'Twas the Night Before Christmas: European Performing Arts Conservatory to present holiday show in Ormond Beach

In 1823, writer Clement Clarke Moore anonymously published a poem in his local New York Newspaper. Its opening line is well known this time of year: "'Twas the night before Christmas." 

And on Saturday, Dec. 17, the newly-reopened European Performing Arts Conservatory in Ormond Beach will help celebrate the 200th anniversary of the poem with two shows at the Anderson-Price Memorial Building. 

The show, titled after the famous holiday phrase in Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" poem, will feature dancing, singing and acting, the latter thanks to the participation of actors from the Daytona Playhouse who will be joining the conservatory's dancers onstage. Co-director Amanda Majzner, who runs the studio with her husband Brad, knew she wanted to have a Christmas show this year, despite opening in September. When she got confirmation that there was a date available to hold the show at the Anderson-Price Memorial Building, Majzner said she was thrilled.

"We're really excited," she said. "We have a lot going on, but we're just really happy that it's coming together."

Majzner is no stranger to the conservatory's holiday shows. She studied dance at the school at three years old and remained until she was 18, and though she stopped dancing to pursue teaching, and moved away from Ormond Beach, her life's journey eventually brought her back to the European Performing Arts Conservatory. 

Upon returning to her hometown, she realized she wanted a place for her 5-year-old daughter Dorothy to dance.

"To see her, just like loving it and reliving it, is such a joy," Majzner said.

Her 7-year-old son Calvin soon took up dancing himself.

And Majzner and her children won't be the only family members sharing the stage this Saturday. The Bentleys — mother Mollie, father David and daughter Kylie — are all in the show together. 

Kylie Bentley, a senior at Father Lopez Catholic High School, has been dancing for 14 years. Her mom has always helped backstage with shows, and when the opportunity came about to dance together in this one, Mollie Bentley agreed. It's not the first time they will dance together, as Mollie Bentley has been part of shows in the past, but it's fun nonetheless. 

"It's excellent because of doing [the show] the last few years, it's become part of our Christmas tradition," Mollie Bentley said.

"It's not Christmas yet until the Christmas show passes by," Kylie Bentley added. 

For Kylie and Mollie Bentley, being back at the European Performing Arts Conservatory feels "like coming home again." Kylie Bentley, who is fifth in her class and hopes to one day become a nurse, said she has grown up in the studio and that being back feels natural. Those who come to the show on Saturday will see that onstage too.

"You can feel community — you can feel the bonds between all the dancers ... It's such a cozy, Christmas atmosphere," she said. "I think it'll probably bring in the Christmas spirit for a lot of people."