Anniversary Party
Tickets: $10 individual
GHDT Nutcracker Alumni – Free – limit one ticket
To celebrate the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre’s 20th Season, The Nutcracker Anniversary Party will be held on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 1-2 p.m. at Pike Performing Arts Center, Indianapolis, Indiana prior to the 3 p.m. matinee performance of GHDT’s The Nutcracker.
Enjoy party punch, finger sandwiches, fresh fruits and vegetables along with delightful sweet treats. Each guest will receive a photo with select cast members and VIP admittance to the performance 15 minutes prior to the general admittance. Visit the holiday craft corner and holiday boutique. Enter to win a drawing for a special Nutcracker. This event is sponsored by Performance Services, Inc. and Dental TI.
GHDT’s all student production of The Nutcracker is a contemporary retelling of the classic tale, portraying Klara as a homeless orphan girl who discovers the true meaning of the season through the gift and giving spirit of a homeless man. The Nutcracker and the Nutcracker Anniversary Party are sure to add joy and cheer to your Holiday Season!
Click here for tickets to The Nutcracker!
Tickets on Sale Now!
Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre is celebrating its 20th Season! To kickoff this exciting anniversary, the company is presenting “CELEBRATION!” on September 22 & 23 at The Tarkington in Carmel, Indiana. Artistic Director and Choreographer Gregory Hancock selected “classic” pieces from 20 years of repertoire for the company to perform. An audience favorite, “Bolero” will return to the stage as well as “1968” – both retrieved from the masterpiece archives. The concert will feature drama, precision and high energy dancing and will provide an amazing experience for everyone!
Join us in celebrating the 20th GHDT Season! All performances begin at 7 p.m. Tickets can be bought by clicking here, or by calling The Tarkington box office at 317-843-3800.
Season Tickets
Do you plan on coming to see all of GHDT’s shows this season at The Tarkington? Season tickets are now available! Buying a season ticket saves you 10% off the regular ticket pricing for the three Tarkington performances. Season tickets are NOT available online, and can be purchased by calling the Tarkington box office at 318-843-3800 or by visiting the box office in person.
Mr. Hancock, the company dancers, and G2 dancers can not wait to celebrate our 20th Anniversary Season with our patrons. We will see you on September 22 & 23 to kick off the season of CELEBRATION!
Fundraiser
Nutcracker season is just around the corner! In past years, Nutcracker cast members have participated in a concert fundraiser to help pay for production fees. This year, we’re doing a little bit of a different fundraiser. We’re reaching out to local restaurants to partner with them to raise money.
Our first event is September 30th from 5pm-9pm at Chipotle Mexican Grill on 12697 North Pennsylvania Street Suite 100, Carmel, IN 46032. The event is at this location only. To have your purchase count towards our fundraiser, you MUST bring the flyer below (click here to print) or have it pulled up on your phone.
Here are a few more guidelines about this event:
- Purchases of gift cards will not count towards the proceeds, but purchases paid for with existing gift cards will.
- If placing an order online, you must chose the “pay at the store” option, and then hand the cashier your flyer before paying.
We are in the works of getting a few more events set up. A master list of all of the events will be posted in a month or so, so keep you’re eye out for opportunities to help raise money while eating delicious food!
20th Season Performances Announced
Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre is celebrating it’s 20th Season. Join us in celebrating by attending our performances!
CELEBRATION! – September 22-23, 2017
The Tarkington at The Center for the Performing Arts
THE NUTCRACKER – December 1-3, 2017
Pike Performing Arts Center
GHDT’S HOLIDAY SPECIAL – December 16-17, 2017
The Academy of GHDT
SIMCHA – Weekends – February 3-18, 2018
The Academy of GHDT
SUPERHERO; the story of a man called Jesus
March 30-31, 2018
The Tarkington at The Center for the Performing Arts
G2 IN CONCERT AND ACADEMY SHOWCASE June 1-3, 2018
The Academy of GHDT
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
June 29-30, 2018
The Tarkington at The Center for the Performing Arts
Season Tickets are now available at The Tarkington Box Office for the Tarkington performances by calling 317-843-3800. Not available online. Save 10% off single ticket purchases by buying Season Tickets.
To read the entire press release, click here.
2017 Summer Intensives
It’s that time of year again! The Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre Summer Intensives are back! This year, all levels have a 2-week long intensive. Our intensive is for dancers ages 6-18, and they will be separated according to age and level. From July 10-14th and July 17-22nd, dancers will take classes ranging from ballet to middle eastern dance, and terminology classes to conditioning. Dancers will be fully engaged in learning and having fun from 9am-4pm, Monday-Friday.
For information on dress code and prices, as well as the registration forms, head over to our Summer Intensives page.
Nutcracker Bootcamp
In addition to our annual Summer Intensive, this year we will also have a week long Nutcracker Bootcamp. GHDT’s Nutcracker is a very special tradition for many dancers and families. We want to give every dancer the chance to get a head start and learn every part of the show, all while having fun with their friends. The Nutcracker bootcamp is July 24-28th from 9am-4pm.
For more information, as well as registration forms, head over to our Summer Intensives page.
A Night in India Patron Photos
We had wonderful audiences who came to see A Night in India this past weekend at The Tarkington. We had some lovely vendors in the lobby, including a Taj Mahal Photo Booth with photos taken by Norma Junes Photography. Click here to find yours!
Thank you to all of the sponsors, vendors, patrons, board members, dancers, tech crew, and our director, Gregory Hancock. This weekend wouldn’t have gone the way it did without any piece of the puzzle.
Stay tuned for the reveal of our 20th Anniversary Season!
A Night In India Cast
GHDT’s June show allows for us to invite dancers to come intern, apprentice, and guest artist with the company. For this concert, we have dancers from Ohio, Michigan, and India. Yes, you read that right – India! Scroll down to see the dancers who will joining the company in A NIGHT IN INDIA. To learn more about the GHDT company dancers, click here!
Abhishek Rathod
Kenneth Shelby Jr
Rahul Thahryani
Adrian Dominguez
Jameson Keating
Hannah Williamson
Morgan Beane
Hannah Johnson
Katie Brake
Come see these dancers join the GHDT Company Dancers in A NIGHT IN INDIA on June 9th and 10th at 7PM. For tickets, click here.
G2 IN CONCERT
Come see the talented dancers of GHDT’s pre-professional company, G2, perform their annual concert. Dancers in G2 will be performing company repertoire. These student dancers have been working hard in rehearsals to refine these pieces of choreography. For this years G2 show, they will be performing Joan of Arc and Catholic School Girls. Joan of Arc is a GHDT classic. Three soloists represent Joan the Saint, Joan the Maid, and Joan the Warrior. Catholic School Girls is an audience favorite. Humorous and cheeky, this piece gives the dancers a chance to let loose a bit and work on their acting skills.
Academy Showcase
The Academy of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre puts on an annual showcase. This gives our students a the opportunity to show their family and friends what they’ve worked on throughout the year and how they’ve improved. AGHDT has dancers from age 5 to 18. The Showcase will have dances from a variety of classes – Bollywood, tap, and classical ballet variations just to name a few.
The G2 in Concert and Academy Showcase is June 3rd at 7pm. Please come support our wonderful students! For tickets, click here.
SUPERHERO – Behind the Scenes
Stage and Lights
SUPERHERO The Story of a Man Called Jesus, is one of GHDT’s most well-known shows. One of the most
memorable parts of the show, is the numerous scrolls hanging at the back of the stage, providing a backdrop. Eleven years ago, when SUPERHERO first premiered, Artistic Director Gregory Hancock spent several weeks writing text from The Gospels in Latin, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic onto the scrolls.
Along with the backdrop, what sets the scene so well is the lighting design. GHDT has worked with lighting designer Ryan Koharchik for 20 years. For SUPERHERO, Ryan uses lights create moods such as excitement, calmness, anger, and grief. Even more elaborate, he uses lights to create garden scenes, to portray the swirling mind of regret, and to cast a large shadow of Jesus on the cross.
Costumes
The costumes in SUPERHERO were all made by Gregory Hancock. Many costumes have character specific detail that are easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention. Mother Mary’s costume includes a shirt with artwork depicting Mother Mary’s face on it. Pilate’s Wife, Claudia, wears a beautiful set of jewelry that Mr. Hancock bought in India. The Cross, has red circles on her palms to represent where Jesus was nailed to the cross.
During The Last Supper and Hallelujah scenes, dancers are representing the 12 apostles. This costume includes white head shrouds with writing on them. These head shrouds were also, just like the backdrop, all hand written by Mr. Hancock eleven years ago for the premiere. Although during these scenes, characters like Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene are not included, the dancers portraying them are. These dancers get specific head shrouds with writings on them from Gospels including their character. Pictured is the head shroud for Mary Magdalene.
Cast
The cast of SUPERHERO this year has dancers from many places. Joining the GHDT company dancers, Liang Fu is coming back again this year as a Guest Artist to perform the role of Judas Iscariot. Liang Fu, originally from Qingdao, Shandong, China, is currently dancing with Kansas City Ballet. GHDT’s pre-professional company, G2, is also in this production. This year, GHDT reached out to Phoenix Rising Dance Studio and Broad Ripple High School to offer their students the opportunity to perform in a professional production. We’re glad to have students from both joining the cast this year as townspeople.
Tech Week
Tech week, is the week leading up to opening night of a performance. The usual tech week has the company rehearsing in studio Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday afternoons, the company takes every costume, prop, and accessory over to the theatre so its ready for rehearsal in theatre the next day. Wednesday and Thursday are long days. Tech runs are done during the early afternoon, meaning a light run through of the show for the dancers, but a heavy fun through of the show for lightning and tech crew backstage. Both Wednesday and Thursday evenings are full dress rehearsals.
This year for SUPERHERO, dancers spent part of their Monday getting henna on their hands for the show. Be sure to look for the beautiful detail on stage! Tuesday was spent welcoming guest artist Liang Fu to rehearsals as well as moving into the theatre. We hope to see you on Friday for the show!
For tickets, please click here!
SUPERHERO Dancer of the Day
Brittney Richards – Veronica
How many times have you been in a production of SUPERHERO?
This will be my 5th time performing in SUPERHERO. I was a student in the original cast, and I love looking back on those rehearsal memories.
What is your favorite scene in SUPERHERO?
Hallelujah is my favorite scene. I still remember the first time I saw the company rehearsing it, and I loved the way they moved through the choreography. I love that the dancing is balanced with fluidity and stillness. Hallelujah was one of my Grandma’s favorite scenes, and I always think of her while I’m dancing it.
Do you have a favorite role in the show, whether it’s one you’ve performed or not?
My favorite role in this show Mother Mary. She displays grace, courage, and strength. Her role is a powerful portrayal of how deep a mother’s love is for her children.
Favorite costume or part of a costume in the show?
All of the costumes in this show are beautiful, but I love wearing the costume for Veronica. The veil of Veronica is an inspiring symbol of compassion and love, and it’s powerful to wear it. I also love the costume for Claudia—especially the jewelry.
What is your favorite piece of music in SUPERHERO?
Now Comes the Night, the Crucifixion scene, is my favorite song in the show. The lyrics are poignant and moving, and they remind us that we are not alone. This song means a lot to me, and it’s helped me to heal from my own experiences of loss and grief.
What does SUPERHERO mean to you?
SUPERHERO has a special place in my heart. To me, it’s a symbol of rebirth and transformation. This show is spiritually significant to me in many ways, and when I perform it I feel like I’m dancing with angels.
Why should everyone come see SUPERHERO A Story of a Man Called Jesus?
SUPERHERO is an inspiring show that can impact anybody, regardless of their religious or spiritual beliefs. The dancing, music, costuming, and staging all come together to tell Jesus’ story in a tangible way. SUPERHERO is a great reminder of the power of love.
Come see Brittney perform the role of Veronica! Tickets can be purchased for SUPERHERO here.
To learn more about Company Dancer Brittney Richards, visit her Artist’s Page!
