It’s Nut-rageous!
The Brooklyn Paper – December 12, 2008
by Sarah Portlock
Classic Dance
Purists will appreciate the classic take on the classic tale offered by the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company. The New York City Ballet’s principal dancer, Jenifer Ringer, will once again star as the Sugar Plum Fairy, with young members of the company performing the other parts.
Simegiatos said her version will highlight the young dancers and classic choreography, with the intimacy of neighborhood theater.
Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” At Poly Prep
The Brooklyn Eagle – December 11, 2008
On December 20 and 21, world renowned ballet stars Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle, principals of New York City Ballet will be star as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Her Cavalier in the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company’s production of “The Nutcracker.” The production will be a full-length classical ballet at the Richard Perry Theater on the grounds of Poly Prep.
The Nutcracker is a classic and beautiful story about the joy of Christmas, the love of family and friends and the great fun of lavish parties. It resonates with everyone in that it reminds us of the wonder, mischief, dreams, and imagination that still reside within the child in each of us.
Brooklyn families and theatre lovers will delight in this timeless ballet production. It will be presented on Saturday, December 20 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, December 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets for the performances can be purchased by calling the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company at (718) 680-0944 on weekdays between the hours of 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. and all day Saturdays.
DANCE BROOKLYN
Big-Time Joins Small-Time Nutcracker
The Brooklyn Eagle – Carrie Stern – December 14, 2007
Squeals peal through the hallway. Inside the long narrow dance studio small bodies in pink tights and black, blue, pink and green leotards scurry across the floor. “Pay attention, children!” adult voices shout, hands clapping. This small chaos is par for the course at the 35-year-old Bay Ridge Vicki Simegiatos Dance Studio in Nutcracker season. Not that there isn’t lots of learning going on. Even the smallest children know to stand quietly and focus on the stage while waiting for their entrance. As the music swells, a tiny, lovely Clara (actually there are 2, many roles are double cast so that more children have the opportunity to perform) steps out followed by adorable prancing mice, marching toy soldiers, and a well-trained teenage corps de ballet of Snowflakes and Flowers.
A recent New York Times article tallied a portion of the many Nutcrackers found across New York City this time of year. But it didn’t even come close to the actual number of Nutcrackers being performed, many quite competently, by dance studios all over the New York area.
Vicky Simegiatos’ Dance Company had produced the Nutcracker with senior students dancing the major roles since 1980. But several years ago Ms. Simegiatos upped the ante. Martina Simegiatos, the ballet mistress for the company, a graduate of the School of American Ballet, and Vicky’s daughter, had the idea of asking some of her former colleagues if they would dance the starring roles — the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier — in the company’s production. This year New York City Ballet principals Maria Kowroski and Charles Askegard, as he has for the past several years, will dance those roles in what is surely a remarkable opportunity for any community dance studio.
All the students who perform in the Nutcracker are chosen by Ms. Simegiatos from the company’s scholarship program for talented students. A number of them attend the School of the American Ballet and are students at some of the cities most prestigious high schools and middle schools. Students are chosen for particular roles based less on their abilities than on their potential to grow from the experience of dancing that role.
Despite fact that the stars do not join the cast until dress rehearsal, the young dancers are thrilled at the experience of working alongside them. For any young dancer the opportunity to watch professionals in rehearsal, to have them answer questions, and to socialize with them backstage, is something they will long remember. Fifteen-year-old Nikolas Sarris, a sophomore at LaGuardia High School, watched backstage as Jennifer Ringer (2006 Sugar Plum) and Askegard practiced a promenade from the Grand Pas de Deux.
“Ms. Ringer noticed that I was watching and she asked if I’d like to try partnering her on the promenade, so I did. It was so exciting! Then Mr. Askegard autographed my sneakers.” Jennifer Pauker, twelve, a 6th grader at Mark Twain JHS, danced Clara in 2006: “When the finale came, everyone in the audience applauded. I got to take my bows while holding hands with Ms. Ringer and Mr. Askegard. I’ll never forget that experience.” The stars are generous with advice. “During the intermission [last year], Ms. Ringer and Mr. Askegard sat with us and talked about their experiences in the dance world and gave us advice about how to behave at auditions,” says Kira Farberov, 17, and a senior at Bard College High School. “They told us to make sure that we remained determined in pursuing our dancing, never give up, and don’t get scared. Just practice and do your best. It was great to hear such honest feedback from two people who have achieved so much in the world of ballet.”
Lola Shapiro, 17, and a senior at LaGuardia High School, paid close attention when Ms. Ringer and Askegard rehearsed the Grand Pas de Deux. It was not just their technique that interested her, but also “the process that they and Ms. Simegiatos used to adjust the choreography for a smaller stage.” When her turn came to dance, Spanish last year, she appeared on stage with Ms. Ringer “for a few brief moments. I felt so uplifted to be stepping on to the stage where she’d just danced. I felt as if she’d spread her energy around the stage and now I was having the opportunity to dance with it.” Now, when she sees either of the stars perform with the NYCB, “it’s extra special. I watch them carefully and I feel special gratitude to them because they came to dance with our company.”
Performances of the Nutcracker by the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company with Maria Kowroski and Charles Askegard take place on Saturday, December 15, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, December 16, at 2 p.m., at the Richard Perry Theatre on the grounds of Poly Prep Country Day School, 92nd Street and 7th Avenue in Bay Ridge. Call (718) 680-0944 for further information.
Simegiatos . . . Nominated as Outstanding Bay Ridge Volunteer
The Brooklyn Eagle – April 23, 2007
BAY RIDGE [ . . . ]
Noting the long-term volunteer contribution of Ms. Simegiatos, Ms. Shapiro wrote, “For over 30 years … master ballet teachers Vicky Simegiatos and her daughter Matina … have conducted a scholarship program for talented young ballet students. They have opened their studios to these children, each of whom attend class absolutely free of charge.
“Not only do the community’s children receive a world class ballet education,” added Ms. Shapiro, “but they are also given the opportunity to perform in the professional productions of the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company. The company is a non-profit organization which serves to enrich the cultural experience of the local community.”
“In the last two years,” Ms. Shapiro informed the Bay Ridge Eagle, “Vicky and Matina have given their students the privilege of dancing on the same stage as international ballet stars and principal dancers of the New York City Ballet in the company’s annual Christmas performance of the full-length Nutcracker.
Ms. Shapiro points out that “alumni and current students” of Ms. Simegiatos “have gone on to study at the world’s finest dance studios and to dance with renowned dance companies … including [The] School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ballet Hispanico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and The Joffrey Ballet.”
Ballet at Poly
The Brooklyn Paper – December 9, 2006
by Giacomo Maniscalco
Since 1980, members of the Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company have been sharing their love for ballet with the Brooklyn community by offering performances to the public.
This Dec. 22 and 23, they will perform “The Nutcracker” in Bay Ridge choreographed by Simegiatos and her daughter Matina and set to Tchaikovsky’s music.
The dance company’s cast of students and teachers will be joined by two special guest stars: Jenifer Ringer and Charles Askegard, two world-renowned principal dancers from the New York City Ballet.
Playing the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, these two professional artists will give these young students, whose ages range from 10 to 20, an incredible opportunity to perform with the world’s best, and provide Bay Ridge balletomanes with a production studded with New York City Ballet dancers right in their own backyard.
The Simegiatos company’s affordable ticket prices are possible because all of the dancers, designers, rehearsal assistants and choreographers are not paid, according to company board member Karen Shapiro.
“We do this strictly for the love of dance,” said Shapiro.
With studios in Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Sunset Park, the non-profit company strives to enrich Brooklyn’s cultural education while giving young and talented students the opportunity to receive dance training for free.
Led by Vicky Simegiatos, the company’s founder, and Matina – who is an alumni of the School of American Ballet and has had an extensive career in the ballet world performing in the New York City Ballet as well as on Broadway, the production expects to not only achieve professional quality, but the Richard Perry Theater at Poly Prep, where “The Nutcracker” will be staged, supplies the “perfect setting,” said Shapiro.
Vicky Simegiatos Dance Company presents “The Nutcracker” on Dec. 22 and 23 at 7 pm in the Richard Perry Theater on the campus of Poly Prep Country Day School, 9216 Seventh Ave. at 92nd Street in Bay Ridge. Tickets are $25-$35. For more information, visit the Web site www.vspac.com or call 347.517.4169