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Ballet Dance Family-Friendly

ENGAGE DANCE THEATRE brings dazzling production of “THE NUTCRACKER” to Life!

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL – Raue Center For The Arts is pleased to welcome Engage Dance Theatre for a co-production as they present “The Nutcracker” on December 16 and 17, 2023 at 1 p.m. and 5 pm with a special sensory-friendly performance on December 20 at 6 pm. 

 

“From dancing to acting and even tumbling, Engage’s ‘Nutcracker’ has something for everyone! This year, the production includes the addition of several new elements to keep the show fresh and exciting for our audience,” says Courtney Petrocci, Artistic Director of Engage Dance Theatre. “As Milwaukee Ballet company prepares for a brand new Nutcracker of their own this year, we have gratefully purchased multiple costumes and stage sets from their previous production, designed by Zak Brown. These additions will continue to take our production to new heights with its professionalism and majesty.”  Engage Dance Theatre’s ‘The Nutcracker’ is an annual holiday tradition at Raue Center, featuring guest artist Elijah Richardson (one of Dance Magazines 2022 top 25 dancers to watch) as Arabian and Spanish Cavalier, guest artist Annia Hidalgo (former leading Artist Milwaukee Ballet) as Sugar Plum and Pedro Lapetra Miñana (former dancer with English National Ballet) as Cavalier. ,” says Courtney Petrocci, Artistic Director of Engage Dance Theatre.

 

Join Clara at her annual Christmas Eve party at the Staulbaum house enjoying a night full of celebration, dancing, and magic! As the party comes to a close Clara sneaks downstairs to find her precious new Nutcracker doll and falls asleep dreaming of her wonderful evening. She is startled awake by a group of mischievous mice and taken on an exciting journey with Drosselmeyer and her precious Nutcracker. Battling a life-size mouse Queen, slipping & sliding with snowmen & dazzling Snow Queen, and then flying off on an enchanted crystal sleigh to meet the Queen of the Angels and her herald of Angles at the gates of the Land of Sweets. Spanish Chocolate, Arabian Coffee, Chinese Tea, Russian Taffy, Marzipan Candy, Merry & her sweet Mini Mints, Dew Drop with her carousel of flowers, and the elegant Sugar Plum Fairy & her Cavalier all dance for Clara in an adventure not to be missed this holiday season! 

 

Audience members will be moved to leap from their seats to battle the Mouse Queen and her horde of mice, have a snowball fight alongside Clara and a family of snowmen in the Land of Snow and Ice, and, of course, dance along with the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

 

This beautifully reimagined production of “The Nutcracker” features over 100 performers, as well as guest artists from renowned dance and theatre companies throughout the United States. 

 

The new sensory-friendly performance will be a special one-hour presentation of the Nutcracker with open seating in a reduced house size with softer lighting and sound effects, to support a comfortable sensory-friendly experience. Please call Engage for further details and help answer any questions regarding this inclusive performance.

 

Performance times are 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on December 16th and 17th. Tickets are $30 ( $18 for students 17 and under and Seniors). Tickets for the sensory-friendly performance are $20 ($15 for students). Tickets can be purchased online at rauecenter.org or via the Box Office at 815.356.9212 or at 26 N. Williams Street in downtown Crystal Lake. 

 

About Engage Dance Theatre 

Engage Dance Academy is a premiere dance academy owned & operated by Courtney & Marc Petrucci, former professional dancers at the Milwaukee Ballet, bringing professional caliber dance training to McHenry County for dancers ages 18 months-Adult. Engage is a triple-track dance studio offering dance classes for all levels; Engage Dance Theatre, a year-round pre-professional dance company for the more serious dancers ages 5-18, training includes partnering classes with professional dancers from the Milwaukee Ballet and three performances a year including a full-length production of The Nutcracker; an award-winning competition team for those dancers looking to compete in Chicago based competitions; and an Open Division for dancers looking for a wide variety of weekly classes ranging from baby ballet, jazz, hip hop, and Aerial Silks & Tumbling. 

 

About Raue Center For The Arts

Raue Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of all through the arts. For 20 years, they have provided quality programming – striving to make it pertinent, available, and affordable to all. As a painstakingly restored, 1920s regional showcase theatre named for its benefactor—Lucile Raue—Raue Center has attracted the finest stars, Broadway shows, musicians and artists. Named on the League of Historic American Theatres, Raue Center is one of the finest examples of restored art and decor in the nation. The 750-seat theatre, located in historic downtown Crystal Lake, Illinois, is a gathering place for our region’s citizens and has become a true destination. 

 

For additional information, visit rauecenter.org, facebook.com/RaueCenter, and twitter.com/RaueCenter. 

Ballet Dance News

Engage Dance Theatre Looks Back on Nutcracker

Photographer Ron McKinney Photography
Solo dancer: Allyson Schmitt-Vallejo, Sugar Plum Fairy

Looking back on Nutcracker, co-produced by Engage Dance and Raue Center For The Arts.

Engage Dance Theater partnered with Raue Center for a holiday tradition and family favorite this past Christmas. The Nutcracker features Clara at her annual Christmas Eve party at the Staulbaum house enjoying a night full of celebration, dancing, and magic! As the party comes to a close Clara sneaks downstairs to find her precious new Nutcracker doll and falls asleep dreaming of her wonderful evening. Clara, startled awake by a group of mischievous mice, takes on an exciting journey with Drosselmeyer and her precious Nutcracker.

Battling a life-size mouse Queen, slipping & sliding with snowmen & dazzling Snow Queen, and then flying off on an enchanted crystal sleigh to meet the Queen of the Angels, Clara visits the Land of Sweets in an adventure not to be missed this holiday season!

The Nutcracker was co-produced by Engage Dance Academy and Raue Center For The Arts.

ABOUT ENGAGE DANCE

Engage Dance Academy is a premier dance academy owned & operated by Courtney & Marc Petrocci, former professional dancers at the Milwaukee Ballet. Bringing professional caliber dance training to McHenry County for dancers ages 18 months-Adult. Engage is a triple track dance studio offering dance classes for all levels; Engage Dance Theatre, a year-round pre-professional dance company for the more serious dancer ages 5-18 with three performances a year including a full-length production of The Nutcracker; an award-winning competition team for those dancers looking to compete in Chicago based competitions; and an Open Division for dancers looking for a wide variety of weekly classes ranging from baby ballet, jazz, hip hop, and Aerial Silks & Tumbling. For more info visit engagedanceacademy.com

Photographer Ron McKinney Photography
End of Clara’s journey with all of her new friends from the Land of Sweets, including the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

Ballet Dance

ENGAGE DANCE BRINGS BACK THE NUTCRACKER

Engage Dance Theatre, a year-round pre-professional dance company in Crystal Lake for ages 5-18 produces three performances a year including a full-length co-production of The Nutcracker with Raue Center For The Arts. The Nutcracker will appear at Raue Center for a limited engagement on November 18 & 19 with performances at 1 pm and 5 pm. 

Join Clara at her annual Christmas Eve party at the Staulbaum house enjoying a night full of celebration, dancing and magic! As the party comes to a close Clara sneaks downstairs to find her precious new Nutcracker doll and falls asleep dreaming of her wonderful evening. She is startled awake by a group of mischievous mice and taken on an exciting journey with Drosselmeyer and her precious Nutcracker. Battling a life-size mouse Queen, slipping & sliding with snowmen & dazzling Snow Queen, and then flying off on an enchanted crystal sleigh to meet the Queen of the Angels and her herald of Angles at the gates of the Land of Sweets. Spanish Chocolate, Arabian Coffee, Chinese Tea, Russian Taffy, Marzipan Candy, Merry & her sweet Mini Mints, Dew Drop with her carousel of flowers, and the elegant Sugar Plum Fairy & her Cavalier all dance for Clara in an adventure not to be missed this holiday season!

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be the new dance company in residence with this cornerstone nonprofit. The Raue Center for the Arts provides for our Engage Dance Academy young artists a state of art performance space and access to industry professionals whose expertise has benefited our performances in the past,” says co-owner Courtney Petrocci. “Looking to the future we see this as an opportunity for both organizations to grow & produce great theatre & dance for the local & greater northern Illinois arts community.”

Engage Dance Academy is a premier dance academy owned & operated by Courtney & Marc Petrocci, former professional dancers at the Milwaukee Ballet. Bringing professional caliber dance training to Mchenry County for dancers ages 18 months-Adult. Engage is a triple-track dance studio offering dance classes for all levels. Engage Dance Theatre also hosts an award-winning competition team for those dancers looking to compete in Chicago-based competitions; and an Open Division for dancers looking for a wide variety of weekly classes ranging from baby ballet, jazz, hip hop, and Aerial Silks & Tumbling.  

For more information visit engagedanceacademy.com 

About Raue Center For The Arts

Raue Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of all through the arts. For 20 years, they have provided quality programming – striving to make it pertinent, available, and affordable to all. As a painstakingly restored, 1920s regional showcase theatre named for its benefactor—Lucile Raue—Raue Center has attracted the finest stars, Broadway shows, musicians and artists. Named on the League of Historic American Theatres, Raue Center is one of the finest examples of restored art and decor in the nation. The 750-seat theatre, located in historic downtown Crystal Lake, Illinois, is a gathering place for our region’s citizens and has become a true destination. 

For additional information, visit rauecenter.org or call the Box Office at 815.356.9212.

Ballet Classes Dance News

Engage Dance Theatre: Building on Trust and Growing with Optimism

Written by Anne Dyson

Having heard from a few Crystal Lake dance families who were excited about the recent studio expansion of Engage Dance Academy, I decided to stop by 5186 Northwest Highway and check-in with co-owners, Courtney Kramer Petrocci and Marc Petrocci. It was sunny outside and even sunnier inside.

 

When asked to describe the new space, Marc’s enthusiasm was evident.

“It’s a dream come true for us. The new 1400 sq. foot studio space is huge and bright so our dancers can push themselves to greater heights with improved stamina. As professional ballet dancers and teachers, we knew it was paramount that we install a superior quality floor. Our industry-leading Harlequin floor helps the dancers reach lofty goals while being protected against injury. In addition to the new dance space, we now have two extra bathrooms and a cross-training area. This new studio is a dream dance space for any professional dancer or student.”

 

Courtney emphasized that it was important for Engage to grow but they wanted to do it in a space that really benefited their students and instructors. When COVID hit, they thought this dream would have to go on the back burner until the distant future. However, that future is now and, not only has the school remained open, it is flourishing and expanding. Courtney described this journey of hard work as – “building on trust and growing with optimism.”  Both Marc and Courtney agree Engage Dance Academy would not be the strong organization it is today without its tremendously talented, flexible, and respectful Staff. 

Piloting through COVID and Zoom classes last year, without canceling a single one, and now back in studio still traversing through the ever-changing environment had to be challenging. Staying up to date with the latest CDC guidelines and providing their dance families with complete transparency about Engage policies has been key to earning and keeping family support. I asked about feedback from their family group.  Marc replied “Our families have trusted us to continue to teach, nurture and inspire their dancers through such an uncertain time, and our whole staff has worked tirelessly to continue to earn that confidence each day. The comment we hear all the time from both dancers and parents are ‘thank you’ for the consistency we have provided. In a time of uncertainty, the dance world remained- regular classes, successful performance and progression in their technical growth and love of dance.” 

 

With new space comes new opportunities. Courtney explained “With four gorgeous studios Engage has the ability to increase class offerings and still hold strong to our belief of smaller class sizes for maximum one on one attention. We are able to run multiple classes at once starting with a Baby Ballet at 9 am on weekdays & weekends through our most advanced students ending at 9:30 pm seven days a week. We have dance class times that fit different family schedules making us a studio for everyone.”

Engage Dance Academy prides itself on being a triple-track studio focusing on the wants and needs of all lovers of dance. Engage Dance Theatre, their pre-professional dance company performs three dance concerts a year including their enchanting holiday tradition The Nutcracker and features partnering classes with professionals from Milwaukee Ballet. Engage Comp Crew is their award-winning competition team.  Their Open Division Program allows dancers, ages 18month – adults, to pick and choose from many unique offerings including K-Pop and Aerial Silks without a huge time commitment. 

 

Marc and Courtney expressed how Engage would not be expanding today without the love and support of the Engage Dance Families. It was great to hear about a local business growing with optimism through yet another wave of this pandemic.

 

Engage is currently taking fall enrollment and will be holding open auditions for their annual Nutcracker held at the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake. For more information go to engagedanceacademy.com or call (815)477-0033. 

 

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