Near Capacity Crowd Takes in Civic Dance Center’s Version of the Nutcracker

Civic Dance Center in Portage presented its rendition of the Nutcracker Ballet on Saturday Dec. 15. It is an annual time honored tradition for Civic to tell the classic story through dance.

It is an amazing performance time and time again with new cast every year. The principal dancers this year were Lisa Fralinger (The Red Rose), Clairissa Tokash (The Snow Queen), Rachel Stewart (Sugar Plum Fairy), Anabelle Tokash (The Rat King and Chinese Principal), Katelynn Hughes (The Spanish Principal), Amanda Childress (The Russian Principal), Lydia Gerike (Chinese Principal) Kristy Polster & Justin Anderson (Arabian Principals). The stars of the show were Abigail Clemmons as Clara and Rosaida Rosado as both the Prince and Madame Ginger.

"Everyone loves a good holiday show. It's a great way to showcase how talented these kids are and it's quite extraordinary for a local business and school to put on such a lavish performance," Portage High School Auditorium Director Kevin Giese said.

"Civic Dance Center's Nutcracker Ballet is an amazing performance and it really brings the ballet to Portage," Cyndee Tokash, who is a parent, class instructor and a performer, said.

"It was a fantastic show that went above and beyond last year’s performance. It seems to get better every year. Miss Natalie [Kolosci] puts her heart and soul into this production and it shows through every one of the dancers," Melvin and Kristie Broughman said.

Kolosci, who has been participating in the Nutcracker ballet for many years, was incredibly pleased with the way the cast was able to pull together following a rocky dress rehearsal on Friday night.

“I didn’t think these students were going to pull it off,” Kolosci said. “However, the Saturday show was so super; I even cried from excitement. The students certainly pulled it off for me, themselves and family and friends.”

Kolosci hopes to eventually reach the goal of making the Nutcracker a field trip for all Portage Township Schools.

“I’ve done that with Star Plaza and want to continue the possibility for our city’s children- give them some artistic culture to appreciate what we have to offer here in Portage,” she said.

Click here for more great photos from Saturday's performance!