taught by world renowned dancers through the Chevron Master Artist Series; internships; scholarships to study at national, prestigious summer programs; and other unique opportunities. These students annually receive invitations to perform throughout the community and have also appeared on regional and national stages like New York City’s Joyce Theater, Kennedy Center and Jacob’s Pillow dance festival.
Currently celebrating its 44th Season, NOBA is the Central Gulf region’s premiere presenting and service organization dedicated solely to the art of dance. Each year, NOBA provides concerts, classes, workshops and lectures to more than 30,000 area dance enthusiasts of all ages. NOBA’s dynamic Main Stage season annually features a diverse array of world-class companies and artists, and its nationally recognized, award-winning education programs provide the community access to over 5,000 quality classes, performances, and workshops, more than 95% of which are free.
For more information about NOBA’s community dance programs, visit www.NOBAdance.com or call 504-522-0996.
About the New Orleans Ballet Association
NOBA is the Central Gulf region’s premiere presenting and service organization dedicated solely to the art of dance. NOBA’s dynamic Main Stage season annually features a diverse array of world-class companies and artists. Each year NOBA provides concerts, classes, workshops and lectures to more than 25,000 area dance enthusiasts of all ages. In addition, NOBA’s nationally recognized award-winning education programs provide the youth of our community access to quality arts programs with over 3,000 free dance classes and workshops annually at ten sites throughout the Greater New Orleans area.
NOBA is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and the NEA, a Federal agency; a Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans, and is administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans (ACNO); a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and is administered through ACNO.
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