Cedar City ballet company to celebrate 20th anniversary with upcoming performance

Elisha Church practices her role as the doll Coppélia, Cedar City, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Cedar City Junior Ballet Company, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — This weekend, the Cedar City Junior Ballet Company will bring 55 community dancers to the Heritage Theatre stage in Cedar City to perform “Coppélia,” the first ballet performed by the junior company 20 years ago according to a news release issued by the company.

Members of Cedar City Junior Ballet practice for the upcoming performance on March 10-11, Cedar City, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy Cedar City Junior Ballet Company, St. George News

In the story of the ballet, a village couple preparing to get married the next day collides with a lonely dollmaker who has created a lifelike doll, Coppélia, that fools the town and the flirtatious groom-to-be. Village mischief and mayhem ensue as the bride-to-be, Swanilda, sets out to discover the dollmaker’s secrets, if her fiance loves her, and if true love will win in the end.

“Coppélia” is, above all, a story about community and has been chosen to celebrate the company’s 20 years of offering ballets to the community using dancers from ages 4 to over 60. This love for dance and the community is what motivates many of the dancers to return year after year to perform one of the company’s annual ballets.

 “I realized that this company does not belong to one particular person or group,” Cedar City Junior Ballet board member Tauna Brandt said in the news release. “It’s truly a community company that so many are willing to invest in and to invest in our mission.”

This year Swanilda will be played by Laura Nelson, Franz by Isaac Everett, and Dr. Coppelius by Dwayne Winslow. Each dancer is a returning performer to the annual ballet performance.

Elisha Church and Kay Andersen are shown form original cast in 2013, Cedar City, Utah, circa 2013 | Photo courtesy of Cedar City Junior Ballet Company, St. George News

Many of the dancers in this year’s performance have performed for years with the company in different roles. Elisha Church was invited to portray Coppélia in this year’s 20th-year anniversary performance of the ballet company. Like many of this year’s dancers, she says it holds a special place in her heart.

Twenty years ago she held the principal role of Swanilda in the debut of the company’s first ballet.

“This was the ballet that began CCJB,” she said in the news release. “I don’t know if anyone knew at the time how things would unfold for CCJB and the success it has had. ‘Coppelia’ was the first full-length ballet I was in, it was the first ballet that I was the principle/leading ballerina. I was able to play the role of Swanilda three times altogether which was a wonderful opportunity, to try to grow and improve in the role each time.”

For Church, and many other dancers in the community, the company has played a pivotal role in helping them continue to share their love of dance. Church has performed in 14 of the company’s ballets including “Cinderella,” “The Secret Garden,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

She will join over 50 long-time dancers and new company members this year to take the stage. Many of these dancers have been dancing for over a decade with the company but every year they continue to welcome new performers to the stage as every dancer that tries out is given an opportunity to dance.

 “Time spent with CCJB results in growth as a dancer and a person, friendships, and treasured life experiences,” Church said. “The positive ripple effects of CCJB’s existence and success reach farther and touch more people than I can really express in words.”

Join the company for the humorous and heartwarming “Coppelia” on Friday and Saturday, March 10-11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Heritage Center Theater. Tickets are available at the box office for $15.

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