Catch our ballet students in this weekend's Gaspar Ballet

Many students in our ballet programs are gearing up for pirate festivities this weekend. No, they won’t be parading down Bayshore. They’ll be pirouetting on stage in Ferguson Hall in this Sunday’s Gaspar Ballet.

Lilly Strieder in The Nutcracker in Dec., 2010

Lilly Strieder, 16, is thrilled to be sharing the stage with principal dancers from New York and Philadelphia.

“It’s so spectacular getting to see professionals dance every day,” said Strieder, of Indian Rocks Beach, who joined the Patel Conservatory Youth Ballet a year and a half ago.

Strieder auditioned for the Gaspar Ballet last August and earned a part in the ensemble. Also in the show are dancers from Next Generation Ballet and across Tampa Bay. The show is a reincarnation of the ballet by Christopher Fleming that premiered here at the Straz Center (then the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) in 1994.

"It's got a lot of sword fighting," said Strieder. "The rehearsals are long, but this is only for a few weeks."

Strieder's had to take the last two weeks off from school for the rehearsal schedule. She does her school work in the evenings and on breaks.

“I think I’m going to be here until 9 o’clock tonight,” she said on her lunch break this afternoon. But she doesn’t mind the hours. “It’s definitely more fun than being at school.

“Just watching [the principals] is inspirational.”


The show will be this Sunday, Jan. 30 at 2 and 7 p.m.