Enton Hoxhais the Artistic Director of South Coast Conservatory and the Founder of Youth Ballet Masters Competition. Born in Tirane, Albania, Enton started his dance education at the National Ballet Academy in Albania. At age 15, Enton was invited by the Russia Embassy to continue his studies at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow with legendary dancers and teachers Mikhail Lavrovsky, Leonid Jdanov, Nikolay Dorohov, Mikhail Mineev and Nikolay Tikhomirov. Enton graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy with a Master's degree and toured the world, dancing as a principal and first soloist with Bolshoi, Moscow Classical Ballet, Metropolitan, and State Street Ballet companies.
In 2010, Enton and his wife Maria Tikhomirova choreographed the well known The Nutcracker. This ballet, in two acts, is great holiday experience for kids and adults alike. This is the sixth year that Enton and Maria are staging this ballet for Laguna Niguel's own South Coast Conservatory, and the performances will be held Dec. 18-20 in Mission Viejo at 6 p.m.
You don’t want to miss this magical performance for your family! Visit SCConservatory.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
01/
The Party Scene
It is Christmas Eve at a large and grand house with the most beautiful tree imaginable. The Stahlbaum family is hosting their annual Christmas party. The children, Clara and Fritz, are dancing and playing as they welcome their friends. The party grows festive with music and dance as godfather Drosselmeyer arrives. He is a skilled clock and toy maker and always full of surprises. The children begin to open gifts when Drosselmeyer presents his to Clara and Fritz. He gives Clara a beautiful Nutcracker that becomes the hit of the party. Fritz becomes jealous, grabs the nutcracker from Clara and breaks it. Clara is heartbroken and Drosselmeyer quickly repairs the Nutcracker with a handkerchief he magically draws from the air. As the evening grows late, the guests depart and the Stahlbaum family retires for the evening. Clara, worried about her beloved Nutcracker, sneaks back to the tree to check on him, falling asleep with him in her arms.
02/
The Fight Scene
As the clock strikes midnight, strange things begin to happen. Clara begins shrinking as her beautiful Christmas tree grows high above her. The toys around the tree come to life while the room fills with an army of mice, lead by the fierce Mouse King. As the Nutcracker awakens, he leads his army of toy soldiers into battle with the mice. The Mouse King corners the Nutcracker and battles him one-on-one. The Nutcracker seems to be no match for the Mouse King. Clara makes a final daring charge throwing her slipper at the Mouse King, hitting him square on the head. The Mouse King drops to the floor, and the mice run away, carrying off their leader’s lifeless body.
03/
The Land of Snow
The Nutcracker turns into a Prince and takes Clara on a journey to the Land of Snow, an enchanted forest wonderland where they are welcomed by dancing snowflakes.
04/
The Land of Sweets
The Prince escorts Clara to the Land of Sweets where they are greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy. The Prince tells her about their daring battle with the army of mice, and she rewards them with a celebration of international dances—Spanish, Arabian, Russian, Chinese, the Mirliton dance and the Waltz of Flowers. As a finale, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier dance a beautiful Pas De Deux. The Dream Ends. Clara awakens from her dream and finds herself by her Christmas tree with her beloved Nutcracker.
Leah and Stan Goldberg: Drawn Together
Leah and Stan moved from New Mexico to Los Angeles in 2013. They were soon invited to exhibit a One Man Show at Earthwe Gallery, Bergamot Station (Santa Monica) which ran for three months in 2014. This Show was sufficiently successful for them to be invited back for another entitled Masters of the Universe which again ran for three months in 2016. It featured slices of faces of indigenous people from all over the planet. In 2016, the pair began work on ballet paintings. This was probably inevitable, given that Leah’s younger daughter, Chebar Williams, is one of the country’s leading ballet teachers. After an extensive career on stage, Chebar has trained many successful dancers who have been accepted to American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Joffery Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Houston Ballet and more.
Inspired by the impressionistic ballet paintings of Degas, the couple set out to do contemporary versions in a Modern Realistic style. This collection of paintings tends to focus on the individual dancer in apace in a no-frills, monochromatic way which captures the incredible beauty of their position and the lovely dynamic shape it makes against space. The artists think of them as figurative paeans to Franz Kline. They were also often trying to capture the dancer's angel-like ability to fly as if unaffected by the physics of gravity.
All of the original paintings pictured here will be on display, and for sale, at the South Coast Conservatory's production of The Nutcracker, Dec. 18-20, at Capistrano Valley High School. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to the Dance Discover Foundation. For more information on South Coast Ballet Conservatory's production of The Nutcracker, or to buy tickets, visit SCConservatory.com. For more information about Stan and Leah Goldberg and their paintings, visit StanLeah.com.
