HS Children's Dance Theatre stages 'Cinderella' ballet

Hot Springs Children's Dance Theatre Company will return to the Five Star Dinner Theatre during the upcoming Arts & The Park festival to present "Cinderella." Performances will be at 7 p.m. May 1, 2, 8 and 9 and 3 p.m. May 3 and 10.

Directly from the pages of the enduring tale, "Cinderella" delights audiences with the beauty and majesty of classical ballet, wrapped in the promise of "happily ever after," and generously sprinkled with a wonderful dose of humor. Complete with a fairy godmother, a handsome prince and an unforgettable ball, the magnificent staging, music and costumes make this production a delight for all ages.

Featured in "Cinderella" will be three guest artists. Deanna Karlheim, from Clarksville, Md., will perform the title role. Amy Bramlett, Hot Springs native of and professional performer, will play the fairy godmother. Matthew Redix, of Hot Springs Village, will usher in the second act with a virtuoso role of master of ceremonies.

Karlheim began dancing at a young age and credits her early training to Katherine Healy and to the Baltimore School for the Arts. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet from University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, where she studied under Jiang Qi and Deirdre Carberry.

During that time, she was also a trainee with Ballet West for two seasons and performed in several productions. Some works she has performed in since joining Ballet Arkansas last season include Jumping Girl in Gerald Arpino's "Birthday Variations," Kiyon Gaines' "Bolero," Mother in Melody Mennite's "Ana," and the Dying Swan. Most recently, she was seen as Snow Queen in HSCDTC's performances of "The Nutcracker."

Bramlett received her early ballet training from Edmond Cooper. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet and Modern Dance as a Nordan Fine Arts Scholar at Texas Christian University in 2011. While attending TCU, she also received the Adrienne Miller Perner Scholarship and the Jerry Bywaters Cochran Scholarship from North Texas Dance Council, while completing coursework in educational studies and arts administration.

She has had opportunity to perform and study all over the world, with international dancers and choreographers. Bramlett was featured as a soloist in modern, contemporary and classical ballets in works choreographed by Robert Battle, Li-Chou Cheng, Susan Douglas Roberts, Elizabeth Gillaspy, Jeff Hseing, Loretta Livingston, Jenny Mendez and Edisa Weeks. She also performs as a guest artist annually with the North Arkansas Dance Theatre as the Sugar Plum Fairy in their production of "The Nutcracker," and with HSCDTC as their Sugar Plum Fairy and as Titania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Hathaway first started his professional dance training when he was 13 at Canada's National Ballet School on scholarship. At NBS, he was able to perform in a variety of productions with Canada's National Ballet including "The Nutcracker" and numerous charitable performance programs. After graduation, he continued his love of dance through the Teacher Training Program with NBS on scholarship, being the first male to join the full program in 11 years.

He has since gone back to pursuing a career as a professional dancer by competing at Youth American Grand Prix, where he was awarded third place and was scouted by Adam Sklute to join Ballet West's trainee program on full scholarship.

Hathaway has been asked to preform for several companies internationally across North America, including leading roles such as "The Nutcracker" Prince. He is now dancing with Ballet West and preparing to work internationally teaching for ballet summer intensives. ​

Redix, originally from Hot Springs Village, began dancing at age 5 and was competing on the regional and national level by age 8, during which time he received numerous awards for both solo and group performances. He was a member of the John Magnus International Ballet Competition RDA Southwest performance group of 2010 in Jackson, Miss.

Early in his training, he danced the roles of Fritz in "The Nutcracker" and John Smith in "Pocahontas." As a performing company member with Arkansas Festival Ballet, he performed the roles of Harlequin and Hungarian in "Coppelia," the Dew Drop Cavalier, Russian and the Prince in "The Nutcracker," John in "Peter Pan," the White Rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland," and Antonio in "Pinocchio," along with other corps roles. He now lives in the Kansas City area.

He was honored to be a part of the opening ceremonies for the Kaufman Center in Kansas City, where he performed in an excerpt from "West Side Story." He has also performed with the Lyric Opera, UMKC Conservatory Opera, and UMKC Conservatory of Dance. He has studied intensively with Joffrey in New York, North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte, Dance Educators of America in Las Vegas, The Royal Ballet, and the Kansas City Ballet. He attributes his early training to Andrea Pierkowski and his mentor, Edmond Cooper.

HSCDTC is the first organization to give the Hot Springs community an opportunity to generate and participate in its own production of a ballet featuring both local talent who have gone on to successful professional careers and children of all levels who are interested in the theater arts.

The organization's primary goal is to give young people of all ages and levels of skill opportunity to experience the art of theater and dance alongside professional performers, choreographers, directors and set designers in an environment conducive to inspire artistic growth.

Artistic director Edmond Cooper grew up locally, studied dance and theater, and went on to pursue and achieve a professional career nationally with Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Arizona, and the Southwest Ballet. He has performed principal and soloist roles in classical ballets, including "Coppelia," "Giselle" and "The Nutcracker." Cooper is a nationally recognized choreographer and has been a featured guest artist with regional and professional ballet companies for many years.

Call Five Star Dinner Theatre, 318-1600, or visit http://www.thefivestartheatre.com to purchase tickets.

For more information regarding the performance, email [email protected] or call 655-6815.

Entertainment on 04/17/2015

Upcoming Events