Dear Friends,

Welcome to Twin City Ballet Company’s exciting fortieth season of dance! This season we are offering three very different performances, including one by the young dancers of world-acclaimed Alvin Ailey. We want to offer you the broadest spectrum of dance so that you can experience of the latest and best our nation has to offer – right here in northeast Louisiana!

We open our season with the joy of bringing over 20,000 schoolchildren to delight in Buddy, the Elf – a ginormously fun Christmas ballet based on the hit movie “Elf.” We are thrilled to have New York’s Joe Istre creation on the Monroe Civic Center stage for its world premiere, which is sure to get everyone in the Christmas spirit. In addition to Buddy, the Elf, the Gala Performance will showcase Twin City Ballet Company dancers in the Act II of the most beloved Christmastime classic, The Nutcracker, as staged by Houston’s Victoria Vittum deBethencourt.

Ailey II has invigorated the American dance scene and has won numerous honors and accolades because of their exuberance, virtuoso technique and cutting edge choreography. Twin City Ballet Company is proud to bring this exceptional group of dancers and their innovative outreach programs to our community.

This year’s Ballet Under the Stars takes on an extra special meaning as we celebrate the lives of four exceptional area artists who touched the Twin City Ballet Company with their life’s work but who are sadly no longer with us. The 12th Annual Ballet Under the Stars at West Monroe’s beautiful Kiroli Park is dedicated to the memories and legacies of Heather Tyler Storm and Michael Hollier, who were bright stars on the TCBC stage for many years, Edmund Williamson, who created many exquisite sets for the company, and artist Cynthia Day Neely, who with her husband Hunt supported our company in many ways. We once again usher in the Spring with Ballet Under the Stars at West Monroe’s beautiful Kiroli Park amphitheater setting. The quiet beauty of the park punctuated by lush choreography in their honor just seems completely right.

We take great pride that our company represents dancers that have been trained by many of the leading dance studios of northeast Louisiana. We take seriously our mission to provide quality training for our area’s talented young dancers, opportunities for them to perform and deliver superb entertainment for our communities. Join us our 40th Anniversary Season.

That’s dance when it sizzles.

That’s Twin City Ballet!