Manhattan Youth Ballet announces auditions for the company’s production of The Knickerbocker Suite at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center at 248 W. 60^th Street, NYC (between Amsterdam and West End Avenues) in the Lincoln Center area.  Auditions will take place on Sunday, September 23, 2012 from 2-5:30pm.  Dancers aged 8-10 years from 2-3pm, aged 11-13 years from 3-4pm, and aged 14 and older from 4-5:30pm.

The Knickerbocker Suite will be performed from December 12-16, 2012 at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center. The Knickerbocker Suite features New York City landmarks, such as The Statue of Liberty, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and NY sports teams, weaved into the time-honored holiday tale of The Nutcracker.  Classic Nutcracker scenes like “The Land of the Snow” are transformed into a snowy frenzy of shoppers dancing in and out of stores like Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s for last minute gifts. Perhaps one of the more well-known scenes, “Mother Ginger and her Polichinelles,” will be played by the Statue of Liberty and dancing immigrants who just arrived from Ellis Island.     

With scenes of shoppers on Fifth Avenue, the angels at Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, NY sports teams and the romance of Central Park in the winter, The Knickerbocker Suite is a celebration of New York City, its culture and the magic of the holiday season. The production with a story by artist, Elliott Arkin, features an opening scene with narration by Tony Award winner, Michael Cerveris; the choreography of Deborah Wingert, Daniel Ulbricht, Marina Stavitskaya, Nick Kepley & Natalia Boesch; illustrations by Katy DeHay and photography by Erin Baiano.