Tickets are now on sale through Gasper’s School of Dance for our upcoming production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Performances are Friday, March 29 at 7pm and Saturday, March 30 at 2pm and 7pm.Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students.
Call 701-234-9440 for tickets and more information.
NOTE: the phone number on the poster is incorrect, please call 701-234-9440.
Thank you to everyone who auditioned for our spring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was a wonderful turn out and so great to see both NEW and old faces! Welcome to the cast. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed on March 29th & 30th, 2013 at the Historic Fargo Theatre in Downtown Fargo.
IF you made the cast, please find the rehearsal schedule is on the bulletin board at Gasper’s School of Dance. We are also excited to welcome Ballet Mistress Ms. Liisa Locker back to the stage and once again Artistic Director Matt Gasper will be dancing on the stage.
Puck: Lorna Beth Caton
Hippolyta: Liisa Locker
Theseus: Justin Hiem
Hermia: Grace Duginski
Helena: Mara Brust
Lysander: Grant Skrove
Demetrius: Mark Radcliffe
The Mechanicals: Jason Diers, Mateo Leslie, Christian Frank, Erin Sillers, Jadyn Huseby
Oberon – Matt Gasper
Titania – Rachel Wells
Titinia’s Attendants
Meghan Cogdill
Kayla Dahlke
Camille Federowich
Alexa Puppo
Ava Hill
Carley Spiese
Reka Leeaphon
Mia Miller
Teah Poyner
Valeria Chavez
Jessie Johnson
Sadie Sheppard
Forest Fairies
Group A: Sophia Plageman, Maia Jensen, Mirabelle Enz, Taelyn Alm , Vivian Wilson, Reagan Pederson, Charlie Nelson, Mary Beth Porter, Dylan Johnson
Group B: Paige Schulz, Elsebeth Nelson, Camille Miller, Elizabeth J Bertel, Caliegh Gabriel, Karra Peterson, Teagan Lancaster, Emma Kulla, Grace Dorsher, Koral Salsbury
Group C: Ellie Noah, Oksana Svidersky, Emma Astrup, Ari Sykes, Brianna Martin, Makayla Finlinson
Congratulations!
Guest Performer, Ms. Mikal
We are just days away from our opening production of the season, the Classic Nutcracker. Our company of 18, guest dancers, Artistic Director, Ballet Mistress and production crew have been working hard these past few months to provide a beautiful show for the FM Region and beyond. This group of dancers are beyond excited to move to the stage and share this piece of work with the audience. This is the first time the FM Ballet is producing the Classic Nutcracker and it will not be the last. We look forward to bringing this production to the FM audience each and every year.
The Classic Nutcracker opens Friday, December 14. The show runs this weekend only. Friday, December 14 (7pm) and Saturday, December 15 (2pm & 7pm) at NDSU Reineke Festival Hall. Tickets available online (NDSU Fine Arts Box Office), by phone (701) 231-7969 or at the door. If you have any questions please call Gasper’s School of Dance at (701) 234-9440.
Princpal Dancer, Grace, Soars
NOTE: There is a Bison Football game Friday evening. Please plan your travel to the theatre accordingly, Friday night ballet goers.
We hope this becomes one of your new holiday traditions, as it is becoming one of ours.
The FM Ballet is a non-profit, professional ballet company. We have 18 dancers in the company this season and we are funded by community donations and grants. Find out more about who we are and about our company members on our website. Our spring production will be A Midsummer Nights Dream. We will be holding open auditions for various parts in January.
We are excited to welcome Mikal Kenfield as a guest artist this year. Mikal has been apart of the company since 2006. She had a baby this past spring and is committing more time to her family this season. We are happy to have her still dance with the company and perform as the Sugarplum Fairy in our upcoming production of the Classic Nutcracker.
MIKAL KENFIELD began dancing at the age of four in her hometown of Missoula, MT. She studied at both the Garden City Ballet and the Missoula Dance Academy, and appeared in numerous productions, including Coppelia, La Boutique Fantastique, and The Nutcracker. Upon graduating from high school, Mikal moved to Moorhead to attend Concordia College, receiving her degree in Social Studies Education in 2003. She has been dancing in the Fargo-Moorhead area since 1999 and found a home with the Fargo-Moorhead Ballet in 2006. Her background is largely ballet and jazz based, and she loves taking class to broaden her dance knowledge and technique. Mikal has coached and choreographed for the MSUM Dance Team, and choreographs Concordia’s Welcome Show each year. While a member of the FM Ballet, Mikal has performed in Tubby the Tuba, Peter and the Wolf, Spooky Ballets, Dicken’s Danced, Firebird and Sleeping Beauty.
RACHEL WELLS is pleased to be back with the Fargo Moorhead Ballet for her sixth season and has enjoyed watching the company grow over the years. In addition to her training in Fargo, Rachel has also studied at Colorado Ballet and Lexington Ballet in recent summers. Rachel loves dance of all types, including jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, and of course, ballet, and has also been known to take the occasional Pilates and yoga classes. Some of Rachel’s favorite productions with the Fargo Moorhead Ballet have been Dracula, Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker, and Firebird. Rachel graduated from NDSU in the Spring of 2012 with a BA in history, and is taking time to decide what she wants to do when she grows up.
Mr. Matt and Mrs. Gasper (and now Miss Liisa) are absolutely wonderful people to work with; They expect a lot out of you, but in return, create amazing choreography and push their dancers to excel beyond their own expectations.
Lacey is an absolutely amazing photographer, a talented and resourceful marketing expert, and supports the company through anything that might happen, good or bad.
The ladies and gentlemen in the company are fantastic! The atmosphere is positive and encouraging, and we all help each other improve and support each other. Everyone has a good sense of humor, likes to have fun, and are generally delightful to be around. Not to mention everyone is really smart!
Q. What activities do you engage in outside of dance?
A. Right now, I am working at Three Lyon’s Pub in West Fargo, and causing general mayhem. I love being outside in the (too-short) summers; I ride my bicycle all over town when I’m not at the studio and putz around the garden making general improvements. Oh, and knitting. I love knitting.
Q. What do you look most forward too in the 2012-2013 FM Ballet Season?
A. I think this season will be the best yet! It’s so encouraging how many new people auditioned for the company this year. All the new people will help the company continue to grow and improve artistically and technically. I think the ballet company is a wonderful addition to the community. This season will be highly pleasing to our audience members of all ages. I can’t wait to play in all the lands of the Nutcracker and bring the magic of a Midsummer Night’s Dream to life.
Q. What is something quirky about yourself that you would like to share with us?
A. I feel like we could pick and choose here…I have an xbox 360, and I love to play video games. I read science fiction, especially things with sword fighting or space drama, though not usually together. That would be odd, indeed. And of course, knitting. A lot of the company knits or crochets. Last year, we had knitting club on Tuesday evenings, and it was an extremely good opportunity to hang out outside of the studio, chat, share our projects, and learn new things.
GRACE DUGINSKI has studied ballet since the age of three under the Gasper’s. Over the years, she gradually added jazz, tap, contemporary, and pointe work, as well as assisting tap and ballet classes for young children. The 2012-2013 season marks Grace’s fourth year with the company, doing soloist work before being promoted to principal last year. When not at the ballet barre, Grace enjoys an active membership in the band program at Moorhead High, including sitting first chair as a flute in the wind ensemble, being a section leader in marching band, and playing in pep band. She also enjoys literature, foreign languages, photography, film, and purposefully mismatching her socks.
GABRIELA BAIERLE is a graduate student at North Dakota State University, currently pursuing a Masters of Architecture after having received her Bachelor of Environmental Design in May of 2012. Born and raised in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, Gabriela has been dancing for the past 18 years and is thrilled to begin her second season with the Fargo-Moorhead Ballet. She is trained primarily in ballet, however her background goes from classical ballet to modern jazz to hip hop to contemporary,. While dancing in Brazil, Gabriela participated in nationally-recognized ballet and jazz competitions for several years, with Ballet Margo Brusa and Endança Jazz & Co. During her time in Fargo, she had the honor to participate in productions such as FM Opera’s Hansel & Gretel, Moscow Ballet’s The Nutcracker, and most recently FM Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty.
Q. How long have you trained as a dancer, what styles are you trained in, and what is your favorite style of dance?
A. I have been dancing since I was three years old, mainly in classical ballet. For a couple of years, I took a break from ballet and tried modern jazz and hip-hop. My favorite is still ballet, even though jazz was really fun.
Q. How long have you danced with the Fargo Moorhead Ballet company?What is your favorite thing about being in the company?
A. This is my second season with the company. I participated with the 2010-2011 company as a part of the corps de ballet. My favorite thing is that it is a great escape valve for me, considering I am a full-time graduate student. I love being able to focus on ballet for a little while before having to get back into my coursework.
Q. What activities do you engage in outside of dance?
A. Graduate school, studying architecture. I also work as an architectural intern and a graduate research assistant for my Department at NDSU.
Q. What do you look most forward to in the 2012-2013 FM Ballet Season?
A. I am very excited to join the company as a principal member, as well as to participate in The Nutcracker performance. I am also looking forward to having Miss Liisa as our ballet mistress.
Q. What is something quirky about yourself that you would like to share with us?
A. I get scared extremely easy! If someone is standing right by me and I notice them suddenly, I will jump right up. It’s quite ridiculous.
CAMILLE FEDEROWICH has been dancing since the age of five. She is now entering her third year of dance at Gasper’s School of Dance. Camille is also in her third year with the FM Ballet and second year on the Gasper’s competition team. Camille danced in Los Angeles with Dance Excellence and was able to perform at Disney Land in 2006. Camille has studied with the Balanchine style of Ballet during the summer of 2009 in Taos, New Mexico. In the summer of 2010, Camille spent two months in Salt Lake City with Ballet West, where she met some of the dancers of the show Breaking Point.
Camille has a love of the Chinese language and has hopes of studying abroad in China some day. She also loves art and drawing. Camille was born in Canada and still has many family members still in Winnipeg. Camille has hopes to go to college and some day open and run her own dance studio.
KAYLA DAHLKE, originally from Eagan, MN, is in her third year at North Dakota State University studying Radiological Science with a minor in Psychology. She so excited to be returning to the Fargo Moorhead Ballet Company for her second year and continue growing in the genre of ballet as a soloist. Starting recreational dance at the age of three, she did not see herself one day becoming a professional. Then at the age of nine she took her training to the competitive level and found her love of dance. She competed at regional and national levels with Dyan’s World of Dance and Studio 4 Dancers in jazz, tap, lyrical and musical theatre. Once she reached high school, she then competed with her high school dance team, Eastview Lightning Dance Team which went on to place in the top three at the statewide competition five times. After graduating and coming to college she continued her passion of dancing for the NDSU Bison Dance team which went on to place second and fourth at the UDA nationals in Orlando, FL. Last year, while taking dance classes through school, is where she met Mr. Matt Gasper and then began her career with the Fargo Moorhead Ballet Company and into this year, part of the Gasper’s School of Dance staff.
MEGHAN COGDILL has been dancing in the FM community since the age of four. She started dancing at Gasper’s School of Dance & Performing Arts in middle school and found herself in the FM Ballet Company shortly after. Meghan is a freshman at in college at Concordia College, Moorhead this year and is now spending a majority of her time studying. She is majoring in nutrition and English literature. When Meghan can get away from the books and isn’t at dance, she enjoys baking and traveling.
Q. How long have you trained as a dancer, what styles are you trained in, and what is your favorite style of dance?
A. I have trained as a dancer since the age of four. I have studied many styles of dance including jazz, tap, and ballet. I could not pick a favorite style because I love them all and each for a different reason.
Q. How long have you danced with the Fargo Moorhead Ballet company? What is your favorite thing about being in the company?
A. This will be my fifth year with the FM Ballet Company. My favorite thing about the company is bonding as a group of dancers and creating a mini ballet family.
Q. What activities do you engage in outside of dance?
A. Outside of dance I enjoy attempting to be crafty, backing, reading, and traveling.
Q. What do you look most forward too in the 2012-2013 FM Ballet Season?
A. I look forward to performing the nutcracker with a great group of dancers.
Q. What is something quirky about yourself that you would like to share with us?
A. One quirky trait of mine is that I love socks- festive socks being my particular favorite.
