The DanceVision Performance Company presents its holiday ballet, “The Snow Queen,” at the College of New Jersey’s Kendall Hall Theater on Saturday, December 14, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 15, at 2 p.m. There are more than 70 performers and 140 original costumes. The lead role of the Snow Queen will be performed by Jillian Davis, a former member of the DanceVision Performance Company and alumna of Princeton Dance and Theater Studio’s Conservatory Program.
“It is always gratifying to see our students succeed in the professional world,” says Risa Kaplowitz, DanceVision’s artistic director and a West Windsor resident. “Jillian was a fierce and beautiful Dark Angel in our production of ‘The Secret Garden,’ and I believe that she will make the quintessential Snow Queen.”
After graduating from PDT and DanceVision, Davis studied on full scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet in its professional division, and at Alonzo King LINES Ballet. She has worked with companies in San Francisco and New York, including Labayen Dance/SF, Blue Scorpion Dance Theater, and Ballet Neo, as well as for the choreographer Alexander Tressor.
“Through my experiences with DanceVision, I was more than prepared for the professional world that I am in now,” she says. “All of the dancers are expected to work at a professional level, respecting each other, learning the choreography, putting their own voice into the steps, and making the extra effort to make the ballet work.”
The Snow Queen premiered in December, 2011, as a holiday ballet alternative to the Nutcracker. “This thrilling and beautiful ballet tells the tale of a young girl’s courageous journey to rescue her beloved friend from the beautiful, yet evil Snow Queen,” says Kaplowitz.
Based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen story, the ballet is performed to an original score that includes music by Rimsky-Korsakov and Edvard Grieg. In addition to the music and choreography, “The Snow Queen” features projection artwork by Dave Haneman of Plainsboro as its backdrop. Through this technique, the audience is carried on a journey with the characters as they dance from the lively Scandinavian village square to the Snow Queen’s frigid ice castle.
The Snow Queen, DanceVision, Kendall Hall, College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing. Saturday, December 14, 7 p.m.; and Sunday, December 15, 2 p.m. $25. 609-771-2775. www.dancevisionNJ.org.
