New Jersey Ballet & NJ Tap Dance Ensemble to Present TAPPIN' AT THE BALLET at MPAC, Today

New Jersey Ballet returns to Mayo Performing Arts Center for three performances the weekend of May 16-17.

On Saturday, May 16, the state's premier ballet company joins forces with New Jersey Tap Dance Ensemble to present Tappin' at the Ballet. Tickets are $29-59. On Sunday, May 17, NJ Ballet presents two performances of Sleeping Beauty at 1:30 pm and 4 pm, respectively. Tickets are $15-25.

Good things come in twos! New Jersey Ballet partners with the New Jersey Tap Dance Ensemble to combine two distinctive dance styles in one spectacular evening like no other. May 16th will be the third time NJ Ballet and the NJ Tap Dance Ensemble appear together. The program will include "Top Hat," a work for both ballet and tappers choreographed by Tap Ensemble Director Deborah Mitchell and Broadway dancer James Kinney. Also on the program will be "For Ella," a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, which the Ballet hasn't performed for several years and some all-tap numbers by the Tap Ensemble.

Sleeping Beauty is performed with original "storyteller narration" so even the littlest theatergoer can keep up with ease. This beautiful ballet has been an enduring favorite with adults and children for more than a hundred years. NJ Ballet fills the stage with familiar characters: Princess Aurora, the Handsome Prince, the good Lilac Fairy, the wicked fairy Carabosse, Puss in Boots, Red Riding Hood, the Blue Bird and the Enchanted Princess. With its colorful costumes and scenery, and Tchaikovsky's soaring score, Sleeping Beauty is a splendid introduction to dance theatre for young children and grand entertainment for the whole family.

Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2014-2015 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been designated a Major Presenting Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.