Live tonight, from Main Street Torrington, it’s the Nutmeg dancers!

You’re coming, right? Main Street Marketplace is in full swing, with scores of vendors and entertainment. Tonight is the third one of the summer, and for the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, it’s a big one, says Main Street Marketplace vendor coordinator Kim Fazzino, who also works in the Dance Shop at the Nutmeg and as one of the Nutmeg’s photographers.

“Nutmeg will be performing on July 25 at the Main Street Marketplace,” said Miss Fazzino, a commissioner on the City of Torrington Arts and Culture Commission. “Vicki [Victoria Mazzarelli, artistic director at the Nutmeg] is choreographing a piece that’s going to have all of the students that are here for the summer program. They’re really excited to be able to do that.”

Summer Session 2, the Professional Training Program, is drawing to a close after four intensive weeks of study, work and practice. More than 60 students from all over the country and Canada have been taking part, including students from Alaska, California and the southern states.

“The summer session is going fabulously,” Fazzino said. “The kids are having a wonderful time, and for those of us in the Dance Shop it’s been a really good summer. We’re finding the kids whatever they need, their Pointe shoes, leotards, and whatnot, just as we do for our year-round students.”

Sharon Dante, the Nutmeg’s founder and executive director, agrees. “I think since 2007 we have not had such success at our summer programs,” Dante said. “Number one, I say teamwork, but number two there is a feeling that the economy is perhaps recovering a little,” she added. She praised Mazzarelli and all members of the faculty, including Tim Melady, Joan Kunsch and Susan Szabo, as well as guest artists Brian Reeder and Brian Simerson, and artists in residence Kirk Peterson and Eleanor D’Antuono.

Tonight’s street performance by the Nutmeg’s summer session students will be performed right on Main Street between Backstage Restaurant and the Yankee Pedlar, in the heart of downtown Torrington. It will be a free sneak preview of a selection from the Nutmeg Summer Dance Festival Weekend to be held Friday and Saturday at the Carole and Ray Neag Performing Arts Center’s Nancy Marine Studio Theatre of the Warner Theatre, 68 Main St.

So, you’re coming, right? Come to the Main Street Marketplace tonight and make a night of it, shopping, dining, meeting new people and greeting old friends. Stop by the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory tent, located on Main Street between the Warner Theatre and the Nutmeg Dance Shop. And get ready to enjoy a free performance by students who trained with the finest ballet conservatory around – the Nutmeg!

When you see tonight’s free performance, you’ll want to see what else these talented dancers can do. Friday night’s performance begins at 8 p.m., and Saturday’s begins at noon in the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre. It will feature excerpts from “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty,” MOMIX and original works. For tickets, go to www.warnertheatre.org/ Nutmegsummer2013 or call the Warner box office at 860-489-7180.

SUBMITTED PHOTO - JACK SHEEDY July 11 at the summer’s first Main Street Marketplace in Torrington, with the Nutmeg Conservatory tent in the foreground, in front of the Dance Shop.