CSI is proud to present the Eugene Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker". Eugene Ballet Company’s The Nutcracker: For Many, A Dream Come True! The Eugene Ballet Company (EBC) brings The Nutcracker, Artistic Director Toni Pimble’s holiday ballet extravaganza, to our Wood River Valley where young dancers see their dream come true—performing on stage with professional dancers. EBC tours this show throughout the west performing one of the most popular ballet of all time. Starring in performance is Principal Dancer Yoshie Oshima paired with new EBC Principal Dancer Hirofumi Kitazume as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Pimble is very excited about new company members, “We have a very strong company this year, especially with the male corps”. Dreams of pirouettes with the Sugar Plum Fairy are sure to be in the heads and hearts of the young dancers joining EBC on this stage. From Baby Mice to Waltz of the Flowers, students from local ballet schools have been rehearsing weeks ahead to realize their dreams. Hilarie Neely, Footlight Dance Centre director volunteered to rehearse the kids since the company came September 1st to audition local dancers. “Involvement of local dance students is something we’ve always encouraged,” Pimble said. “The experiences with a professional company will be something they’ll remember for years to come, and give them inspiration beyond their dance studies.” EBC’s three new principal dancers, each bringing an exceptional level of skill and dedication to the art of ballet, are in the midst of their first experience of the EBC Nutcracker tour: Yamil Maldonado, from the U.S., and Hirofumi Kitazume and Yuki Beppu, from Japan. Yamil studied at The Sarasota Ballet School and won first place in the classical senior men’s division of the 2014 Youth Grand Prix in Atlanta, Georgia. Real-life couple Yuki and Hirofumi danced with the Atlantic City Ballet and Arts Ballet Theatre where they performed principal roles in The Nutcracker among others. (Full bios here: http://eugeneballet.org/artists.html) From classical ballet to cutting edge contemporary dance, Eugene Ballet Company exceeds audience expectations touring throughout the western United States. For more information, visit http://eugeneballet.org/about.html