On Dec. 12 and 13, the Ballet
Theatre of Dover will present The Nutcracker at The Schwartz Center for the Arts. For
many years, this has been an annual holiday tradition in downtown Dover.
Performances will be at 2pm and 7 pm on Saturday, Dec. 12, and at 2pm on Sunday,
Dec. 13. Sean
Stewart will dance the role of The
Nutcracker Prince. Sean has danced with American Ballet Theatre and The Joffrey
Ballet, and has studied at the Paris Opera Ballet School.
School performances are on Friday, Dec. 11 at 9:30 am and 12:00 pm. Cost of the
performance is $5/student. One
teacher per 10 students is FREE and Adult chaperones are $6.00. This is a
considerable discount from the regular performance of $20 for Adults and $15 for Students
and Seniors.
A Study Guide and Poster Contest Guidelines will be sent to you upon
registration of your school group.
Set to the familiar music of Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, our
presentation of this classical Christmas-time ballet includes some of Ivanov's
original 1892 choreography and additional chorography and new staging by
Artistic Director, Teresa Emmons.
The action begins
with a splendid party in the drawing room of Herr and Frau Stahlbaum, where the
guests, especially the children are entertained by the magical puppets of Herr
Drosselmeyer. Drosselmeyer's gift of a Nutcracker doll to his god-daughter, Clara,
is the catalyst for a marvelous adventure - and adventure that symbolizes
Clara's transformation from a girl to a young woman.
The drawing room becomes the scene of a dreadful battle between the toy
soldiers, led by the Nutcracker, and giant rats. Clara saves the life of the
Nutcracker and finds him transformed into a handsome prince. They are
transported to a snowy glade where Clara and the Prince are welcomed by
beautiful snow fairies.
The Prince takes Clara to his own world, the Kingdom of the Sweets, where she is
welcomed as a Princess and entertained by all kinds of confections. He asks her
to rule his kingdom with him. The Prince and Clara dance and, exhausted, she
falls asleep.
When she awakes,
she is once again in her father's house and her faithful Nutcracker is nearby.
In
past performances, the role of The Prince has been danced by Charles
Askegard (Principal dancer, New York City Ballet), Petter
Jacobsson (formerly of The Royal Ballet, London), and Gennadi Saveliev
(Member, American Ballet Theatre).
The
inspiration to develop a full-length production of The Nutcracker came from a
weekend of Master Classes taught at Dance Conservatory by Gelsey Kirkland,
who taught and coached the Sugar Plum Variation during that memorable weekend in
1995. Miss Kirkland can still be seen dancing in this ballet opposite
Baryshnikov in the PBS presentation that has become an annual holiday event.
Our
very first Clara, Liana Turner, a former student of Dance Conservatory,
is now a member of the The Richmond Ballet, in Virginia, having relocated from State Street Ballet of Santa
Barbara (CA). Sarah
Moore, our 1998 Clara, has entered studies at the highest level of the
Boston Ballet School. Andrea Emmons, who portrayed Clara in our 1999 and 2000
productions,
continues her studies at Dance Conservatory and Dover High School.
