Scenes from HGCBT's holiday performance "A Christmas Carol" December 7 and 8, 2012
Photos © Paolo Galli, 2012. More than 8,000 HGCBT photos, including over 2,000 from "A Christmas Carol," are available for review and purchase at www.paologalli.net

HGCBT is Growing in the Community 

On April 14, 21 dancers from Poolesville’s Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre performed for residents of The Village of Rockville retirement community. The dancers, ages seven to seventeen, presented several classical ballet variations as well as dances from their upcoming production of The Jungle Book, an original adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic, which will be performed on June first at Poolesville High School. As part of its mission, Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre, which was founded in 2008 under the artistic direction of Fran Ichijo, goes into the community to educate and inspire audiences of all ages with high quality ballet performances. At the conclusion of this event dancers presented audience members with carnations as a token of appreciation. The performance was received with enthusiasm and the ballet theatre was invited to return for future engagements. VIEW PHOTOS 

HGCBT Performs at International Night
On March 1st Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre participated in Monocacy Elementary School’s “International Night,” a celebration of cultures from around the world. Our dancers performed three famous pieces; The Scarf Dance from “La Bayadere,” a story from India; the Italian tale of Harlequin and Columbine, and a French Gypsy dance from “La Esmeralda.” The audience was very impressed with the quality of the dancing, and cheers broke out when one of the dancers was recognized as a Monocacy student. The event was a wonderful opportunity to show how the universal art of ballet can be translated into so many cultures.  

HGCBT's "A Chrstmas Carol": A New Holiday Tradition
There’s a new production in town to compete with the various Nutcrackers, light displays, and holiday shows. For the second year now, the Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theater (HGCBT) has staged its own version of “A Christmas Carol,” that fuses dance, acting, and music to create a gem of this classic Dickens tale. Fran Ichijo, HGCBT artistic director, choreographed the ballet, beautifully telling the tale of a greedy, old man who finally learns the true meaning of Christmas. 
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Classic Ballet Meets Country Music in HGCBT's "Pas de Dudes"
With Pas de Dudes, this spring’s performance by Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre, Choreographer and Artistic Dirtector Fran displayed her talent to take a timeless art form and make it captivating to an unusually diverse audience. Pas de Dudes celebrated men in dance, often to the beat of today’s country music, and balanced stunning ballet with other dance forms, including contemporary and even hip-hop!
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About Hope Garden Children's Ballet Theatre
Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre (HGCBT) is a recently-launched non-profit organization created to provide performance opportunities to not only the students of Hope Garden Ballet Academy, but to any classical dancers in the region who wish to display their talents.
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