From Rehearsal to Center Stage: Russian Ballet Academy Presents Nutcracker in Sykesville

Svetlana Kravtsova, owner and director of L’Toile Russian Ballet Academy, does not speak the same language as her students, but she does have one thing in common with them – a love for ballet.

“I enjoy my students but it is very hard for us because we are minorities here we don’t have very good English but we have people who help us a lot and that helps us to be able to share our knowledge with our students,” said Kravtsova whose husband Vadim Pijicov serves as the ballet master at L’Toile.

Kravtsova, a former principal soloist at the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Republic of Moldova, is presenting her second Nutcracker performance with her five-year-old studio this Saturday at in Sykesville, bringing the holiday classic to life with the help of professional guest artists.

Two professional dancers from The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Company will join the students with soloist Violeta Angelova dancing the role of the Sugar Plum and principal Michael Cook dancing the role of the Cavalier.

“This year we have beautiful guest dancers from The Suzanne Farrell Ballet and we have new roles in our performance and new props and new costumes for some pieces so we continue to improve,” said Kravtsova.

While L’Toile Russian Ballet Academy is located in Ellicott City, restrictions on theatre usage forced Kravtsova to look in Carroll County for a theatre.

“In Howard County it’s very strict, very hard to make plans,” said Kravtsova. “There are limited possibilities and it’s very hard to negotiate. I need special permission from the board and it takes six or seven months, I cannot wait six months to get a yes or no.”

“We are very happy that we have the opportunity to perform at Century High School because the stage is absolutely beautiful and the people there help us a lot,” said Kravtsova. “There will be high school students who will do stage crew and they did a great job last year. We are very happy to be able to do it again there this year.”

The Russian Ballet Academy of Maryland presents The Nutcracker at Century High School on Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Find more information on tickets here.