Page 71 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2016

COASTTHEATRES Local theatre groups enrich Coast life
story by Lynn Lofton photo by John Stricklin
Local theaters add greatly to the lives of South Mississippi residents and enrich the cultural climate. The theater mix includes music, drama, comedy and dance. Among the several active community theaters are Ballet Theatre South, Biloxi Little Theatre, Gulfport Little Theatre, Center Stage, the Bay St. Louis Little Theater and the Walter Anderson
Players. The venerable Saenger Theatre in Biloxi hosts a variety of live performances of these local groups and visiting performers.
One local group, Ballet Theatre South, was begun in 1992 by Cheryl Black of Gulfport. She is dedicated to bringing ballet to the area
and operates a ballet school as part of Ballet Theatre South. Since 1998, Ballet Theatre South has presented the beloved holiday ballet, The Nutcracker, at the Saenger. The school holds open auditions for productions and has dancers from much farther than the immediate Gulf Coast who come for tryouts. “Last year we had close to 100 dancers try out,” Black said. “We try not to turn anyone away so we had to assign double for some parts.”
Each year guest artists are invited to perform with the local dance team and heighten the excitement of the performance.
Black says dance is growing in popularity locally and nationally.
She partly attributes that growth to television shows and movies about dancing. “We’ve seen a big increase in tryouts and Nutcracker attendance,” she said. “Young people are excited about dancing. They see an opportunity to participate and to see live productions. They learn so much from dance. It’s a disciplined art form.”
Ballet theatre
school
Ballet • Jazz • Lyrical • Contemporary
Ages 3 - Adult
Cheryl Dawson Black, Director
registration for 2016-2017
New Student Registration
Friday, August 5, 2016 - 3:00 - 6:00pm Saturday, August 6, 2016 - 10:00am - 1:00pm
9334 Three rivers rd • Gulfport, ms 39503 (behind walmart) • 228.822.0490
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May 2016 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 71