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11-21 Local ballerina dances in the Nutcracker
Kendall Wiedow of Mt. Olive always watched her older sister Ashley in her tap, ballet, and jazz classes from the hallway of her dance studio, and enthusiastically imitated all her routines. At the age of seven, she was so excited to begin her own classes as her love for dance continued to grow. Kendall began her dance training at Heartbeat Dance Studio in Succassuna, and soon became a member of their competition dance team. Three years later, she moved on to the Art of Dance in Chester, where she was also a member of their competition performing company. While on the competition circuit, Kendall earned the following individual honors: New York City Dance Alliance regional outstanding dancer scholarship winner 2006 and 2008, 2007 National Dance Showcase outstanding soloist scholarship winner; winner of the Junior Dancer of the Year award at the February 2008 Hollywood Vibe regional competition, and Breakout Artist scholarship recipient in March 2008 at the NUVO Regional competition. She has a collection of several hundred awards and ribbons for her part in group performances. She has performed in Times Square in NYC, NY as a fundraising effort for Dancers Responding to Aids, and participated in several other benefits.
Kendall’s new “home” is the North Jersey School of Dance Arts in Hackettstown, NJ under the direction of Christine Taylor. Taylor encouraged Ms. Wiedow to audition for the New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet’s Nutcracker and to Kendall’s surprise she was cast to dance as the Russian Doll, Flowers, and Snow in the company’s performance on December 6th and 7th at Mt. Olive Middle School Theater. Wiedow, a student at the Mt. Olive Middle School is especially excited about the opportunity to perform for over 1,000 students who attend the school system. On Dec. 3rd and 5th the company is presenting Act I for its Arts in Education program at the school. Ms. Wiedow has recently performed in the company’s Peter and the Wolf, Excerpts from Sleeping Beauty, and Russian Folk Dances. She aspires to dance in a professional ballet company, and possibly to perform on Broadway, television, and film productions. Always able to recognize talent and know how to mold it, Christine Taylor director of the company said, “With her great stage presence, hard work ethic, style and more training; I’m sure she will.”
The New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet’s narrated version of the Nutcracker will be performed Dec. 6th at 2:00 & 7:00 and Dec. 7th 1:00 & 4:00. at the Mt. Olive Middle School Theater, Wolfe Road, Mt. Olive. Twelve year old Jana Byrnes tells the story from Clara’s perspective, engaging the audience from the first scene to the very last moment. Through her narration young children understand a fanciful fairytale, while the rest of us realize that this is truly a story of life, love and the holiday spirit.
Guest artists from the Suzanne Farrell Ballet Co. Washington, D.C. will dance the roles of Godfather Drosselmeyer, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Make this your American holiday tradition. Tickets prices are: General Admission $20.00, Students and Seniors $18.00 and Groups of 25 or more $15.00. AmEx, MC, Visa, Discover accepted. Handi-cap accessible, large print programs available w/ notice. Call today 908-850-0709.
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