Montgomery Ballet may expand road tours with 'The Nutcracker' and more

As Clara and her Nutcracker prince dance around visions in a magical Christmas world, Montgomery Ballet has its own growing vision to share this holiday piece and more with cities beyond Montgomery.

“We don’t just serve Montgomery,” said Danny Mitsios, artistic and executive director for Montgomery Ballet. “We are trying to bring ballet to as many communities as we can.”

Not every community can afford to support its own ballet company, and not everyone can make it to Montgomery. That’s why Mitsios wants to bring performances to them.

“We are actually booked right now in four cities, with two or three more in discussion,” Mitsios said. “People are seeing our success in Selma and Greenville, and they’re asking for it.”

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Tickets for “The Nutcracker” are on sale for four scheduled public performances:

• Nov 17, 6 p.m. at Wallace Community College, 300 Earl Goodwin Parkway, Selma. Tickets are $15.
• Nov. 27, 6 p.m. at The Chapel at the Waters, 1 Chapel Hill St., Pike Road. Tickets are $17.50. Mitsios described this as a “mini Nutcracker.”
• Dec. 1, 2 p.m. at Greenville High School, 100 Tiger Drive, Greenville. Tickets are $15. Mitsios considers Greenville to be Montgomery Ballet’s “second home.” “I have a special place in my heart for Greenville, because Greenville kind of started our whole touring tradition,” Mitsios said.
• Dec. 15, 6 p.m. at Montgomery Performing Arts Centre, 201 Tallapoosa St., Montgomery. Tickets range from $22-$52, and are available at mpaconline.org.

Additionally, Montgomery Ballet is scheduling Nutcracker LEAP (Learning Environment for Advanced Programming) shows for students in Montgomery and on the road as well. Mitsios said they’ll have two of these in Selma — Dallas County schools and Selma city schools.

“Our Nutcracker is looking very exciting for people in education,” Mitsios said. “We’re already ahead of schedule with sales for our Nutcracker LEAP shows, which is a fantastic problem to have.”

Other potential cities for public and LEAP shows are still in discussion.

“There’s a very strong possibility of another one to two cities as part of not only Nutcracker,” Mitsios said. “But because of our Nutcracker success we’re looking to do our spring season in these other cities as well.”

That includes doing multiple outdoor free events throughout central Alabama, like the recent annual Ballet and the Beasts at the Montgomery Zoo.

“We’re getting to the point now where the ballet is going to be on stage every week, from Nov. 17 to almost Christmas at this rate,” Mitsios said. “We’re looking to duplicate that same schedule in the spring.”

Other communities that would like to invite Montgomery Ballet to perform should contact Mitsios at 334-409-0522 or email him at info@montgomeryballet.org.

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Montgomery Ballet may expand road tours with 'The Nutcracker' and more