River Region Ballet performs traditional Christmas tale
Alabama River Region Ballet’s students and youth company will once again dazzle the audience with their performances of their annual The Nutcracker, a young girl’s magnificent dream on Christmas Eve. On Nov. 25, the troupe will perform at the Mt. Vernon Theatre at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at mtvernontheatre.net.
World famous Yugoslavian dancer and instructor Stevan Grebel choreographed the ballet with traditional steps and original music, as composed by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
“This ballet is one of my favorites because it has so many different parts for different ages,” said Grebel. “I love that the music really goes with the action of the ballet.”
Priscilla Crommelin Ball, executive artistic director of River Region Ballet, held open auditions for her students to assign roles and determine where each would be best suited in the performance.
“Some have very technical parts that require a certain skill level,” said Crommelin Ball. “The principal roles are unique to who is best at dancing, acting, feeling, emotion – the whole look.”
Nearly 75 students auditioned and Crommelin Ball said the school also is involving some parents and siblings as extras in the performance.
Grebel holds rehearsals once a week, rotating groups of dancers, to provide more personal instruction.
The fourth annual Great Montgomery Nutcracker will be performed at the Historic Davis Theatre in downtown Montgomery Nov. 30 at 7 p.m., Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.
The performance includes two acts and three scenes, with costumes and scenery gathered by Grebel from famous international designers.
Grebel has been dancing since he was 9 years old and received his formal ballet training in Belgrade at The National Opera School from Dmitri Palich. He toured Europe; danced for President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House; joined the National Ballet in Washington, D.C.; and eventually began a degree program for dance at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
It was here that Grebel met Crommelin Ball, who was principal ballerina with the Birmingham Ballet at the time. He then worked with Crommelin Ball at the Montgomery Ballet where she was Ballet Mistress and Executive Artistic Director over 15 years.
Crommelin Ball is part of the prestigious Elmore County lineage that held a family homestead in Wetumpka, including what is currently Gold Star Park. Her father, Quentin Crommelin was dubbed a war hero, along with his four brothers, for their heroism during World War II. Quentin was a Naval officer and retired at the rank of Captain.
Crommelin Ball’s mother, Priscilla Scott Crommelin was a dancer and reknowned Alabama artist who is in collections all over the world. Her daughter, Priscilla Crommelin Monnier, has become a professional dancer and model as well.
“My mother taught me ballet during the classes she taught, and I began teaching my daughter Priscilla in my ballet school in Paris,” said Crommelin Ball, who lived in Europe for 20 years.
After training at the North Carolina School of Arts; dancing abroad; joining companies in New York City; Baltimore, Maryland; Birmingham, Alabama; Grenobel, France; and Paris, France. Crommelin Ball opened River Region Ballet and has continued her love for dancing and sharing her talent with others. With 11 different class offerings, River Region Ballet provides an opportunity for dancers to train in a professional environment.
For ticket information for The Great Montgomery Nutcracker, visit tututix.conm/riverregionballet.
