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LakeForestLeader.com LIFE & ARTS<br />
the lake forest leader | December 6, 2018 | 19<br />
One-act ‘Nutcracker’ brings holiday spirit to Lake Forest<br />
Katie Copenhaver<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
A shortened version of<br />
the classic holiday ballet,<br />
“The Nutcracker,” brought<br />
dancers together from<br />
across the North Shore.<br />
LoMastro Performing<br />
Arts Academy presented<br />
“The Nutcracker: Clara’s<br />
Dream,” during a two-day<br />
event Saturday-Sunday<br />
Dec. 1-2 at the Gorton<br />
Community Center.<br />
The condensed version<br />
focused on Clara’s dreams<br />
and her time in the Kingdom<br />
of Sweets.<br />
The fourth annual Lo-<br />
Mastro Academy production<br />
included 83 dancers<br />
from age 4 to adult. Most<br />
dancers were students<br />
from 11 communities:<br />
Lake Forest, Lake Bluff,<br />
Highwood, Highland Park,<br />
Deerfield, Vernon Hills,<br />
Libertyville, Lincolnshire,<br />
Riverwoods, Mundelein<br />
and Buffalo Grove.<br />
Loren LoMastro Specht,<br />
owner/director of the academy,<br />
first conceived the<br />
idea for the annual production<br />
to “provide dancers<br />
from various studios the<br />
opportunity to come together<br />
in a noncompetitive<br />
way to share their love of<br />
ballet.”<br />
Plus, it gives the dancers<br />
a chance to connect with<br />
one another through the<br />
holiday spirit of giving and<br />
goodwill.<br />
“Every dancer should do<br />
a ‘Nutcracker,’” said ballet<br />
instructor Kara DelGrosso.<br />
“It’s so much fun because<br />
of the memories and<br />
friends that you make.”<br />
Kara and her sister Katrina<br />
DelGrosso are current<br />
faculty at LoMastro<br />
Academy. Katrina Del-<br />
Grosso has served as the<br />
academy’s director of the<br />
Bentley Frost dances during dress rehearsal for a<br />
scene from “The Nutcracker: Clara’s Dream,” at the<br />
Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest.<br />
“Nutcracker” for all four<br />
of its years, and Kara Del-<br />
Grosso played the role of<br />
Frau Silberhaus in this<br />
year’s production as well<br />
as helping the student<br />
dancers prepare.<br />
The lead role of Clara<br />
was shared by student<br />
dancers Clara Collis and<br />
Elizabeth Xakellis, both<br />
age 12 and both of Lake<br />
Forest. It was particularly<br />
ironic for Collis.<br />
“When my mom found<br />
out I was cast as Clara,<br />
she was especially excited<br />
because ‘The Nutcracker’<br />
was one of her favorite<br />
ballets and the reason she<br />
named me Clara,” Collis<br />
said.<br />
For Xakellis, the role<br />
gave her an idea of a professional<br />
dancer’s life.<br />
“One of the most challenging<br />
things about being<br />
Clara is not only the physical<br />
strength required, but<br />
the mental strength necessary<br />
to memorize all of the<br />
choreography. Especially<br />
because there is very little<br />
time off stage the entire<br />
show,” she said.<br />
Guiding Clara through<br />
the Kingdom of Sweets<br />
was the Sugar Plum Fairy,<br />
played by Abigail Stachnick,<br />
a professional dancer<br />
and a LoMastro instructor.<br />
A native of Milwaukee,<br />
Stachnick is a dancer with<br />
the Evanston-based Cocodaco<br />
Dance Project and<br />
has performed with the<br />
Chicago Repertory Ballet<br />
and other companies.<br />
According to LoMastro<br />
Specht, some of the children<br />
have participated in<br />
this show all four years,<br />
while others were participating<br />
for their first year.<br />
Some had two or more<br />
roles this year with quick<br />
costume changes while<br />
some, particularly the<br />
younger dancers, had only<br />
one role.<br />
A few more notable<br />
students in the production<br />
were Bentley Frost, of<br />
Lake Forest, who played<br />
Peppermint Starlight.<br />
The visual appeal of<br />
the ballet dancing along<br />
with the well-known musical<br />
score by Tchaikovsky<br />
makes this a timeless favorite<br />
for everyone during<br />
the holidays.<br />
As Katrina DelGrosso<br />
reminded the performers<br />
during their dress rehearsal,<br />
it’s a happy show<br />
and they could radiate that<br />
feeling to the audience by<br />
the smiles on their faces.<br />
J.T. Bonner dances his role as a Polichinelle at dress rehearsals Thursday, Nov. 29,<br />
for “The Nutcracker: Clara’s Dream,” at the Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest.<br />
Photos by Ernest J. Schweit/22nd Century Media<br />
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