Tickets: $26 for 1pm & 3pm show, $28 for 7pm show*

*All 7pm ticket holders are invited to a 6:00pm gala with hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar

Join us for this very special production of Methuen Ballet Ensemble’s The Nutcracker. Methuen Ballet Ensemble, an established local ballet company under the artistic direction of Vanessa Rae Voter, has staged The Nutcracker for over twenty-five years.

Principal roles are performed by members of Methuen Ballet Ensemble, whose experience totals over 150 years of classical ballet training under Ms. Voter’s tutelage. This year’s production will also feature a very special Guest Artist Mr. Alban Costello of Festival Ballet Providence in the roles of Snow King and Sugar Plum Cavalier. Ethiopian by birth, Alban Birhanu Costello began his ballet education at the age of 8. While at Southold Dance Theatre under the directorship of Erica Fischbach, Mr. Costello was awarded a full merit scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts at the age of 15. There he trained under Susan Jaffe, Misha Tchoupakov, Jared Redick, Ilya Kozadayev and others while working with world renowned choreographers such as Goyo Montero and Helen Picket. Alban placed within the top three competitors at numerous Youth America Grand Prix competitions from Denver to New York. He also was chosen as one of two UNCSA representatives who attended the 2019 Prix de Lausanne Choreographic Workshop. Alban is looking forward to his first season with FBP.

Students of Voter’s School of Dance in Salem, NH, Helene Joy School of Dance in Middleton, MA, and Dance Concepts in Pelham, NH perform all other roles. Dancers hail from Methuen, Lawrence, Haverhill, Boxford, N. Andover, Georgetown, Wenham, Middleton, and Newburyport, MA as well as Salem, Pelham, Londonderry, Plaistow, Windham, and Manchester, NH.

Each year, this production has become more elaborate with stunning visual effects and custom-designed costumes. All performances include a giant growing Christmas tree, a heavenly mist, and an abundance of snowfall. Note: No chemicals will be used during this production. The mist effect will be achieved with the lighting design.

History of the Methuen Ballet Ensemble:

Vanessa Rae Voter founded Methuen Ballet Ensemble in 1989 as a platform for promising students to showcase their talents, performing both classical and modern ballets for the public. Her inspiration came from her years as a dancer with Boston Ballet. During the audition process for The Nutcracker, those children not cast in roles touched her, by their disappointment and tears. She vowed that someday she would have a company of her own, where every child who auditioned would be guaranteed a part. She realized her dream and has been successfully staging The Nutcracker for over 20 years, never having rejected an auditioning dancer.

About Vanessa Rae Voter:

Vanessa Rae Voter is Artistic Director and Choreographer for Methuen Ballet Ensemble, a semi-professional ballet company. She is also Director of the Classical Ballet program at Voter’s School of Dance, founded by her mother, Pam Voter, in 1951.

Ms. Voter attended The Boston Conservatory. In addition to dancing with Boston Ballet, she also performed with Ballet Dance Theatre of Boston. Her extensive training includes instruction from Marina Svetlova, Madame Sulamith Messerer (former Prima Ballerina and teacher with the Bolshoi Ballet), E. Virginia Williams, Violette Verdy, Robert Pierce, and David Howard. She has been a guest teacher for Dance Teachers Club of Boston and Dance Teachers Club of Brockton, as well as serving on judge’s panels in both Boston and Brockton. She is a member of Dance Teachers Club of Boston and National Council of America and a member of Dance Masters of America.

In addition to teaching classical ballet on a full-time basis, Ms. Voter has also choreographed all ballets performed by Methuen Ballet Ensemble. Included in her portfolio are: Swan Lake, Peter and the Wolf, Peter Pan, Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, The Fisherman & The Maiden, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Coppellia, The Magic Flute, Petrushka, La Petite Fantastique, and The Nutcracker.

Visit Methuen Ballet Ensemble online at:
methuenballetensemble.com