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Blink and you might miss them. But that doesn’t mean they’re gone for good.
For the rising stars of Pacific Festival Ballet in this year’s “The Nutcracker,” the chance to perform in the annual holiday favorite is just a brief spin through what can only be described as a meteoric ascent to dance world heights.
Take Justin deVera, who dances this year in the role of the Rat King. A senior at Newbury Park High School, deVera’s star has been shining brightly for several years now. In 2006 alone, deVera was both a member of the Los Angeles Sparks TROOP dancers — a coed, multi-talented youth performance team — and the winner of “Dance Revolution,” NBC’s ratings-topping dance competition.
Then there’s Mariah Murphy, a junior at Thousand Oaks High School, who was deVera’s winning dance partner for the television competition. Murphy will join deVera once again on stage this year when she dazzles audiences as the Christmas Tree Star in “The Nutcracker.”
Danielle Snyder and Alyssa Alkoby, two other “Dance Revolution” finalists, will also sparkle in “The Nutcracker.” Both are sophomores at Oak Park High School, and both share the role of the enchanted Clara (with Snyder in the Saturday cast performance, and Alkoby in the Sunday cast performance). If the girls’ performance in the television dance competition is any indication, these Claras promise to charm and delight this holiday season.
From television to Broadway, across the country and around the world, Pacific Festival Ballet turns out dancers who give commanding performances on every stage on which they set foot.
Hogan Fulton is yet another example. Taking time off from a rigorous rehearsal schedule that began earlier this year in Sydney, Australia (Fulton was chosen from among thousands of young men to star in the title role in the upcoming Broadway début of “Billy Elliot”), the Redwood Middle School seventh grader will step into the role of The Captain — a part specially created for him by Pacific Festival Ballet Artistic Director Kim Maselli. “Hogan has trained with us for many years, and we’re so glad to have him back home for ‘The Nutcracker’ this season,” said Lori Sorensen, the company’s administrative director.
Finding great talent for the company’s bi-annual performances (Pacific Festival Ballet will perform “Peter Pan” in May, 2008) is never a challenge. In fact, in addition to its own rising stars, the company regularly attracts luminaries from across the dance world who step in as guest artists.
One such dancer, David Palmer, a former Joffrey and San Francisco Ballet company member, will perform the leading male role of the Cavalier with his Sugar Plum Fairy Stephanie Walz, a former American Ballet Theatre company dancer.
“Our challenge is never who will we find to dance this or that role,” Maselli said. “It’s always a process of selecting from so many talented dancers — both within California Dance Theatre [Pacific Festival Ballet’s training school], and from guest artists from other professional companies. It’s kind of a nice problem to have.”
Pacific Festival Ballet, resident ballet company of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Countrywide Performing Arts Center, ushers in the 2007 holiday season with a star-studded welcome from its newly revised “The Nutcracker,” on stage at the Fred Kavli Theatre December 15 and 16, 2007. Tickets are available by calling (805) 449-ARTS. More information can be found online, at http://californiadancetheatre.com, or on the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza website: www.toaks.org.
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