BRATTLEBORO — Featuring performers from advanced youth and professional adult programs, with special guest artists in character roles, the New England Center for Circus Arts' annual Nutcracker performance runs Dec. 16 to 18 at the school's theater space at the former Austine School gymnasium in Brattleboro.
This year's special guest performer is Erin Ball, a longtime Circus Arts student and a professional aerialist from Canada.
Ball had a burgeoning career as an aerialist when she suffered a near-fatal case of frostbite and hypothermia in the woods of rural Ontario in March 2014. She ended up as a double amputee, losing both legs just below the knees.
A petite woman who now has a collection of creative prosthetics, Ball has continued to train at the Center for Circus Arts during her rehabilitation and works as an aerial performer and teacher at Kingston Circus Arts in Ontario.
As a guest artist in the annual Flying Nut circus show, Ball will defy gravity and expectations with high-level acrobatic and aerial skills, sharing the stage with more than 80 flying, flipping acrobats of all ages.
This year's theme is a circus-y cajun extravaganza - “Bratt in the Bayou” - featuring washboards and banjos, adventure with voodoo kings, and a carnival march to the swamp of sweets.