A&A BALLET
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A&A Ballet accolades and press coverage around Chicagoland and within the ballet community including Chicago Parent, Mommy Poppins, Theatre in Chicago, Theater Mania, Broadway World, Patch.com, The Dance Enthusiast, Dance Informa and The Daily Herald to name a few.
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Another preview performance aired on Fox32 Chicago's Noon News.
Chicago Readers' Kerry Reid (Ghost Light) sat down with Tatiana Chen (Cinderella) and Amber Neumann (Stepmother) about their upcoming performance in A&A Ballet's Cinderella.
Jordan Hatfield of ABC57 in South Bend, IN interviewed Niles, MI natives and Cinderella 2024 leads Amber Neumann and Jasper Keck for "Arts & Acts"
The Leader Publications' Max Harden talked with Niles, MI natives and Cinderella ballet leads Amber Neumann (Stepmother) and Jasper Keck (Prince Charming) about how they began dancing, found their way to A&A Ballet and their upcoming performance of Cinderella.
Sasha-Ann Simons hosts three female lead dancers in A&A Ballet's Art Deco Nutcracker to talk about diversity in ballet.
The multicultural cast in A&A Ballet’s The Art Deco Nutcracker at the Athenaeum include three leads who are African American (Shania Cook), Persian American (Rozhan Shabahang) and Asian American (Tatiana Chen).
Hilary Decent of the Chicago Tribune interviews Tatiana Chen of Naperville on diversity in dance and performing the role of Sugar Plum Fairy in A&A Ballet's Art Deco Nutcracker.
CHICAGO — In the world of amateur ballet, each year has a familiar rhythm. Ballet academies hold auditions for “The Nutcracker” in the fall, and as winter approaches the young dancers learn how to be toy soldiers, or angels, or mice. Shortly before Christmas, when the ballet takes place, it’s time to perform.
This year, with the pandemic raging, many ballet schools dropped the tradition altogether. But an academy in downtown Chicago, owned by a pair of Russian ballet instructors who ran the Joffrey Academy of Dance for years, decided that they would figure out a way to mount a “Nutcracker” — no matter how complicated it got.
Experience an afternoon pajama party like no other. Enjoy the magical journey of music, dance and storytelling with A&A Ballet's upcoming performance of the famous Coppélia and the world premiere ballet of Sleepover at the Museum!
Do you have little ballerinas or danseurs with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads? Then it might be time to pirouette to a production of "The Nutcracker" ballet near Chicago this holiday season. Presented by students and professionals all across Chicagoland, the holiday classic of "The Nutcracker" ballet tells the story of a little girl who dreams that her toy nutcracker comes to life. Ballet companies and schools throughout the world each have their own twist on the story, many with elaborate sets and costumes that give kids and grown-ups the decadent feeling of the holidays. Tchaikovsky's score is one that many parents who once took dance lessons can still hum from memory.
Trinity Santoro not only knows at 14 that she wants to be a professional ballet dancer, but she has already picked out the companies with which she wants to dance: New York’s American Ballet Theatre or London’s Royal Ballet.
In the summer of 2016, Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik formed A&A Ballet. The husband and wife team, originally from Russia, had just lost their positions as directors at the Joffrey Academy and Studio Company. According to Kremnev, the Joffrey Ballet opted to restructure the student division and pre-professional programs, eliminating both their positions in the process. A few months later, the couple launched a summer intensive to generate income, promoting their workshops on Facebook. And over three years, A&A has developed into a thriving studio with an elite pre-professional conservatory and a youth performance company.
Twelve-year-old Mikaela Cameron, from Manhattan, has been dancing since she was 2.
Cameron recently competed in the 2022 Youth America Grand Prix International Ballet Competition in Paris, France, winning the Youth Grand Prix Award in the junior category. She won the top prize in both the contemporary and classical categories. The Youth Grand Prix award is given for the best overall performance in the junior age division.
Cameron is preparing to dance the lead role of Clara in Chicago-based A&A Ballet’s original interpretation of the Art Deco Nutcracker.
If nothing else, the holiday events calendar is proof that live performance is back. Pandemic programming is readapted for stage, while Christmas classics go all in for extended runs that look closer to “normal” than we’ve seen in three years. Here is our guide for putting a little extra cheer into the rest of the year.
From art deco to hip-hop to an immersive experience, “The Nutcracker” remains a holiday dance favorite.
It's one of the world's most beloved ballets, and quite often the first ballet experience for children. It's the Nutcracker - and if you're thinking about taking your kids to see it this year, you've got plenty of options to choose from! Here's a roundup of the best Chicago Nutcracker productions, in order of show start date. Get your tickets now before they're sold out!
Press Kit
Download Press Release: Coppélia and the world premiere ballet of Sleepover at the Museum
Download Performance Alert: Art Deco Nutcracker 2022
A&A Ballet welcomes inquiries from media.
Please contact Jennifer Fortney, jfortney@cascadecomms.com