Displaying items by tag: Chicago Ballet

At this time of year, when Christmas lights begin to twinkle and colors of green and red illuminate throughout the city, I am nostalgically drawn to the ballet. To me, there is nothing so quintessentially magical as The Nutcracker ballet at Christmas time. I can hum, and chair compose the entirety of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece. I can mark every step to every number of the two-act ballet (shout out to Inland Pacific Ballet). I can picture my grandmother sewing the principal dancers into their tutus, and my mother managing ticket sales and donning the mother-ginger costume. For me, the holiday and the ballet are indivisibly interconnected. And now that I’ve lived in Chicagoland for longer than my childhood in Southern California, there is something nostalgically familiar and magical about Christopher Wheeldon's kaleidoscopic reimagining of The Nutcracker, now playing at The Lyric Opera House.

On a magical Christmas Eve, after awakening to an epic battle between Toy Soldiers and the Rat King, a flurry of snowflakes sweeps Marie away on a whirlwind journey to the dreamlike fairgrounds of the World's Columbian Exposition. Set to Tchaikovsky's classic score, experience sprawling attractions representing countries from around the globe: the dazzling Golden Statue, the mystique of an Arabian enchantress, vibrant Venetian masked dancers, Chinese dragons, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. This holiday season, enter the spellbinding world where history and dreams intertwine.

The Nutcracker Amanda Assucena and Hyuma Kiyosawa in Joffrey Ballet's The Nutcracker at Lyric Opera House.

Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker is set against the majesty of the 1893 World’s Fair of Chicago. Though remnants of the fair can still be found in buildings like The Museum of Science and Industry, the true grandeur and spectacle is lost to photographs, sketches, and our imaginations. The magic and marvel of the fair’s White City is rumored to be the inspiration for the Emerald City in his best-selling children’s book of 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. While there is no solid evidence to support this claim, it would make sense that the fair, where Cracker Jacks, the Ferris wheel, and electricity itself were debuted and displayed, could inspire a magical city of Oz. It’s that same magic that Wheeldon captures in the Joffrey’s production of The Nutcracker. The uniquely Chicago-centric production of the ballet features the familiar storyline of Marie and her family, though it focuses on the love story between The Great Impresario of the Fair, performed by Stefan Gonçalvez, and Marie’s mother, the sculptress for the Fair and The Queen of the Fair, performed by Gayeon Jung. It shows the humble working-class families that built the city itself in the first act, juxtaposed against the vibrant and colorful world of the White City in the second act. The humility and simplicity of one act contrasted with the majesty of the second, coupled with journeys across Lake Michigan, make this production equally familiar and relatable. To date, it’s still one of my favorite productions of the ballet, quintessentially Chicago and absolutely magical.

What I wouldn’t give to be a snowflake in the core, a worker at the fair dancing beneath the first Ferris Wheel, or simply a watcher from the wings of this beautiful ballet. At this point, I have seen and reviewed the play more years than I performed in the ballet, and I still get goosebumps when the tree rises, and the snow falls. Whether you are seeing it for the hundredth time, the tenth time, or the first, every Chicagoan should experience the Nutcracker. Experience the magic for yourself. The Nutcracker is playing now through December 28^th at The Lyric Opera House (20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago). Do not overpay for Joffrey tickets! Beware of ticket resellers offering overpriced or invalid tickets. The Joffrey is the only official seller with the best prices, available at www.joffrey.org.

The month of December means one thing for ballet companies across the country: The Nutcracker. To audiences, this holiday classic brings the classic story of Clara and her Nutcracker Prince coming to life and journeying to the land of sweets. For young dancers, however, The Nutcracker is a culmination and celebration of a year of hard work; hours of work in the studio, rounds of auditions, and weeks of preparation, ending in a handful of performances amidst the glittering lights of the stage. For the Ruth Page Center for the Arts dancers, their company shined bright as they performed the holiday favorite on the NEIU stage, kicking off the holiday season with bright and burgeoning talent.

The Ruth Page Center for the Arts is a Chicago ballet company developing great artists and connects them with audiences and the community.  With a primary focus on dance as a necessary art form, its programming ensures that children and dance artists have a place to train, work and perform at the highest level of excellence. This year's performance of the Nutcracker was a full-length production choreographed by Ruth Page herself and featured the elite Ruth Page Civic Ballet Training Company along with international guest artists.

Growing up I spent most of December in the wings, watching our prima ballerinas dance The Arabian Coffee, The Mirliton, and The Waltz of the Flowers, but this December I sat next to an excited grandfather who whispered feverishly when his granddaughter took the stage as a young BonBon with Mother Ginger. His pride and excitement watching her dance was magical, and more wholesome and heartwarming than I’ve ever felt during a professional performance. The youngest dancers in the company performed as young soldiers battling with The Nutcracker against the Mouse King, while some of the elite and guest artists performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy, the thrilling Russian dance, and Spanish Hot Chocolate. The corp supported each number well with effortless performances throughout the two acts. Dancers of all ages, races, and sizes were represented in this production and audiences whooped, cheered, and applauded loudly and proudly for their stars.  I can only imagine what my own mother felt when she watched me perform when I was younger. 

Ballet is one of the hardest arts, not only for the dancer physically and mentally but also for family budgets and time commitments. The thousands of dollars a year for premier training are daunting and dancers now need to commit young to develop the requisite skills the art demands. It can be taxing on the dancer and the family for different reasons. But in the end, The Nutcracker is a challenging ballet to put on stage with planning often beginning mid-year and dancing roles auditioned in early fall. Foundational training continues with the addition of extra rehearsals to learn and understudy The Nutcracker roles. By the end of November, ballet members and staff are exhausted. But as the holiday season ushers in, and the final dress rehearsals wrap, the company takes to the stage and all the hard work, sacrifice, and dedication to this craft is brought center stage.

There are always options to see incredible companies such as The Joffrey perform this classic, but nothing brought about the holiday spirit more than the young artists of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Make it a part of your holiday tradition in the future to support this charming company. Now, more than ever, we owe it to our youth, to the arts, and to the ballet, to shine back the light they bring to us each holiday season. Here’s wishing The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, their dancers, and you and yours, a most magical holiday season.

For more information on the Ruth Page Center for The Arts and tickets to upcoming performances, including their Grayslake Dec 17th performance of The Nutcracker, visit http://www.ruthpage.org/.