Local dancer turns Radio City Rockette

Inspired by movement, driven by dreams, Rockettes rehearse six days a week, six hours a day to get ready for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. As professional athletes, the dancers are expected to perfect their challenging routines with 35 other dancers. 

That means being in tip-top shape before hitting the stage. Abigail Gatlin, has been preparing her entire life for the opportunity to blend fitness, fashion and love of dance into an extraordinary dance performance that can only be realized in the stylized choreography of a Rockette. The Cleveland High School honor student began to study dance with Paula Duff Dance Studio during the summers. 

She studied at Ballet Magnificat in Jackson, Miss., at North Carolina School of the Arts and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. As a junior in high school Gatlin spent a week of training at a Rockette Summer Intensive in Houston for aspiring dancers. 

Acceptance into the training program is a crucial step in becoming a Rockette. Since the inception of the Summer Intensive in 2001, less than 60 dancers have gone through the program and gone on to become world-famous Rockettes.

Read more: Cleveland Daily Banner - Local dancer turns Radio City Rockette 

Buy your tickets to see the Radio City Rockettes perform live with the best tickets for the best prices from ClickTicket.com! http://clickticket.com/performer/radio-city-rockettes-tickets

And make sure to "like" & "share" to win the new iPhone 5 from ClickTicket.com! Remember that the competition ends December 30th- so enter to win today! http://clickticket.com/offers/click-to-win-iphone-5#offer

S.F. Ballet Reigns With Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky, rats, swords, tutus and all manner of fantasy regalia, onstage and off, reigned supreme last weekend as Nutcracker season began at the San Francisco Ballet and San Jose Ballet. San Francisco Ballet had a fine opening night Friday in this eighth season of Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson’s version, set in 1915 San Francisco, of the holiday classic. The cast was uniformly accomplished and generally enthusiastic. Frances Chung was a particular standout, however. Beautifully partnered by Davit Karapetyan in the Grand Pas de Deux, Chung, one of the company’s more recently anointed ballerinas, performed with a new confidence that showed in the warmth of her demeanor. Her speedy fouettes, as well as her willingness to risk everything in the climactic fish dive (it sounds better in French: temps de poisson) delighted the crowd.

But before all that, there’s the scene-setting, where you can almost smell the wintry chill in the streets, dispelled by the glowing houses on the hills, wherein party the well-mannered one per cent in all their holiday finery. At least at the Stahlbaums’ manse, there’s an old clockmaker, Uncle Drosselmeier (played by Damien Smith with pleasing craft and a twinkling eye), to shake things up a bit during the holiday rituals of socializing, flirting, dancing, and gift-giving. Thanks to Drosselmeier, dolls in Christmas boxes come to life (Lonnie Weeks, the clown; Clara Blanco, the soubrette; and Hansuke Yamamoto, the soldier).

Read more: http://www.sfcv.org/reviews/san-francisco-ballet/sf-ballet-reigns-with-nutcracker

Buy your tickets to the San Francisco Ballet today from ClickTicket.com! http://clickticket.com/performer/san-francisco-ballet-tickets

"Like" & "Share" to win the new iPhone 5 from ClickTicket.com! Competition ends December 30th! http://clickticket.com/offers/click-to-win-iphone-5#offer

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLQ7A49bWFwYBfOJXwsecuXk9m1YkjfCq5&amp;hl=en_US" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

NYC Ballet forges the art form's future

The following script is from "The New York City Ballet" which aired on Nov. 25, 2012. Lesley Stahl is the correspondent. Ruth Streeter and Terry Manning, producers.

The New York City Ballet is America's largest and, some would say, finest ballet company in the world. The dancers are like the New York Yankees in tutus and tights.

They are artists and athletes at the same time and it is a marvel to see them up close, as you will tonight. Most of them are home grown in the U.S.A.

Full disclosure: I am a big fan and even served on the board of the New York City Ballet, which was founded in 1948 by the great choreographer George Balanchine. He revolutionized classical dance and ushered in a golden age as ballet master of the company.

Now, at a time when many cultural institutions are under stress, we went behind the scenes to see how this company is keeping this elegant art form alive.

The dancers at the New York City Ballet epitomize the beauty, athleticism, the seeming effortlessness and the grace of classical ballet. Saving it from becoming a dying art form has fallen on the shoulders of this man, Peter Martins, ballet master in chief of the NYC Ballet since 1983.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57552076/nyc-ballet-forges-the-art-forms-future/

Buy your tickets to the New York City Ballet with the best tickets from ClickTicket.com! http://clickticket.com/performer/new-york-city-ballet-tickets

"Like" & "Share" to win the new iPhone 5 from ClickTicket.com! http://clickticket.com/offers/click-to-win-iphone-5#offer

A Pinch-Hitting Tenor and a Soprano’s Debut on a Trip to Old Egypt ‘Aida’ at Metropolitan Opera

For any opera house, scheduling Verdi’s “Aida” is a safe enough bet. The real danger lies in the casting. At the season premiere of Sonja Frisell’s handsome 1988 production for the Metropolitan Opera on Friday evening the company fielded a trio of soloists of impressive vocal power and stamina. For Liudmyla Monastyrska, who brought her voluptuous soprano to the title role, it was a triumphant house debut. For Carl Tanner, stepping in at the last minute for the ailing tenor Marco Berti, it was a felicitous return after his appearance in Puccini’s “Fanciulla del West” two years ago.

Ms. Frisell’s production, in use for almost a quarter century, is like a large, well-built but rudderless ship. While the absence of dramatic direction made for some static ensemble scenes, the combined fervor of Olga Borodina as Amneris and Fabio Luisi at the helm of a fired-up orchestra nevertheless made for an electrically charged and energetic performance.

From his demanding opening aria, “Celeste Aida,” Mr. Tanner left no doubt about his prowess, singing with a firm, generously sized voice and producing clarion top notes. His phrasing sometimes bordered on the formulaic, but his final duet with Ms. Monastyrska was tenderly delivered.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/arts/music/aida-at-metropolitan-opera.html?ref=metropolitanopera

Buy your tickets to the Metropolitan Opera from ClickTicket.com at: http://clickticket.com/performer/metropolitan-opera-tickets

"Like" to win the new iPhone 5 from ClickTicket.com! Read more: http://clickticket.com/offers/click-to-win-iphone-5#offer