Cocktails and Ballet: Backyard Ballet Holiday Celebration hosted by Joey Fatone
ARC Entertainment Company is producing their First-Ever Live Holiday Special - Backyard Ballet Holiday Celebration. The event is hosted by N’Sync’s Joey Fatone and sponsored by New Mexico based company Vara Winery and Distillery. New Mexico Entertainment had the opportunity to sit down with Kirsten Bloom Allen, Founder and Principal Ballerina of ARC Entertainment Company to discuss the event.
What inspired the idea:
We wanted to create a fun and unique virtual performance to keep the holiday spirit alive in these very challenging times. Our Backyard Ballet Holiday Celebration is sponsored by Vara Wines and hosted by Joey Fatone from NSYNC along with media sensation Jason Logan. Both Joey and Jason are big fans of ballet! We had two appearances on their show "What does Joey Know" and we all very much enjoyed working together. We reached out to them and asked if they would host our show and they immediately agreed.
How did it come about:
Magnus Christoffersen, Tigran Sargsyan and I have been on lockdown together since March. We decided to lockdown together to be able to continue dancing, performing, and creating new works. Essentially, this was our way of keeping the art form of ballet alive even during a pandemic. We transformed my backyard into a stage where we have given over 170 free livestream dance performances. Our performances caught the eye of several media outlets and we have been featured on Good Morning America, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer's segment. We were asked to create a special performance for the The USO for Memorial Day and we have donated virtual performances to senior homes, children's hospitals, and given free ballet presentations to The Exceptional Children's Foundation. As well as dancing through our lockdown, we merged into cinema and created a short film called COVID ROCKIN which is a satirical look at a day in the life during COVID. It is a family friendly film that has already won several awards on the virtual film festival circuit.
TRAILER: Backyard Ballet Holiday Celebration
What challenges did we face creating this show during COVID:
Since our stage is in the backyard, we are constantly facing the elements. We have had to time our performances and shooting with rain, heat, cold, and wind. Probably one of the funniest challenges we have faced is the neighbor's lawn mower disrupting sound or a dog barking in the background.
What can we expect during the show:
Backyard Ballet Holiday Celebration features not only Joey Fatone and Jason Logan but also excerpts from The Nutcracker and other holiday classics. We also included the short film COVID ROCKIN for audiences to enjoy. Much of the filming was at sunset creating a beautiful backdrop that compliments the dancing.
What do we want audiences to walk away feeling with this performance:
The show opened on December 23rd and runs twice a day through December 31st. We have received rave reviews such as "What a fantastic show,” “These dancers are incredible,” “The whole family loved it,” “This is a must see event.” We want audiences to feel entertained and walk away with a smile.
Tickets are $15 and still available at