UNCSA’s heralded production of The Nutcracker received rave reviews from critics and enthusiastic audiences in previous years.  Directed by Ethan Stiefel, former Dean of the UNCSA School of Dance and now artistic director for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the 2011 production of The Nutcracker remains one of the most-anticipated Triad holiday traditions.

Douglas Gawriljuk, a faculty member of the UNCSA School of Dance, will supervise the 2011 production of The Nutcracker.  Douglas will be assisted by his colleagues Warren Conover, Dayna Fox and Susan McCullough of the UNCSA School of Dance.  Guest artists Ana Sofia Scheller (Soloist, NYC Ballet) and Gonzalo Garcia (Principal, NYC Ballet) will dance the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier Prince at the performances on December 10 at 7:30 pm and December 11 at 2 pm.  (Note to editors:  additional information on Gawriljuk, Scheller and Garcia below)

The immensely popular Tchaikovsky Nutcracker ballet music will be performed by the UNCSA Nutcracker Orchestra under the musical direction of special guest conductor Charles Barker, who is the Principal Conductor for the American Ballet Theatre.  Three members of the UNCSA School of Dance faculty – Nigel Burley, Warren Conover and Susan McCullough – worked with Stiefel on the new choreography for The Nutcracker that has delighted audiences. Since 2009, lighting for The Nutcracker has been by ABT Resident Lighting Designer and UNCSA School of Design & Production alumnus Brad Fields and new set pieces were designed by UNCSA Design & Production faculty member Howard Jones.  New costumes were designed by Kathryn E. Grillo and Carolyn Fay, staff at the UNCSA Dance Costume Shop.

ABOUT DOUGLAS GAWRILJUK
Born in Brazil, Douglas Gawriljuk was trained by his father, Ruslan Gawriljuk, and also took the exams of the Royal Academy of Dance in London, England, where he graduated with honors in September 1986. From 1988 through 1990, he attended the School of American Ballet in New York.  As professional dancer, Gawriljuk’s repertoire includes the classics and contemporary works by today’s leading choreographers. Gawriljuk joined Miami City Ballet as a principal dancer from 1993-1998 and later in 1999. His special performances with Miami City Ballet include tours to The Spoleto Festival, The Edinburgh Festival, The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga., The Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Wolftrap’s 25th anniversary and the 1997 Next Step gala.  From 2006-09, he danced for Ballet Florida under the artistic direction of Marie Hale, and retired from his dancing career.

ABOUT THE GUEST ARTISTS
Ana Sofia Scheller was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began her dance training when she was six years old at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colon, where her principal teachers were Katy Gallo and Raúl Candal. She received a scholarship as part of Argentina's National Presidential Prize for Cultural Excellence in Classical Dance for three consecutive years before moving to New York at age 13 to enroll as a full time student at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in January 2000. At SAB, Scheller danced featured roles in Ballo della Regina and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (Balanchine) and Aurora in the wedding pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty (Martins) in SAB's 2002 and 2003 Workshop Performances. Scheller joined American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company in August 2003, and joined New York City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2004. In December 2006, she was promoted to Soloist.

Gonzalo Garcia is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet.  Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Garcia began studying ballet at the age of eight at Maria Avila’s school.  In 1995, he attended the summer session at San Francisco Ballet School.  Following this session, Garcia participated in the Prix de Lausanne, becoming the youngest dancer to receive a gold medal.  He then returned to the School to resume his studies and was selected by Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet, to perform in a world premiere ballet created especially for the 1996 Spring Student Showcase.  Garcia joined San Francisco Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in March 1998.  In 2000, he was promoted to soloist, and in 2002 to principal dancer.  Garcia was invited to perform Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina with New York City Ballet as part of the Company’s Balanchine Centennial Celebration in 2004.  Garcia joined New York City Ballet in October of 2007 as a principal dancer.

ABOUT UNCSA
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established as the North Carolina School of the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, UNCSA opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from high school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. UNCSA is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. UNCSA is located at 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

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