How to Win Free Tickets to 'The Nutcracker'

Upper St. Clair Patch is giving away free tickets.

ENTER: Show Patch Your Loved Ones with a Nutcracker, Win Tickets to PBT's 'The Nutcracker'

Share the photo of the child you love best with a nutcracker to enter Patch's 'Nutcracker Tradition' contest. Winners will receive a pair of tickets to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's upcoming holiday production of 'The Nutcracker.'

Attending a performance of "The Nutcracker" is a holiday tradition, and this year Upper St. Clair Patch wants to help you enjoy Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's always-in-demand production of the classic story of Marie and her Nutcracker Prince. Enter Patch’s "Nutcracker Tradition" photo contest by sharing a photo or photos of your loved one holding your family’s favorite nutcracker. Winners will receive a pair of tickets to attend a performance this month of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s holiday spectacular "The Nutcracker." Starting today and until Dec. 18, you may enter our contest by uploading your photo or photos in the media box above. Each Patch site in western Pennsylvania will choose one winner and award one prize, using a random drawing…

• Photos (6)

From USC to NYC: Local Ballerina Makes it Big

USC native Emily Kikta has found her calling dancing at Lincoln Center in New York, but, before that, she was just a USC gal with high hopes.

If all the world’s a stage, Upper St. Clair native Emily Kikta is set to perform. She’s danced her way from Pittsburgh to New York, meeting challenge after challenge in pursuit of her dream. And, she said, she’s only just begun. Emily, 19, is a professional ballerina in the corp de ballet of the New York City Ballet. She received her contract offer from the company in June 2011, after an apprenticeship which lasted approximately eight months. As a professional, she danced a soloist role in the company’s Sept. production of Ocean’s Kingdom, a ballet scored and spearheaded by music icon Paul McCartney, which will be reprised on stage in January. Emily adds this role to an impressive résumé of numerous others she performed as a corp dancer …

• Photos (3)

Upper St. Clair Ballerina Performs in 'The Nutcracker'

Streams Elementary School student Isabella Putorti is performing in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s 'The Nutcracker' for the second year this season. This is the story of how she got there.

There is a little girl in Upper St. Clair who’s doing big things this holiday season. Her name is Isabella Putorti. She’s nine years old, and this season marks her second year dancing in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker. Performing on the main stage at Benedum Center may be something relatively new to Putorti, but dancing is not. She has been dancing since the age of three, when her mother, Dawn Predmore, enrolled her in an early childhood dance class in the children’s division at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. Predmore said that she learned about the program when her family attended a free summer performance by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre at Hartwood Acres. “They were handing out flyers about their newly-expanded …

• Photos (5)

Get Out: Weekend Planner

Here are 10 local events to check out this weekend.

Welcome to your Get Out Weekend Planner! It’s Thursday, and you’ve got no idea what you’ll do for the weekend. Patch is coming to the rescue. We’ve got the best bets for your done-work-outta-here time. Check our picks for the activities to hit and best places to explore. 1. Christmas Tree Sale Where/When: St. Louise De Marillac Church, 6 to 9 p.m. on weeknights, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 12 to 9 p.m. on Sunday Why Go?: The STL Boy Scout Troop 4 will be selling Christmas Trees from Nov. 26 to Dec. 18 in the upper parking lot next to the Le Gras Parish Center. A variety of trees are available. This is their major fundraiser for the year. Pricing: Prices vary 2. PYBC presents “The Nutcracker” Where?/When?: Upper St. Clair Theater, 7 p.…

• Photos (1)

USC Theater to Host 'The Nutcracker' This Weekend

Residents can take advantage of a "Sweet Seats" ticket deal.

Celebrate this holiday season with Pittsburgh Youth Ballet Company’s 28th annual performance of The Nutcracker. Dancers from Upper St. Clair and surrounding communities have been training for George Balanchine’s “Snowflakes” under the direction of PYBC Artistic Director Jean Gedeon along with Dana Arey, former Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Ballet Mistress and current PYBC instructor. Katrina Killian, former New York City Ballet soloist and current NYCB education department ballet mistress, recently visited Pittsburgh as a representative of the Balanchine Trust to review the progress of “Snowflakes” and authorize its performance—a rare opportunity granted to only a few select companies nationwide.   Local dancers featured in Snowflakes will …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)