Illuminating Beautiful Dancing by Lumiere Ballet

Over 100 attendees filled the large auditorium at the Garden City Public Library on Thursday to see the Lumiere Ballet work their magic on stage with their performances of Snowmaiden and Swan Lake. Children and adults alike were enthralled by the brilliant performance of the dance troupe.

Julia Sollin, a 13-year-old from Garden City who is a student of Jean Kogut, said, "The girls are talented. Just by looking at their form I can tell they could all be professionals one day."

The Glynn girls from Babylon were excited to see their sister, Emma, perform on stage. They handed out programs with Michaelena Fields-Ferraro. 

The Lumiere Ballet is headed up by Svetlana Caton-Noble, the founder and artistic director. She is the choreographer of story ballets Hansel and Gretel, the Snowmaiden and others. Caton-Noble is a former soloist with the Royal Ballet of Belgium, and also trained with the Russian Imperial Theater. She is teaching her students the intensive Russian School International Curriculum.

Venti Petrov is the other artistic director of Lumiere Ballet. He is the choreographer of Bach Air and Le Cid. Petrov is a graduate of the Sophia National Choreographie Institute in Bulgaria, and he has won several international ballet competitions.

Petrov's and Caton-Noble's mission with the ballet group is "to uplift the human spirit through the beauty of classical ballet and fulfill the artistic and technical needs of talented youngsters."

The first performance of the afternoon was Snowmaiden. It was choreographed by Caton-Noble. Spring was played by Aina Tadokoro, with Nana Tadokoro as the Snowmaiden, the daughter of Father Frost and mother Spring. 

The second ballet was Swan Lake, with music by the Russian composer, Tchaikovsky. It is an 1894 dance based on a Russian folk tale of a princess named Odette who is turned into a swan by a sorcerer. According to Canton-Noble, "The ballet was performed in St. Petersburg, Russia. Tchaikovsky composed Swan Lake instead of the usual ballet composer. The idea of a swan isn't new, and has been in other fairy tales and legends." 

The piece was choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Petipa is considered the "father of classical ballet," according to the Ballet Foundation. In this performance, Prince Siegfried was played by Venti Petrov. Odette was played by Aina Tadokoro.

A Garden City resident exclaimed, "I've seen Swan Lake many times and this is excellent."

The graceful and expressive Aina Tadokoro is the principal dancer of the Lumiere Ballet. At 19, the Central Islip native has won a number of ballet awards with her classical ballet repertoire. 

Tadokoro has a big fan in Joan Fitzsimons from Garden City, who said, "I could see her at Lincoln Center."

The audience was treated to a solo performance by the young Fern Pasternak in La Esmeralda, also choreographed by Petipa.

Amy Graffeo from Franklin Square has taken dance for many years and said, "It was enjoyable and well-put together. The body language and the footwork were great."

Additional members were Tatiana Ferraro, Emma Glynn, Jasmine Gobourne, Michaela Macauley, Fern Pasternak and Alexa Serrano, with all in the dance troupe well-versed in ballet dance vocabulary.

Program coordinator Barbara Minerd, of the Friends of the Garden City Public Library, said, "Snowmaiden is a great treat after a hot summer. This is the first program sponsored by the Friends of the Garden City Public Library," with more to come this season.

For upcoming events at the library, visit www.GardenCityPL.org.