BIG STEP FOR TINY DANCERS

THE FLORIDA GRAND OPERA WILL HOLD ITS FIRST PERFORMANCE OF AIDA IN THE NEW CARNIVAL CENTER OF THE PERFORMING ARTS THIS WEEKEND WITH YOUNG PERFORMERS FROM TWO MIAMI-DADE DANCE CENTERS

BY JOSE CASSOLA
jcassola@MiamiHerald.com

Photos by Chris Cutro for The Miami Herald

Young performers from two Miami-Dade dance centers — one in Doral, the other in Pinecrest — are getting ready for their big day at the opening of Aïda at the Carnival Center of the Performing Arts Saturday.

Elise Nuevo, 9, and Cristina Trujillo, 10, from the Artistic Dance Center, 10181 NW 58th St., Doral, and Balli Logan, 9, Caitlin Javech, 11, and Amber Bryan, 10, from Dance Empire of Miami, 12475 S. Dixie Hwy., Pinecrest, are the only youngsters in a 200-member cast full of adults.

Aïda by Giuseppe Verdi is a nationally renowned production performed by the Florida Grand Opera in the past at the Dade County Auditorium and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

‘‘We are extremely excited about performing this major production at the Carnival Center,’’ choreographer Rosa Mercedes said. ‘‘This is a great opportunity for these girls, especially, to show what they are made of.’’

The girls from the Doral and Pinecrest dance centers perform a small routine in the 31/2-hour-long opera about an Egyptian captain who falls in love with the slave girl, Aïda, daughter of his enemy, the Ethiopian king.

Though their parts as dancing slaves are only about two minutes long, the girls feel they have made the big time. ‘‘Besides plays and recitals, this is the first time I’ve ever been in such a big production,’’ said Cristina, who with four other auditioners beat out 100 girls for the dancing parts in March. ‘‘I’ve been bragging to all of my friends that I’m going to be in this show. It’s a big deal to me,’’ she said.

The girls will perform in all 12 performances scheduled at the Carnival Center between Saturday and Nov. 30.

‘‘I truly believe our girls represent the cream of the crop in this Florida Grand Opera production,’’ said Angel Fraser-Logan, director of Dance Empire of Miami in Pinecrest. Fraser-Logan and Elizabeth Nuevo, director of the Artistic Dance Center in Doral, have been training their girls since they were 3-year-olds. The directors say they are more than ready to shine when the curtains open Saturday.

‘‘They have been waiting for an opportunity to perform in a production of this magnitude for such a long time,’’ Nuevo said. ‘‘We are really proud of them.’’

‘‘Dancing is my life,’’ Caitlin said. ‘‘If I had to stop dancing for even one month, I would die. I love it that much. This is what I want to do when I’m all grown up.’’

Aïda premieres at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. Call 786-468-2000 or visit www.carnivalcenter.org.