Area dancers audition to perform in summer SPAC ballets

"Glissade, assemblé, changement, changement."
Student after student in leotard and tights, each with a green paper number pinned to his or her chest, glided and leaped under the discriminating eye of Garielle Whittle, the children’s ballet mistress for the New York City Ballet.

Student after student in leotard and tights, each with a green paper number pinned to his or her chest, glided and leaped under the discriminating eye of Garielle Whittle, the children’s ballet mistress for the New York City Ballet.

Whittle, who danced with NYCB for 14 years before becoming a faculty member in 1983, dictated the combination over and over Sunday at the National Museum of Dance as 99 local children auditioned for Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s summer performances of Firebird and Coppélia. Both Balanchine ballets call for dozens of children in the roles of pages, flag-bearers, princesses and villagers. Kids who make the cut will rehearse for two weeks this summer with Whittle and NYCB cast members before performing at SPAC in July.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to perform with stars of ballet,” said Raul Martinez, director of the School of the Arts at the museum of dance. “Even if they just stand and hold a candle, their names are going to be in the program. If they go on to careers in ballet, this will help them,” he said.

Whittle said she looks for young dancers who have grace and who can quickly remember the exercise she teaches at the start of the audition. Height is also an important factor in her decisions.

“Coppélia is quite difficult,” Whittle said. “Firebird is more about the beautiful music; there’s not as much dancing. If they get chosen, it’s a chance to really immerse themselves in Balanchine.”

This year marks the 35th anniversary of SPAC’s commission of Coppélia. The comic ballet about a life-sized dancing doll, Coppélia, was originally choreographed in Paris in 1870 and later reworked by George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova for the New York City Ballet. That version premiered at SPAC in 1974.

Burnt Hills native William Halm, age 9, landed the role of a page in the Firebird ballet. While it was Halm’s first audition, the Saratoga City Ballet student has been dancing for six years.

“When it was closer to my turn, I got more nervous,” he said as he changed from ballet slippers to street shoes. “I’m very excited.”

Twelve-year-old Rebecca Tibbatts, of Saratoga Springs, was back for her fourth audition, after scoring a part in a SPAC performance in 2006.

“Mainly my family encouraged me to come back,” she said. “I’ve improved at Saratoga City Ballet. I’ve learned to be confident. If you’re not, they won’t notice you as well.” Her confidence served her well Sunday, as she nabbed the role of a fruit girl in Firebird.

For parents waiting anxiously outside the studios, the audition was an opportunity for their kids to get some experience, whether they were chosen for a part or not.

“You need to take advantage of the opportunities this area offers,” said Wendy Besch of West Sand Lake, who was waiting while her son Tucker, age 10, auditioned. “It’s hard to live here and not at least think about (ballet).”