HANCOCK COUNTY — Dance East Ballet Academy and the Hancock County Children’s Choir offer up youth and young adult talent as part of the Greenfield holiday entertainment tradition. Dance East Ballet Academy presents its original ballet, “Little Things,” and the young voices of the Hancock County Children’s Choir sing out in “On With the Snow.”
‘Little Things’ dances
On East Street in downtown Greenfield, Dance East Ballet Academy director Dana Hart has been busy making tiaras. The tiaras are part of the costumes for the young ballerinas during the company’s annual holiday production of “Little Things.” Over the summer, Hart and her mother, Teresa Arnold — who does most of the costuming for the corps — attended a seminar hosted by tutu.com in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the two learned to make tiaras suitable for dance performances.
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The snowflake dancers will wear the custom-made crowns at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday as “Little Things” takes the stage the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts, 122 W. Main St.
“Little Things,” now in its fifth year as a Greenfield holiday tradition, is an original ballet conceptualized by the combined talents of Hart and artist Chris Sickels. As the company continues to grow, each year brings modifications and improvements.
This year’s changes include new costumes, new set pieces and new performers in the adult roles in the show. Sam James dances the part of the dim-witted Stephan Von Brockenbecker, overseer of the secret room; while Vae Savage — a guest artist from the Kenyatta Dance Company — performs as the Diamond Angel.
As one of two performance opportunities a year presented by Dance East, Hart is committed to opening people’s perspectives to dance.
“Ballet is something everyone can enjoy,” Hart said. “‘Little Things’ is a comedy, it’s serious, there’s a story, and it will totally get you in the spirit.”
Tickets are available at the door for $10 for adults and $6 for children age 12 and under. Call 317-318-9266 for more information.
‘On With the Snow’ sings
The Hancock County Children’s Choir, under the leadership of artistic director Gayle Roschi, will present “On with the Snow” as its annual holiday concert at 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday in the auditorium of Mt. Vernon High School, 8112 N. County Road 200W in Fortville.
The 90-member choir — made up of children age 5 through 18 — will perform an hour-long concert of holiday and snow-themed music emceed by choir members.
As emcees, Lilly Canaday and Grace Gearlds, both 17, interact with each other to share humor, some facts about snow and introduce the vocals selections with information and the history of the song about to be performed, said director of finance for the choir, Joanna Crump.
“The emcees create a mood for the audience and tie the whole program together,” Crump said. “It’s like putting a bow on a Christmas present.”
The choir builds on its vocal tradition to feature a piano-cello duet from Ben Heady on the piano and Woojin Chung, principle cellist for the Indianapolis-based New World Youth Orchestra. The two will play “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” as arranged by Marshall McDonald and Steven S. Nelson, better known as the Piano Guys.
Lisa Heady, executive director for the choir and mother of Ben, claims not be biased in her assessment of her son’s duet with Woojin. She has one word for it: glorious.
She looks forward to the Hancock County Children’s Choir’s 5 p.m. Sunday performance with the entire New World Youth Orchestra at the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, 1347 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis.
“The acoustics in the cathedral make the voices ring,” she said. “Add that sound to the words to ‘O Holy Night,’ and it’s glorious.”
Ticket prices range from $3 to $8 for the Mt. Vernon performance and the Cathedral performance and are available online at hancockcountychildrenschoir.org.
