Although able to resume in-person classes at the ballet’s 21 East Third St. location with reduced size classes and with proper health screening processes in place, the ballet was forced to cancel both their Spring Gala performance in June and their annual Nutcracker performance in December.

Dancers who spent years training and weeks and months rehearsing were unable to share their work with live audiences. This has been especially challenging for the ballet’s Pre-Professional dancers, some of whom are ready to start auditioning for ballet companies and ballet college programs.

The students spent January and February rehearsing with the hope that live performances with audiences would be approved by late winter, but when that did not happen ballet officials decided to follow the lead of most ballet companies and present the performance for online viewing.

The 30-minute performance, under the direction of Monika Alch, artistic director, was filmed in the media room at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts and is now available to view online.

Dancers are pictured performing an original work by Brittany Bush, an alumna of the Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet.

The program includes classical ballet variations from Esmeralda, Carmen and Sylvia; a performance of Classical Indian dance by CRYB instructor Sukanya Burman; an original modern work set for CRYB by instructor Rudi Andalora; and two contemporary ballet works set for CRYB by alumna Brittany Bush to music by Bach and Corigliano. The performers include Cate Walter, Cecelia Johnson, Maya Swanson, Madeleine Leenders, Telly Ortiz, Averil Dubois and Francesca Woolson.

Partial funding for the project was from the Oliver G. and Sarah Sloan Bauman Fund for the Arts through the Greater Buffalo Community Foundation.

The public is invited to watch the performance on the ballet’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CRYBallet, its Youtube channel or website at www.cryb.net.