Panama City Ballet Rehearses Nutcracker 2 of 3

Local Talent Takes Center Stage: Panama City Ballet Presents The Nutcracker with 130 Dazzling Dancers and a Vision for Community Arts
November 21, 2023
by Bonnie Thompson

PANAMA CITY, FL - Get ready for a special treat this December as the Panama City Ballet will be performing The Nutcracker Ballet using all local talent for the first time ever! This will involve 11 local dance studios and 130 local dancers. Before Hurricane Michael destroyed the Civic Center and the Martin Theater, dance companies such as the Russian Ballet or the Northwest Florida Ballet would come into town during the Christmas season, and use only a handful of local dancers to perform the Nutcracker.

Tiffany Swan, formerly with the Southeast Alabama Dance Company in Dothan, formed the Panama City Ballet for the production of The Nutcracker and is directing this performance. Her background is in Classical Ballet, but it's her exuberant, positive style of directing that really gets this show off the ground. Tiffany has created something that will become a Panama City tradition for years to come allowing local dancers the opportunity to perform in a professional production each year.

The goals of this production are two fold; to share the arts with the community and schools, and to let our local leaders know that there is still a need for a venue for the arts. Pulling together dancers from so many studios with distinctive training has had its challenges and rewards. Three local studios are lending space for the rehearsals; Panama City Dance Academy, Tonie’s Dance Workshop, and Studio A.

The Panama City Ballet will be performing the Nutcracker on December 8th, 9th and 10th at Arnold High School auditorium. If the evening performances are sold out, they will add a matinee performance on Saturday, December 9th. All performances are targeted to an audience of at least five years of age as it is a two hour ballet.

The little ones however, are not to be left out, and are encouraged to attend the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea Party on December 2nd from 12pm-2pm at the FSU Holley Center. This will include a mini performance and a meet and greet with the Sugar Plum Fairy and other characters.

Additionally, people in assisted living homes, who normally do not have such opportunities, are being invited to the last dress rehearsal for free on Thursday, December 7th.

An important aspect of this production is to partner with local education in sharing the arts. A special performance Friday morning, December 8th, is being given for second graders from five local elementary schools. Bay District Schools is providing the buses for transportation and sponsors such as Tonie’s Dance Work Shop will cover the cost of the tickets for these students. Other schools are welcome to attend and can contact Panama City Ballet for tickets.

Additionally, Panama City Ballet will be visiting these five schools performing demonstrations of segments of the ballet starting the first week after Thanksgiving to encourage the arts in education.

To get your tickets to this spectacular event, visit PanamCityBallet.com or find them on Facebook. Please come out and enjoy yourself while supporting the arts in our community and our schools as well as our local dance studios.
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