Bravo Dance Centre will present a Broadway-style Christmas production entitled “The Gift of Christmas” this upcoming Sunday and Monday at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium.
Amber Michael, owner of and instructor at Bravo Dance Centre, said the variety show will highlight the true meaning of Christmas.
“It’s about the true meaning of Christmas, which is the gift of Jesus,” Michael said. “We really bring that to life through dance and through music.”
At a rehearsal Tuesday night, about 100 girls and young women could be seen in various holiday-themed costumes as Michael worked with stagehands and technicians to polish the final technical elements.
“This has been a vision that I’ve had for a couple years and just sort of held on to. The best part about it has just been seeing it come to life and sharing it with the dancers and … now being able to let them share it with the community,” Michael said.
Kennedy Briggs, a 16 year-old student at Smackover High School, is one of those dancers. Briggs said she practices clogging, ballet, hip-hop and jazz dance styles and has danced with Bravo since she was 3 years old and will perform in several numbers in “The Gift of Christmas.”
“I love it. I feel like its going to be able to tell the story of Jesus and what Christmas is supposed to be about and not just Santa,” Briggs said. “It’s been very cool.”
Michael said the production will include ballet, clogging, jazz, hip-hop and pointe dance styles, among others. Additionally, several singers and musicians will join the dancers on stage and perform a few solo numbers.
“A lot of this show is like what you’d see in Branson or on Broadway – a lot of classic music, classic Rockette-style music,” Michael said.
Michael said the production is about an hour and a half long. The first act will feature some of the most popular Christmas and holiday tunes, while the second act will focus on the traditional Christmas story of Jesus’ birth.
“We brought in elements of, you know, the commercial side of Christmas, but at the end of the day, my heart was in the true meaning of Christmas and there was no other way I could’ve done this show if I didn’t do it with that being the focal point,” Michael said.
Several church groups will participate in the production as well. Michael said she called area churches to invite them because Bravo hoped to make the show a community event.
A portion of the proceeds from the showcase will go to benefit the Agape House Children’s Home. The Agape House is a nonprofit group home, which serves children in and around Union County that are unable to live in their homes due to abuse, neglect or other life events. Michael said tickets were donated to the Agape House so that all the children they serve can attend the production.
The Municipal Auditorium lobby will be decorated so attendees can take family holiday photos, Michael said. After the show, cookies and hot chocolate will be served as patrons leave the theatre.
“We want it to be an event that when they come in the door, they feel like they’ve stepped into another place,” Michael said.
“The Gift of Christmas” will take place Sunday and Monday at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium. The shows start at 6 p.m., with doors opening at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $15 for reserved seating, which includes rows A-Q.
“The audience can expect to go through a range of emotions. They’ll be laughing; they’ll be just awed, in wonder; all the way through tears; through joy,” Michael said. “They’re just going to be taken on a ride.”
For ticket information, call 870-863-9307.
Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].