Several students from Leelanau County and Glen Lake School will perform in the Dance Center Youth Ensemble's production of Sleeping Beauty on April 19 and 20 in Traverse City.

GRACE SPRINGSTEEN, a freshman at
Glen Lake School, will dance as "Bluebird"
in Dance Center Youth Ensemble's
production of Sleeping Beauty
on April 19 and 20 in Traverse City.

Sara McNew, a senior at Glen Lake, will dance the lead role of Lilac Fairy in the production, which will be performed at Milliken Auditorium, Matinee concerts will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with evening concerts at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday. An honor roll student and member of the National Honor Society, Sara has been dancing for 13 years and has danced lead roles in The Nutcracker, Cinderella and A Christmas Carol.

Grace Springsteen, a ninth grader at Glen Lake, will dance the lead roles of Bluebird and Virtue Fairy. She has performed as Clara in The Nutcracker and in Cinderella and A Christmas Carol with the youth ensemble. She has attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp with a scholarship from the Glen Lake Women’s club, and has studied dance at The Dance Center for 11 years.

Mitchell Drilling, a seventh grader at Grand Traverse Academy, is a Leelanau County resident. He has been dancing for seven years and has performed in The Nutcracker, Cinderella and A Christmas Carol as well as the Dance Center musical Treasure Island. He will dance as Escort and as “Puss n’ boots.”

SARA MCNEW (left) of Empire
will dance the role of the “Lilac
Fairy” in the production of
Sleeping Beauty.
Also pictured as Aurora is
Melissa Phizacklea.

J.D. Willey, a first grader at Glen Lake Elementary, has been dancing for five years, and has performed in the Dance Center’s annual concert, The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol. He will dance the part of a page and as a woodland spirit.

Korin Drilling, director and choreographer of the Dance Center Youth Ensemble, is also a Leelanau County resident. She has been teaching and choreographing for 26 years, and has directed this production of Sleeping Beauty.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Dance Center providing a full range of dance education and performance opportunities in northern Michigan.