A pair of world champions and a renowned bagpiper will appear as special guests as the Team Charlton Highland Dancers host their eighth annual Celtic Christmas show Dec. 7-8.
The production, which mixes traditional Highland dances with unique choreographed and costumed numbers, will include a Saturday evening show in Port Hardy and a Sunday matinee in Port McNeill.
Mellisa Carnegie of Calgary, 15, competed in the World Highland Dance Competition held in Dunoon, Scotland this summer and earned her way to rank second in the world. She placed second in the sword and won the gold medal in the hullachan. The gold medals are made from real gold in this prestigious event. She had to compete in the qualifier in order to make it to this level, where the the field is narrowed from 200 dancers to the top 20 in the world.
Ross Armour of Vancouver, 21, is back for his second appearance in the Celtic Christmas production. He also competed in the adult section of the world championships and placed fourth in the fling, which ranked him as seventh in the world. Armour has won a world championship title in previous years.
Team Charlton also welcomes Alan Walters, a piper from Vancouver, who will provide live music for the first time in the show's eight-year run. Alan is one of the top pipers in the world and his music CDs are a staple in every dance studio.
Celtic Christmas will be performed at Port Hardy Secondary School's theatre Dec. 7 at 6:30 p.m., and at Gate House Community Theatre in Port McNeill Dec. 8 at 11:30 a.m. Tickets will be on sale soon.
Nutcracker returns
The following week, Portside Academy of Performing Arts returns for its seventh annual performance of the holiday classic Nutcracker Ballet.
Shows will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15, at Sunset Elementary School.
Director and choreographer Alana Collins has added a few twists to this year's production to keep things fresh for the audience and the dancers, but the ballet will continue to be danced to Tchaikovsky's classical score.
Advance tickets are available at the studio, at 325 Cedar St. in Port McNeill, and will be made available at The Flower Shoppe. For info, call 250-956-4646.