Dancing and living a dream

Audrey Uhland, one of the 23 members of the Sierra Ballet Theatre Company, has spent 11 of her 17 years dancing. Besides good posture, she said dancing gives her a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

"Ballet is truly an art - to be able to perform it and be good at it is incredible," Audrey said. "You have an identification as a dancer."

Like many of the young women in the company, Audrey dances 13 hours a week in pointe, ballet, jazz and tap classes.

"One big thing dancing with the company has done is that we're learning different genres of dance, like ballet, hip hop, lyrical, dancing in heels," she said. "We become versatile people."

Audrey and her sisters, Emily, 16, and Rachel, 14, take classes at the Academy of Dance Arts in the Gardnerville Ranchos, owned by Kelly O'Fallon since 1994. O'Fallon found that many of her students wanted to further their professional dance training so she and her mother Irma O'Fallon formed the Sierra Ballet Theatre Company in 2005.

"We started this company for girls who wanted to continue to dance," said Kelly O'Fallon. "It's more of a challenge because they learn new choreography all the time.

"They're not kids, they're on a professional level. They hit the stage and it's magical. We were blown away at what happened on stage at last year's stage performance. They will give you everything in their bodies. The minute they hit the stage, they mature professionally and technically. It's what the stage does."

O'Fallon's philosophy is that dance is an art, not a competition and said the ballet company is for serious dancers who love challenge.

"This is not about competition," said O'Fallon. "They do it because they love to dance. It's not about getting a trophy. The girls are very supportive of each other. There's no animosity as created with competition."

Audrey said some of the dancers in the company have been together since kindergarten.

"We all try to get our stuff done so we can dance," she said. "If you're going to give dance your all - you have to give it your all."

The results of nearly a year of rehearsals will be revealed Saturday in the Sierra Ballet Theatre Company's performance in the MontBleu showroom.

"It's so amazing just being in your own show," Audrey said about last year's presentation. "It was totally professional. It was living out a dream of being a in a professional ballet."

Ballet company's

production Saturday

The Sierra Ballet Theatre Company presents the "The Seasons" ballet, 7 p.m. Saturday at the MontBleu Theater in Stateline.

The second part of the program, "A British Invasion," showcases British music ranging from Elton John to Natasha Bedingfield and Mika.

The company is headed by the mother/daughter team of Irma O' Fallon as ballet mistress and Kelly O'Fallon as artistic director. Professional dancer and actress Elisabeth Brissenden choreographed dances for the jazz portion of the show.

The Sierra Ballet Theatre Company is an outlet for 23 young women from 14 to 21 years old who want to have more performing opportunities throughout the dance season and work on a professional level learning new ballet and jazz choreography.

For ticket information for the performance of the Sierra Ballet Theatre Company, call MontBleu at 588-3515.