UNA Dance Theatre (UDT) is the performance company of Virginia Ballet Academy. Auditions are held each Fall for the selection of UDT company members. In addition to the regular company, a number of apprentice positions are also selected. The size of the company and number of apprenticeships is determined by skill level within the available pool of auditioning dancers.

UDT has staged four major dance productions to date with plans underway for many more in the coming years. Following are highlights beginning with the most recent productions:

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The Sleeping Beauty—May 09
On May 31st, 2009 UDT presented The Sleeping Beauty in Shaftment Performance Hall at the Jefferson Center.

UNA Dance Theatre’s second annual Spring performance was a major undertaking involving nearly 70 cast members. UDT Artisitic Director Narakhand Dondog staged Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's massive ballet after the great Marius Pepita's original 1890 choreography.

All available members of the UDT company and VBA student dancers were utilized.

Guest artist Shanna Gayer from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre danced the lead role of Princess Aurora.

Other guests artists: Vadim Slatvisky of Washington, DC as Prince Desire, Shaleigh Comerford of NYC as Carabosse, former UDT company member and student Cristina Page as The Fairy of the Crystal Fountain and The Cold Fairy, and Sergei Domrachev of CA as The Blue Bird.

 

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Silent Thought—Nov 08
This original Neo-Classical ballet by UDT & VBA Artisitc Director Narakhand Dondog made its debut at the Dumas Center on November 8th, 2008.

Nara provided the orginal concept, choregraphy and direction for Silent Thought to be performed as a part of the 2nd Annual Roanoke Arts Festival.

Silent Thought was originally created through a grant from the Mongolian Foundation for Open Society as a short documentary film on contemporary ballet to inspire college Mongolian dancers. Both UNA Dance Theatre and Virginia Ballet Academy dancers participated in the performance.

 

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Anastasia—May 08
Anastasia, the company's second major production, debuted in May of 2008 at Hollins University and marked UDT's first annual Spring performance.

This time, Unur created the full-length, two-act storyline for Anastasia complete with original choreography, direction and music. Once again, Nara provided her expertise in co-direction and costume design and construction.

With a performance of this size and scope, all available members of the UDT company and VBA student dancers were utilized—with most dancers performing in multiple roles and/or in multiple production numbers.

UNA Dance Theatre's own Cristina Page danced in the title role.

Guest dancers for Anastasia included: ShaLeigh Comerford (Rasputin), a Roanoke native, graduate of RBT and Hollins University and Artist Director for her own ShaLeigh Dance Works in Brooklyn, NY; and Aaron Canfield (Dimitri), of Southwest Virginia Ballet.

 

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Holiday Pops—Dec 07
The UDT company made its debut performance in the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra's Holiday Pops concert in December of 2007.

UNA Dance Theatre and Virginia Ballet Academy dancers provided dance accompaniment to numerous musical selections performed by the RSO.

UDT and VBA Director Unurbat Gunaajav provided original choreography and Co-Director Narankhand Dondog performed as a feature dancer and designed/constructed all of the costumes.

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