Maine State Ballet's Nutcracker Sets Records at Merrill Auditorium

PORTLAND, Maine (November 19, 2002) ö Maine State Ballet marks its 20th anniversary this year with the perennial holiday favorite Nutcracker at Portland's Merrill Auditorium. The nationally acclaimed company estimates that more than 150,000 people have attended the more than 200 performances, a record for the Portland area.

Maine State Ballet's Christmas tree also holds a record. Towering 40 feet above the mouse battle below, the tree is the tallest ever on Merrill Auditorium's stage. Full-scale Nutcracker productions require a large number of dancers, many of them children; this year more than 200 Maine State Ballet dancers and students from the Maine State School for the Performing Arts will participate in one or more performances. With just the right combination of glitter and glow, Maine State Ballet hopes to set yet another record this year, this time for Most Holiday Cheer.

Artistic director Linda MacArthur Miele has danced in at least 500 Nutcracker performances with the New York City Ballet. At age 14, she was the youngest dancer ever to join George Balanchine's legendary company. Even earlier, as a 13-year-old NYCB apprentice, she danced in 50 performances at New York's Lincoln Center. With Maine State Ballet for 20 seasons, her Nutcracker tally now stands at more than 700 performances.

Janet Davis, Maine State Ballet's principal dancer and ballet mistress, has not missed a Nutcracker season in 20 years. Last year, though, her artistic contribution was strictly behind-the-scenes, as she was just weeks away from the birth of her first child, Emma Louise. This year, she makes a triumphant return to the Nutcracker cast, reprising her rendition of the ballet's principal role, the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Also performing is Davis' husband Glenn, who 15 years after graduating, still holds the Lewiston High School career record for most soccer goals scored. Now a principal dancer with Maine State Ballet, Davis' goals these days are to jump higher and spin faster as he reprises his role of the dashing Nutcracker Prince in Nutcracker at Portland's Merrill Auditorium.

Performances of the Nutcracker at The Merrill Auditorium will be held:
á Saturday, November 30: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
á Sunday, December 1: 1 p.m.
á Friday, December 6: 7 p.m.
á Saturday, December 7: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
á Sunday, December 8: 1 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased in advance for $10 - $35, and are available at the Merrill Auditorium box office or by calling PortTix at (207) 842-0800. Tickets may also be ordered online at www.porttix.com or www.mainestateballet.org.

Maine State Ballet, established in 1986, has fast become the leading professional dance company in the State of Maine. Working together, Maine State Ballet and the Maine State School for the Performing Arts encourages students to become active, intelligent young artists who will emerge as artistic leaders in their communities. Maine State Ballet embraces the highest artistic standards in the challenge to create a home for talented artists from the State of Maine.

In addition to its renown production of The Nutcracker, Maine State Ballet also has presented six spectacular full-length ballets: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cinderella, CoppŽlia, Don Quixote, Alice In Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty. The Ballet has also produced several charming one-act productions: Britten, Can-Can Parisienne, and Peter and the Wolf. Maine State Ballet Artistic Director Linda MacArthur Miele also has choreographed several contemporary pieces in the Balanchine style. Ms. Miele, a former student of George Balanchine and a member of the New York City Ballet, continues to develop Maine State Ballet's repertoire to include new full length productions and smaller pieces that showcase the company's growing number of talented dancers.

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