Townsend Students Perform in the Nutcracker Ballet Performance
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Townsend Students Perform in the Nutcracker Ballet Performance
MT 43 News Staff Reporter
For many people, Christmas is not Christmas unless they attend the classic Nutcracker Ballet. Broadwater County families and ballet enthusiasts will especially enjoy this year’s Queen City Ballet Company performance on November 18 and 19 in Helena. Two Townsend Schools students, Louie Ella Parr of Winston and Camryn Harris of Townsend, will perform with the group.
During an interview at the dance studio in Helena, seventh grader Louie Ella, dressed in costume for the Spanish Dancers portion of the play, said she knew very early she wanted to be a ballet dancer. She had pointed to a picture in the paper. Her mom, Cassie, interpreted that as interest from the toddler. Louie Ella has been dancing for ten years. She will perform in the Spanish Corps, the Chinese Corps and will be a soldier and a snowflake in this year’s performance.
The dance schedule is grueling for the two advanced students who are out-of-towners: they practice 5 to 7 days a week from 3:30 p.m. to 830 p.m. Practice performances take place on weekends.
What are the hardest parts of ballet dancing? “Blisters and being frustrated because I can’t get the steps right,” Louie Ella admitted.
What she loves about dance is the friends she makes, the feeling of accomplishment and getting to wear those beautiful costumes. She has been “on point” (dancing in toe shoes), for almost a year.
Even though she is a dedicated ballet student she still enjoys volleyball. Math and science are her favorite subjects in school, as well as cooking, sewing and home finances.
Ten-year-old Camryn Harris has been involved with dance for 7 years, according to her mom, Claire, and will have two parts in this year’s performance. The fourth grader kindled an interest in dance when she had just turned three at one of Queen City Ballet’s summer dance camps. Dance is her only extracurricular activity. She really enjoys going to the studio. “She learns something new every time she goes,” her mom said.
Queen City Ballet Dance Director Campbell Midgley said in an interview she feels both boys and girls who dedicate themselves to the dance group, find safety with recognition among fellow dancers. “These students are all high achievers who, in this climate of insecurity in our culture, find ours is a tight-knit group who watch out for each other,” she said.
Queen City Ballet offers classes for tiny dancers (with their mothers) up to pre-professional dancers ages 13 to 19. Beginners attend for 45 minutes a week with summer camps for elementary-aged kids and holiday and spring recitals. “All this includes wearing wonderful costumes and having fun,” Campbell explained.
Campbell founded Queen City Ballet Company in 2001. Her students have been accepted into professional companies and collegiate dance programs all over the United States. A graduate of the North Carolina School of Arts, Campbell danced with the Houston Ballet. She has a degree in advertising and taught professionally before coming to Helena in 1999.
This year the company is working on a project to interest students from rural areas to join the dance company. “What I really do here is champion a leadership program where students can learn to be confident and happy in their own skin,” she explained.
Tickets for the Nutcracker Performance are available by phone at (406) 447-8481. This year’s program is sponsored locally by Townsend Train Station, RTK Consulting, Commercial Bar and C Hangin C Mercantile and Creamery.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Campbell Midgley
Image 1 Caption: Louie Ella Parr and Camryn Harris pose in costumes for their performance in this November’s Nutcracker Ballet.
Photo Credits: Campbell Midgley
