Metropolitan Ballet Company will bring two family-friendly ballets – one premiere and one classic – to audiences this fall, as part of its ongoing 25th Anniversary celebration.
Based on the Best-Selling children’s storybook, “Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet” is a company premier by choreographer Mary LeGere (Artistic Director Emeritus, Raleigh Dance Theatre). The ever-exuberant Fancy Nancy learns to love a less-than-fancy role in her ballet school’s production, while cheering on her best friend in a leading part. The award-winning illustrator of the Fancy Nancy series is Robin Preiss Glasser, former Pennsylvania Ballet dancer, who, along with Mary LeGere was a dance colleague of Met’s Founder, Lisa Collins Vidnovic.
Also on the program is “Graduation Ball”, a ballet repertoire favorite! David Lichine’s classic comedy ballet in one act is set in Vienna where the lovely students of a fashionable girls’ school invite young cadets to their graduation ball. This internationally beloved ballet boasts exuberant dancing, youthful romance, and memorable characters, all set to a sweeping musical score by Johann Strauss II. A special highlight of the production will be Daniel Mayo (Met Men's Faculty / formerly BalletX) in the featured role of the flirtatious Old General, who leads the cadets, and the school’s Headmistress, played by his real-life wife, Julia Mayo, Associate Professor and Chair of the Dance Department at DeSales University. The two met as students at Juilliard.
Run time: 90 minutes