Carnival of the Animals - Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet

5 North Orange Street, Suite 3 P 717.245.1190Carlisle, PA 17013-2727 F 717.245.1189FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEBonnie Schulte, DirectorStrategic Marketing and CommunicationsP: 717.245.1191schulte@cpyb.orgBy Popular Demand Dancing Musical Journey Returns:Carnival of the AnimalsCarlisle, Pa. (September 19, 2012) – Dancing angelfish, bluebirds, chicks, and monkeys willbring a smile to any child’s face. Add in live music and clever narration and this magicalcarnival will make adults feel as giddy as children. Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet(CPYB) opens its 2012/13 Season with the reprise of the crowd-pleasing Carnival of theAnimals. Performances are 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, October 20, and Sunday, October21. Tickets are $20 for adults and $16 for children age 12 and under and may be purchased bycalling Whitaker Center at 717.214.ARTS (2787), online at whitakercenter.org, or in person atthe Whitaker Box Office at 222 Market Street in Harrisburg.A vivid retelling of Camille Saint-Saёns’1886 orchestral composition by the same name,Carnival of the Animals is called “A beautifully rendered show for children and adults thatdeserves to become an annual tradition.” (The Patriot-News Arts Review: October 2011)‘Carnival’ features original choreography by CPYB faculty and former Boston Ballet principaldancer Laszlo Berdo. Inspired by the idea of an imaginary pet store, choreographer Berdoturned to his own young son and created the lead character based on his love for animals.“As a choreographer it is very exciting to create a work that is received by the audience withgreat enthusiasm. Even better than that is an audience that wants to see it again!” says Berdo.“Theatre-goers will see all their favorite characters in the story. Some will be portrayed bynew dancers who will bring their own interpretation to the role. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”WITF radio personality Cary Burkett will be back offering his “witty and rhyming narration.”The 11-member Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra (HSO) ensemble under the direction ofGregory Woodbridge, music director and conductor of the symphony’s youth orchestra andHSO assistant conductor, will bring Saint-Saëns’ well-known melody to life.“Knowing CPYB’s reputation for artistic excellence, I am thrilled to lead the musicians of theHarrisburg Symphony Orchestra for this event,” says Woodbridge. “This will be my first timeworking with Laszlo and Cary, and I admire them both greatly for what they have given to ourregion.”Through an imaginative use of color, texture and lighting, veteran costume designer BettySmith, highly regarded dance, opera and theatre scenic designer Lewis Folden, and soughtafterlighting designer Josh Monroe create scenes befitting a spirited cast of feathers, fins andtails. For this season’s production, exotic members of the pet store aviary will donMarcia Dale Weary, Founding Artistic Director Alan Hineline, CEO and Resident Choreographer CPYB.org

vibrantly-colored tail feathers. The already flamboyant macaw will sport a new feathered vestof soft down and a set of wings, all helping to create an illusion of “flight.” Residents of thestore aquarium are also receiving enhancements. The addition of metallic fabric to theseahorse costumes will help the audience experience underwater motion, while the “great andancient sea-tortoise,” now another year older, will carry more barnacles and seaweed.Nearly 50 eye-popping costumes bring alive the vivid daydreams of a young boy who can’tkeep his mind on his piano lessons because his mother promised him a pet for his birthday.From the show’s playful choreography to its whimsical costumes and sing-song libretto,‘Carnival’ brings out the child in everyone.A Children’s Workshop for children ages four and older is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Saturday,October 20, at Whitaker Center. Led by CPYB teachers, along with CPYB dancers, the preperformanceworkshop includes a special animal appearance courtesy of the Humane Societyof Harrisburg Area. Tickets are $10 per child and may be purchased by calling the WhitakerCenter Box Office at 717.214.ARTS (2787), online at whitakercenter.org, or in person at theWhitaker Box Office at 222 Market Street in Harrisburg.Funding for Carnival of the Animals is underwritten, in part, by PNC Wealth Management.CPYB is supported, in part, by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the CulturalEnrichment Fund.###MEDIA OPPORTUNITY: We invite the media to attend upcoming rehearsals and speakwith the performers and staff about the performance. For more information, please contactBonnie Schulte at 717.245.1191 or schulte@cpyb.org. Coverage opportunities ofperformances are also available and must be set up through Bonnie Schulte.###About Central Pennsylvania Youth BalletEstablished in 1955 by Founding Artistic Director Marcia Dale Weary, Central PennsylvaniaYouth Ballet is a nationally and internationally recognized school of classical balletheadquartered in Carlisle, Pa. CPYB’s mission is to inspire, educate and enrich the lives of ourstudents and the region through training in and the performance of classical ballet.About Choreographer Laszlo BerdoBerdo was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and began studying dance at the age of five. Heintensified his studies at the National Academy of Arts in Champaign, Illinois. He danced forBallet Austin, the Louisville Ballet under Alun Jones and Helen Starr, and Cincinnati Balletunder Ivan Nagy. Berdo joined the Boston Ballet in 1990 and became a principal dancer in1995. As a principal, he danced numerous roles in ballets by Cranko, McMillan, Balanchine,Bournonville, Hynd and Stevenson. Berdo also excelled in contemporary works by Tharp,Marcia Dale Weary, Founding Artistic Director Alan Hineline, CEO and Resident Choreographer CPYB.org

Taylor, Feld, Butler and York. He is honored to be the first to perform the lead role inCranko’s Eugene Onegin in the United States.Berdo began his choreography career in 1993. His works, which include the pas de deuxEternal Being, Four Hands, Below Down Under, Sanctuary, and Bass Elements, have beenperformed for the Boston Ballet, International Ballet competition in Jackson, Mississippi,summer festival in Biarritz, France, Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo, Finnish NationalBallet in Helsinki, and Boston Conservatory. In 2001 he created Concertante for CentralPennsylvania Youth Ballet’s (CPYB) ChoreoPlan.From 2000 to 2003 Berdo was a faculty member for the Boston Conservatory and HarvardUniversity. He joined the full-time faculty of CPYB in 2003, for which he choreographedSnow White and premiered Peter Pan. He presented The Nutcracker for the Eglevsky Ballet,which premiered in December 2010; staged Swan Lake for CPYB in 2011, and premieredCarnival of the Animals in October 2011. Berdo teaches in the United States and Europe forballet companies, summer intensives and colleges.About Assistant Conductor Gregory WoodbridgeThe Harrisburg Symphony is thrilled to welcome Maestro Gregory Woodbridge in hisinaugural season as Music Director and Conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony YouthOrchestra and Assistant Conductor of the HSO. Woodbridge also holds posts with the YorkYouth Symphony Orchestra, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra and the PennsylvaniaRegional Ballet Orchestra. He continues to inspire impassioned performances from orchestrasat all levels, student through professional, and has been praised for his exceptionalmusicianship and artistry on the podium.Maestro Woodbridge began studying piano at the age of seven and violin at the age of nine.He holds degrees from Penn State University where he was assistant conductor for the PennState Philharmonic, the Penn State Chamber Orchestra, and the Central Pennsylvania YouthOrchestra. Additional conducting studies include the Pierre Monteux Conducting Institute inMaine with Michael Jinbo; Leonid Korchmar (Kirov Opera and St. Petersburg Conservatory);Ennio Nicotra (founder of the Musin Society); and most recently Gustav Meier and JoAnnFalletta at the Conductor’s Institute Richmond Symphony Masterclass.Woodbridge was recently honored by the Penn State School of Music with their DistinguishedAlumni award for his work with youth orchestras, including the Hershey High SchoolSymphony Orchestra, a 110-member orchestra that won a performance spot at the PMEA All-State Conference in April 2010. He was also the Music Director and Conductor of theWednesday Club Youth Orchestra (Harrisburg, PA) from 2000-2007, a highly selective stringorchestra that had the distinct honor of performing with fiddler Mark O’Connor on twoseparate tours to the Harrisburg area. In 2010, Mr. Woodbridge was named a ConductingFellow with the Allentown Symphony by their Music Director, Diane Wittry.Marcia Dale Weary, Founding Artistic Director Alan Hineline, CEO and Resident Choreographer CPYB.org