“Ballet at the Broad Stage Memorial Weekend – Meet the Talent!”

Westside Ballet of Santa Monica returns to the Broad Stage with special guest artists kicking off Friday May 26th with their Spring Soirée special event “Masters of Movement: Ballet Through the Centuries.” Santa Monica Mirror reporter Juliet Lemar interviews the show’s special guest stars including Westside Ballet alumni Lyrica Woodruff (of Broadway’s “Anastasia” fame) and Adrian Blake Mitchell (Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet Company). Juliet also films some eye-popping sneak peaks of these world-renowned artists in studio rehearsals: Lyrica accompanied by professional guest artist Maté Szentes in George Balanchine’s patriotic “Stars & Stripes,” staged by Balanchine Trust legend Patricia Neary; and Adrian rehearsing Chrsitopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain” with his dance and life partner, Andrea Laššáková. Adrian also rehearses with four accomplished pre-professional young male dancers (Dylan Weinstein, Sawyer Jordan, Evan Hull, and Spencer Collins) — all four of whom recently placed in regional and national ballet competitions, and are performing either at the Soirée event Friday night or in the pre-professional performance company’s Spring Showcase performances presented the following day, Saturday, May 27th, at 1pm and 5pm. Go to westsideballet.com/spring-performance for more info and tickets. May 26th Soirée $100-300 including reception presented by Urth Catering and the Huntley Hotel; Spring Showcase May 27th $45.