This past weekend, Ballet Jorgen's Anne of Green Gables The Ballet® drew a crowd to the Living Sky Casino in Swift Current.

The ballet began at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and tickets were completely sold out.

Melissa Wallace, owner and artistic director at the Dance Studio in Swift Current, was proud of the local dancers who participated in the ballet.

"Ballet Jorgen is such a fantastic company, they travel Canada and hit lots of centres," said Wallace. "They made the ballet specifically with lots of roles for local participants."

Ballet Jorgen is a Canadian company based out of Toronto that brought to life the classic Canadian story and created  Anne of Green Gables The Ballet®.

"A big highlight was for our dancers, we had seven students from ages 10-16 who were chosen for the local participant roles," Wallace said. "I know they had a great time learning the choreography from the company members and they got to spend a good chunk of Saturday rehearsing with them and getting fitted for their costumes."

Local dancers who were interested in participating in the ballet could apply online and were chosen based on the roles, costumes, and recommendations from the artistic director. 

"An experience like this is fantastically important and such a great learning experience for the dancers," commented Wallace. "As there's no audition but there is an application, it does teach them a little bit about how to get into auditioning and being accepted or not.

"It's nice for students to be able to see people living their dream dancing," Wallace said. 

The young dancers were able to see role models of their profession, experience dancing on stage with a professional dance company, and improve their skills, 

"Thank you to Ballet Jorgen, they're such a great company who is always welcoming to the dancers whenever they come to Swift Current," concluded Wallace. "I would like to congratulate all of our dancers, the ones who applied and were chosen and those who put themselves out there and applied."