Ballet Theatre Company Announces Roman Baca, as Artistic Director for the 9th Annual Nutcracker Performance

West Hartford, CT, July 22, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Ballet Theatre Company (BTC) is very pleased to announce that Roman Baca, Director of New York City based Exit 12 Dance Company and a former Marine, deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2005, will be the Artistic Director for the 9th annual performances of BTC’s 2010 Nutcracker.

For the past eight years BTC has held its winter performance of The Nutcracker at the Carol Autorino Center for the Arts and Humanities at Saint Joseph College and this year they are very proud to have Roman assuming the role of Artistic Director. “This is an exciting opportunity for me to partner with Ballet Theatre Company and work with such a talented group of students who will have the opportunity to dance with world-class professional dancers to deliver this year’s Nutcracker,” said Mr. Baca. As Artistic Director of Exit 12 Dance Company, Mr. Baca leads a group of talented, professional dancers who perform throughout the northeast. Drawing on Mr. Baca’s experience as a Marine, Exit 12 strives to link classical and contemporary ballet, personal experience and human emotion.

“I have been working with Roman for the past four years. He is loved by students, parents, and the teachers of Ballet Theatre Academy,” said BTC Executive Director, Tracy Dorman. “Roman is a professional who successfully combines rigor and discipline with a delightful passion for dance. He is a very talented dancer and director, always able to bring out the best performance from everyone.”

Roman’s association with Ballet Theatre Company includes performing in the 2007 and 2008 BTC Nutcracker performances and teaching at Ballet Theatre Academy (BTA, the teaching arm of BTC). In addition, he has directed a number of performances with BTC including La Bayadère and Homecoming, a poignant piece set to actual letters written to loved ones in Iraq, at BTC’s 2010 Spring Repertory in May, where he artfully incorporated BTA students with his Exit 12 dancers. Roman has also been active in the local community, outside of dance. Earlier this spring, at the Bugbee Elementary School in West Hartford, Connecticut, he delivered an age appropriate yet moving talk about his experiences in Iraq, the meaning behind Memorial Day, how to honor the sacrifice by living a great life, and how to fight battles with kindness.

Mr. Baca graduated from the Nutmeg Conservatory and majored in dance at the University of New Mexico, where he was honored to be a dancer in Anthony Tudor's Dark Elegies set by Donald Mahler. Roman is also a recipient of a 2009 producing and presenting grant from the Ajkun Ballet Theatre, a 2010 Access Dance Scholarship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a Connecticut Veteran Wartime Medal.

This year’s BTC Nutcracker public performances will be held from December 16th through the 19th and tickets may be purchased on line from the dancebtc.org website. Auditions for the 2010 BTC Nutcracker will be held at the BTC dance studio located at 20 Jefferson Avenue, West Hartford, from noon until 7pm on Sunday August 29th, please see dancebtc.org for more information.

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Ballet Theatre Company enriches the greater Hartford community by offering professional caliber dance productions, dance education, and performance opportunities to all dancers ages 3 to adult. BTC is a friendly, welcoming, and creative environment offering ballet training supplemented by other dance disciplines. BTC programs are flexible and tailored to meet individual dancer needs.