Pasadena Civic Ballet will bring the magic of Cinderella and her glass slippers to the stage this weekend, June 11 and 12, where the “storybook pages of the classic fairytale come to life.”
Britanny Cavaco, of the English National Ballet and Los Angeles Ballet, plays the role of Fairy Godmother as the ballet’s guest artist.
“It will be our first return to an actual indoor stage venue. We’ll be at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, and we are elated to be back in the theater. You can feel the euphoria in the halls, the dancers are ready to return to their home. So it’s a very magical performance,” said Zoe Vidalakis, Pasadena Civic Ballet co-Artistic Director.
Although COVID forced ballet companies to go virtual or shut down classes for the better part of the past two years, PCB was very active during COVID and hadn’t really stopped performing.
“We had over 45 live performances, following all safety COVID protocols. We did 12 Nutcracker record performances at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse. We rented the parking lot and erected an outdoor stage. We then had tea boxes as a guest entered into the lot.”
“They enjoyed tea with some live music that was piped into the vehicles and the cars were parked in the round,” Vidalakis said. “We did 12 sold-out performances of ‘Nutcracker’ in that manner. We were actually the only live ‘Nutcracker’ in all of Southern California, and we were very fortunate because all professional companies were not hosting any kind of productions.”
The shows featured world acclaimed Petra Conti and her husband Eris Nezha, who played the Sugar Plum and the Cavalier, respectively.
The PCB also performed “The Wizard of Oz” 12 times in February with the same arrangement at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, as well as “Giselle,” for which Petra Conti is famous, with a 35-piece orchestra.
“So we were very, very active during COVID,” Vidalakis said. “We did it safely, but we were pivoting so much that our heads were spinning, but it was really important to continue the arts and to give audiences something to look forward to.”
After COVID restrictions were imposed in early 2020, the ballet closed down for two weeks, but then continued classes on Zoom as a pre-professional dance school, erecting two outdoor dance pavilions with raised floors and adequate tenting so they could hold classes outside, Vidalakis said.
“We really tried our best to continue to provide instruction and basically some salvation to these kids because they were already on Zoom,” Vidalakis continued. “We really felt that it was important for their mind, their body, their soul, and just their whole being during COVID to have a place to come safely and take class outside.”
“Cinderella” this weekend will be the Pasadena Civic Ballet’s first return to an actual indoor stage venue.
Formed in 1980 by Elly Charlotte Van-Dyke, the Pasadena Civic Ballet Company (PCB) is a not-for-profit organization of pre-professional and professional dancers. The Company has been directed by Diane De Franco Browne, Tania Grafos, and Zoe Vidalakis since 2000. They together bring over 50 years of dance training, choreography, and performance experience to the school.
The PCB dance faculty has an acclaimed reputation with backgrounds ranging from American Ballet Theater, Beijing Dance Theater, Joffrey Ballet, and Hungarian State Ballet. In addition, faculty members have collaborated with and performed works by renowned choreographers including George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Twyla Tharp, Martha Graham, and Agnes De Mille.
For “Cinderella” this weekend, you can get your wishes granted and your fairytale experience extended by attending the Glass Slipper Tea before each matinee. You’ll Meet Cinderella and friends from the ballet, enjoy a delightful, catered tea, and photo ops with the characters. Glass Slipper Tea tickets sold separately.
You may also want to take home a little wishful magic with ballet gifts, accessories, handcrafted sweets, and mementos from Cinderella’s Boutique. Entry is included with the ballet ticket.
To reserve your tickets and for more information, visit www.pcballet.com/cinderella2022.
