Alexandra Manuel always looks forward to Indiana Ballet Conservatory’s Spring Showcase.
“It’s nice to get to show your friends and family what you’ve been working on the whole year,” Manuel said. “It’s nice to perform the piece one last time.’’
The Carmel resident will perform her solo piece in the Paquita at the Carmel-based IBC’s Spring Showcase, set for 3 p.m. May 20 at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 650 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis. Manuel, 14, took first place in the classical and contemporary categories for her juniors group at the Youth American Grand Prix regional competition in Carmel in March.
“The second act is all the competition pieces, where’s it’s classical and contemporary,” IBC Executive Director Jenny Okamoto said. “It’s a great opportunity to see a lot of the rising talent.”
Camel resident Quinn Starner, 15, earned first in contemporary and second in classical at the YAGP regional.
“I love showing my friends and family what I’ve been working on all year with my classmates,” she said. “We’ve shown how we’ve all improved over the year and how we ended.”
Starner said her classical technique has improved the most. Her contemporary dance has improved as well.
“(Contemporary instructor) Sergey (Sergiev) has helped me a lot,” Starner said.
The first act will feature fairytales, such as “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Three Little Pigs.” That will be for the dancers ages 3 to 8 years old.
“We have costumes that are created special for the show,” IBC founding Artistic Director Alyona Yakovleva-Randall said.
There will be new choreography for the approximately 45-minute Act 1. The second act, approximately one hour, will feature upper level dancers who will perform some of their award-winning works from international ballet competitions. Indiana Ballet Conservatory took first place in the Paquita in the American Dance Company/Youth International Ballet Competition in St. Petersburg, Fla., in March.
There will be a special piano performance arranged and performed on stage by Anatoly Morozov, a 2014 Carmel High School graduate, that will include popular music from “La La Land,” “Westworld” and Vivaldi & Tierson. Yakovleva-Randall will provide original choreography for the piece.
“I think it will be about different women characters,” Yakovleva-Randall said.
There will be a piece that IBC performed with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir in March.
“The response at the Hilbert was incredible,” Okamoto said. “We want to continue to do events like this. We’ll be doing an event in Cincinnati with ICC. Then, hopefully, with our ’Nutcracker.’ ICC is on the Butler campus and works with the Butler ballet, but we feel like we can pull them in for a few of our projects.”
The Scottish Rite Cathedral is a new performance venue for IBC.
“It’s the first time we’ve done it at Scottish Rite,” Okamoto said. “The Cathedral is a fantastic backdrop.”
Tickets are $24. For more, visit indianaballetconservatory.org.
