By Ann Marie Byrd, Feature Writer
The timeless beauty and tradition of The Nutcracker is again being staged by New Bern’s own Down East Dance, directed by Wendy Daw. For nearly 30 years, this semi-annual production has featured both adults and children, dancing to the enduring melodies of Peter I. Tchaikovsky.
“Featured in this production are about 60 dancers, including dance students of Down East Dance but also talented local performing artists,” says Daw.
Performance dates are: Fridays – Dec. 3 & Dec. 10 @ 7:30pm, Saturdays – Dec. 4 & 11 @ 2:00pm & 7:30pm, and Sundays – Dec. 5 & 12 @ 2:00pm in the Athens Theatre at 414 Pollock Street. Tickets for The Nutcracker Ballet are $15 and are available at New Bern Civic Theatre. Contact NBCT’s Box Office’ at 633-0567 or at www.newberncivictheatre.org for online ticket purchases.
The famed Russian ballet was a commission by the Russian Imperial Opera Directorate, based on the E.T.A. Hoffman story The Nutcracker and Mouse King. Interestingly, Tchaikovsky wasn’t entirely pleased with his work—as he preferred his Swan Lake—and initially even the critics had mixed reviews for the early productions in the late 1900s. Dancers were called “corpulent” and “insipid,” and the plot “confusing” and “lopsided.” Other critics, however, immediately fell in love with the Romantic nature of the ballet, with its sublime qualities, fantasy and darkness. They esteemed it “astonishingly rich in detailed inspiration,” and “beautiful and melodious from beginning to end.”
The Nutcracker has endured as a favorite of audiences world-wide for over 120 years, and for balletomanes it is a cherished holiday tradition—lifting spirits during the season of celebration and joy.
The Nutcracker has also undergone many adaptations and revisions over its long and varied performance history worldwide, and today it continues to evolve. Down East Dance has condensed and modified the ballet to a comfortable one hour production, and their version includes the original Hoffman storyline narration, told within the construct of a bedtime story for a little girl named Marie by her mother.
The story is a magical one, entertaining audiences with a grand Christmas party, twirling snowflakes, a Nutcracker Soldier, a life-size mouse queen, and a journey to the Land of the Sweets with its beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy and its Waltzing Flowers with their Queen, Dew Drop.
Embracing the spirit of Christmas, audiences will immediately feel the excitement and joy of the season as they are greeted by carolers singing out front of the theatre.
“The Nutcracker performance is a New Bern tradition, and audiences enjoy watching young people come back and play different parts as they grow as dancers,” says Wendy Daw. “The choreography may change a bit from year to year, but what is most important is the biannual tradition for our community.”