(Poughkeepsie, NY) Giant fighting mice, sugar plum fairies, and huge toy soldiers will soon be dancing on the Bardavon stage. It's time once again to take the magical journey of The Nutcracker. This classic ballet about a little girl and her special Christmas gift will be presented by the Bardavon and New Paltz Ballet Theatre on Saturday, December 12 at 2pm and 7:30pm, and on Sunday, December 13 at 3pm. This engagement is sponsored by CDPHP and Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union.

The Nutcracker, a ballet in two acts, is based on E.T.A. Hoffman's tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King with music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. The dreamlike journey through the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets is created in part by the colorful costumes and scenery by designer Ray Delle Robbins of Houston Ballet and Houston's Theatre Under the Stars. Staging and choreography are by New Paltz Ballet Theatre's Artistic Directors Peter Naumann and Lisa Naumann. The Naumanns both danced with the New York City Ballet for many years and have performed in major works by internationally acclaimed choreographers George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins.

This production of The Nutcracker features two world-renowned principal dancers from American Ballet Theatre: Alexei Agoudine and Violeta Angelova.
Born in Moscow, Russia, Alexei Agoudine began his ballet training at the age of nine at the School of Classical Ballet with Alexandra Markeyeva, Natalie Zolotova, Boris Rahmanin, and Gennady Lediakh.

In 1999, at the age of 17, he received a Rudolf Nureyev Scholarship to study at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School. While there, he performed the pas de trios from Swan Lake, the leading role in George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, and the pas de deux from Don Quixote, in addition to performing in operas such as A Masked Ball, Rigoletto, Tannhauser, Don Carlos, Lohengrin and Carmen, among others. In 2001, Agoudine won Second Prize at the International Ballet Competition in Vienna after which he joined Ballet Internationale in Indianapolis where his repertory included the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, the Chinese/Russian/Spanish dances in The Nutcracker, among others. In 2002, for the Ballet Internationale Academy, he choreographed Erinnerung an Wien, a one-act ballet with music by Johann Strauss. In 2002, he joined the Universal Ballet Company in Seoul as guest artist and participated in the International Ballet Competition in Varna as a choreographer and partner. In 2003, he won the Bronze Medal at the 7th New York International Ballet Competition. Agoudine joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2004. His roles with ABT include Gamache in Don Quixote, Bottom in The Dream, Wilfred in Giselle, Njegus and the Lead Pontavedrian Dancer in The Merry Widow, Friar Laurence and Escalus in Romeo and Juliet, Gallison and a Fairy Knight in The Sleeping Beauty, the Spanish Dance in Swan Lake, and Pluto in Sylvia.


Page Two
PRESS RELEASE - The Nutcracker at the Bardavon



Violeta Angelova began dancing in her native Bulgaria. She attended her mother's dance school and actively performed before graduating with high honors from the National School of Dance Art-Bulgaria and the Vienna State Opera Ballet School in Austria, where she was a scholarship student. She has been invited to represent Bulgaria at the Royal Festival of Arts in Jordan among a number of international ballet events. She has extensively toured the United States, dancing as a guest artist or with a company and was invited to dance at the International Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland and the Opera and Ballet Festival in St.Petersburg, Russia. Companies she has performed with include: Vienna State Opera Ballet, Volksoper-Vienna, Ballet Internationale, New Jersey Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, as guest with the Eglevsky Ballet, Ballet Austin, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Metropolitan and others. Her varied repertoire of over 50 ballets, includes title roles and leading roles in storytelling classics - The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Coppelia, Esmeralda; one act and miniature ballets, such as The Dying Swan by Fokine; the leads in Valse Fantasie, Stars and Stripes, Agon and other Balanchine ballets; as well as classical and modern works by contemporary choreographers in Europe and the United States. She is also dance teacher, multi-faceted artist, and the only Bulgarian ballerina in America.

Tickets for the Saturday, December 12 2pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday, December 13 3pm performances of The Nutcracker are available for $27 (Adult), $24 (Student/Senior), and $22 (Bardavon Member) and can be purchased through the Bardavon Box Office (35 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, 845.473.2072), the UPAC Box Office (601 Broadway, Kingston, 845.339.6088) or via TicketMaster (www.TicketMaster.com or 800.745.3000). Please note that Bardavon Member benefits are not available thru TicketMaster. The Bardavon is handicapped accessible and offers secure and convenient parking. For more information please visit www.bardavon.org.