Metro area holiday dance events
- Atlanta Ballet. "Nutcracker." Dec. 11-28. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays (except Dec. 25), 7:30 p.m. Fridays (except 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 26), 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays (except 2 p.m. only Dec. 28). Also: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 23 and 1 p.m. Dec. 24. $20-$121. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 855-285-8499, foxatltix.com or atlantaballet.com.
- Atlanta Dance Theatre. Combining a condensed version of "Babes in Toyland" with "The Nutcracker ā Land of Sweets." 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12-13, 2 p.m. Dec. 13 -14. $15.50-$23.50. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest Street, Roswell. adtshows.com.
- Callanwolde Dance Ensemble. "Nutcracker" excerpts. 7 p.m. Dec. 6; 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Dec. 7. $15. Decatur High School Performing Arts Center, 310 N. McDonough St., Decatur. 404-872-5338, callanwolde.org.
- The Georgia Ballet. "Nutcracker." 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 and 6. 1:30 p.m. Dec. 6 and 7. $15-$100. American Ballet Theatre soloist Sarah Lane (Natalie Portman's dance double in the film "Black Swan") will dance the Sugar Plum Fairy, partnered by her husband, Luis Ribagorda. Dec. 5 VIP ticket package includes a private reception with Lane and Ribagorda. Local celebrities will appear in a charity performance at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, Cobb Civic Center, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. 770-528-0881, georgiaballet.org.
- Gwinnett Ballet Theatre. "The Nutcracker." 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 2:30 and 7:30 Dec. 20, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 21. $18-$35. Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. 1-888-929-7849, gwinnettcenter.com. Predrag Gosta will conduct a live professional orchestra for the second and third weekends. A sensory-friendly "Nutcracker" in partnership with the Hirsch Academy will be staged 11:45 a.m. Dec. 5. 770-237-0046, gwinnettballet.org.
- North Atlanta Dance Theatre. "The Nutcracker." 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 7. $12-$24. Blessed Trinity Fine Arts Theater, 11320 Woodstock Road, Roswell. Tickets available at the door or call 770-772-8000.
- Metropolitan Ballet Theatre. "Nutcracker." 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 20, 2 and 6 p.m. Dec. 21. Blessed Trinity High School, 11320 Woodstock Road, Roswell. $20-$35. 678-297-2800, metropolitanballet.org.
- Roswell Dance Theatre. "Nutcracker." 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 and 6, 10 a.m. Dec. 6, 2 p.m. Dec. 7. $15-$60. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. 855-222-2849, tututix.com. Performers range in age from 1 to 80, including students from the Tolbert-Yilmaz School of Dance.
- Sugarloaf Ballet. "Nutcracker Excerpts." 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10. $12-$15. Also: "Nativity Ballet." 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11. Free. Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. 770-476-0025.
It was 10 degrees and snowing in Montreal last February, and Kiara Felder was walking from an audition for a large ballet company. Her two-year apprenticeship with Atlanta Ballet was drawing to a close. Sheād hoped to join the Southern troupe, but hadnāt heard anything. Felder had to be realistic.
Then her phone rang.
It was Artistic Director John McFall, with a āheads upā that soon sheād receive an official invitation to join Atlanta Ballet.
Felder felt as if a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. āYouāve made it,ā she thought. The conservatories, the scholarships and the auditions were all worth it.
āI skipped a little, through the snow.ā
But the prospect was daunting. āFrom here, you have to keep going up and up.ā
When Atlanta Balletās āNutcrackerā makes its annual run at the Fox Theatre beginning Dec. 11, Felder will debut in two featured roles: the child heroine, Marya, and the sultry Arabian dancer.
Itās a step up for Felder within the balletās tiered system of roles that challenge dancers at successive levels. Like Felder, dancers across the metro area are rising from angels to party children, soldiers to flowers, and Dew Drops to Sugar Plum Fairies. Students in Atlanta Balletās Pre-Professional Division will take on a new Chinese variation.
Felder has the technical strength for both roles, but they require a different kind of confidence and risk. She must draw contrasting characters from her personality and, through her expressiveness, connect with an audience.
Felder and company veteran John Welker are one of five couples dancing the Arabian pas de deux. In a full cast rehearsal, they are spread across the large studio, finessing choreography to suit their individual styles.
Felder is all energy and focus, thin and muscular in ballerina pink with tights cut mid-thigh.
Sheās a quick study, as Welker guides Felder in the physics of partnering ā when to initiate a lift and where to press against him for support; which muscles to engage and which ones to release. The real challenge comes when Ballet Mistress Dale Shields coaches Felder on mood and intention.
Dancing to mysterious tones of woodwinds and strings, Felder travels across the floor with tiny, fast steps on point.
āMake sure the legs are rippling like water,ā Shields says. āDonāt bang your toes into the floor.ā
Dancer Tara Lee demonstrates, softening the knees to create a smooth, āsnakyā feel. She shows Felder how to draw movement out with a sense of tension and resistance.
āItās alluring,ā Shields says. āEvery step is a seduction.ā
Outside of rehearsal, Felder has a bubbly personality, more like Marya. āIām definitely more confident being fast, and jumping and turning ⦠and bright character,ā she said.
Felder moves and speaks in fluid spurts, and seems to have lots of āfast-twitchā muscle fibers, like a sprinter. At 22, sheās not sultry at all; sheās had little time for boyfriends since she became serious about a ballet career six years ago.
As early as age 9, Felder began following her older sister Carmen through a progression of āNutcrackerā roles with the Carolina Ballet, where Carmen now dances. They often draw support from each other, since African-American women are still a rarity in the classical ballet world.
āIt can be kind of nerve-wracking and make you uncomfortable when you donāt really see people who look like you dancing onstage,ā Felder said.
She hasnāt encountered overt barriers; only mental ones. Felder and her sister encourage each other not to let peopleās opinions hold them back.
āEither people can judge or not judge ā itās fine,ā she said. āWeāre having our careers anyway.ā
At 16, Felder became āobsessedā with having a ballet career during a summer program with New York City Ballet dancers. She convinced her parents to let her finish high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts; Felder subsequently earned a scholarship to attend Pacific Northwest Ballet Schoolās Professional Division.
The environment was competitive, with about 30 girls āall hungry for the same thing,ā Felder said. In the two-year programās final months, she began to worry. Audition season was underway, and Felder had no leads. She took advice from a friend: Donāt try to blend in. Be yourself.
Soon after, Atlanta Ballet offered her an apprenticeship.
Shields explained why they chose Felder from among hundreds who audition each year. āPhysically, sheās beautiful ā her lines, her feet. She had the right look, right away, that we were looking for.ā
āHer technique is strong,ā Shields said. āWe wanted to see where she could go with that.ā
Shields said Felder has to let go or āopen upā in order to draw out her inner expressiveness. Finding both characters within her personality, and connecting with an audience, is a crucial step in Felderās artistic maturation, Shields said.
Unlike companies that breed cookie-cutter dancers, Atlanta Ballet develops artists as individuals. Some thrive in this atmosphere; for others, itās not a fit. As for Felderās future in this environment, Shields said, āHow she takes these next steps will determine that.ā
To Felder, it feels like time to prove herself again. Starting next week, Felder hopes that, whether sheās playing a bright-eyed youngster or mature temptress, sheāll convince the audience thatās who she really is. The process can be uncomfortable, she said. āBut Iām getting better at transforming where I am in my mind, just becoming the character.ā
Felder remembers a breakthrough last year, rehearsing the āNutcrackerā Snow scene. Ballet Mistress Sarah Hillmer advised her to ājust pretend,ā Felder recalled. āEven if youāre not feeling it, or if itās not true, you just kind of fake it, and you can convince people.ā
In the next run-through, Felder thought, āIām not going to āput onā a smile; Iām going to, in every way possible, show how much I love dancing. I thought about the things I love and tried to transform them, and become a really expressive dancing snowflake.ā
Afterward, Hillmer told Felder how much joy was evident in her dancing. āThat was when I realized,ā Felder said, āeven if itās the 90th time youāve done Snow, you have to find inspiration somewhere, and just go with that in the moment, and be present.ā
Kiara Felder is scheduled to perform as a Snowflake and as Sheperdess in Cast A, as Marya in Cast B and as Arabian dancer in Cast D. For details, visit: www.atlantaballet.com/tickets-performances/nutcracker
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