Chinese Dragon (Photo – © 2014 E. Y. Yanagi).
For over 100 years, The Nutcracker has been delighting and entertaining audiences of all ages with elaborate and intricately conceptualized productions all over the world.*
By Harriet Kaplan
The Inland Pacific Ballet (IPB) returns with its spectacular production of The Nutcracker, a classic holiday story choreographed to Tchaikovsky’s score. The IPB brings The Nutcracker to life with dazzling sets complete with falling snow, an antique original Albany Flyer One-Horse Open Sleigh, a 40-foot Chinese Dragon, beautiful costumes handmade in-house at IPB’s costume department, and a cast of 80 dancers. New to this year’s production is a completely re-choreographed Snow Scene for an expanded cast of 20 and a brand-new lighting design.
The Inland Pacific Ballet dancers at rehearsal. The Nutcracker production is coming to the Arcadia Performing Arts Center. (Photo – Harriet Kaplan)..
Colorado Boulevard spoke with the director of marketing and development, the founder and artistic director, and the lead dancer and principal dancer of the IPB Ballet to discuss the goals and growth of the company and how the ongoing success of The Nutcracker helps keep it a viable and lucrative enterprise.
Annette Johnson, director of marketing and development of the IPD Ballet, explains:
The Nutcracker is a tradition and a classic holiday show for many families, so we have been approached by some other theaters to bring our show there. It doesn’t always work logistically for us, but like every other ballet company, it’s a mainstay in terms of ticket sales that help support the company throughout the year. Our audiences continue to grow incrementally. Adding different venues that are geographically linked in the sense that we market to this entire area from Rancho Cucamonga to the Fontana area all the way to Arcadia meets the community’s needs and expands the audience as well.
We say our shows are magnificent productions of The Nutcracker. The costumes are so colorful and stunning, and the sets are beautiful. It’s very joyous. We do this every year, and it puts us in the Christmas spirit and mood. The organization’s heart is putting on a spectacular show.
Rehearsals for The Nutcracker production (Photo – Harriet Kaplan).
Victoria Koenig, the founder and artistic director of the IPD Ballet, said:
The Nutcracker is the bread and butter for every ballet company in the country. It’s where we get our largest ticket sales. It’s where we have the biggest cast. It’s where the professional company dancers get to try out different roles and do multiple roles over the course of the month that we tour, but it also gets the students who audition — both from our ballet academy but also from around the Southland — an opportunity to perform with a professional company over the course of four weeks, which is really unusual. Most places that do The Nutcracker may do one weekend. But because we have this tour to four different Southern California cities, the students get a chance to experience what it means to be a touring company. That’s very valuable for their training and development as young artists.
A prop for the Nutcracker production (Photo – Harriet Kaplan).
Lauren Collett, one of the dancers alternating in the role of Clara, spoke of her excitement and ease in getting to play Clara in The Nutcracker. Collett began in the production as a soldier and quickly progressed by 11 years old to the coveted part. Collett is now 15. For two years, she played the role, and last year she appeared as the best friend.
I didn’t originally do ballet. I was interested in jazz and tap. But as soon as I started real ballet, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I’ve always dreamed about being Clara. When you perform and dance in The Nutcracker, it is different from other ballets. It’s magical for me.
IPB students get a chance to experience what it means to be a touring company (Photo – Harriet Kaplan).
Jonathan Sharp, IPB Principal Dancer performing as Drosselmeyer, returns for a seventh season with IPB and had danced professionally with the Boston and Pennsylvania ballet companies, with appearances in original casts of five Broadway shows. Jonathan expresses his excitement, seeing new talent year after year come up in the company, and sees them as a source of inspiring, fresh energy.
The level of artistic talent and ability among the professional dancers is also really good, and when you get to that level, you want to train at that level.
As a company, we switch roles a lot. We have one, two, and three casts because there are 20 performances, so I will play the lead of the first act of Drosselmeyer in the party scene. Sometimes, I will do a second act with that or the Arabian variation, which in our version is a duet for a man and a woman…I have been doing those roles for the last 10 years. In Southern California, this Nutcracker is one of the best productions. You won’t find better dancers. You might find different choreography, but the dancing won’t be any better.
The Nutcracker and Soldiers (Photo – © 2013 E.Y. Yanagi).
The Nutcracker
Emily Baggarly, with Lauren Collett alternating in the role of Clara.
IPB Principal Dancer, Meilu Zhai of Montclair, Sugar Plum Fairy.
IPB Principal Dancer Cameron Schwanz of Corona, the Cavalier and the Nutcracker.
IPB Principal Dancer Jonathan Sharp, Drosselmeyer.
Choreography by Laurence Blake and Victoria Koenig.
Scenic design by Nancy Seruto and Daniel C. Nyiri.
Costume design by Jeanne Nolden.
Lighting design by Joseph Walls.
Locations:
Arcadia Performing Arts Center, 188 Campus Drive, Arcadia, CA 91007
Saturday, November 28, 2015 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 29, 2015 2:00 pm
Bridges Auditorium, Pomona College, 450 North College Way, Claremont, CA 91711
Saturday, December 5, 2015 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 6, 2015 2:00 pm
Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501
Saturday, December 12, 2015 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 13, 2015 2:00 pm
Lewis Family Playhouse, 12505 Cultural Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
Friday, December 18, 2015 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 19, 2015 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 20, 2015 2:00 pm
$38 with senior/child/group discounts available.
Purchase tickets here.
*This perennial classic initially made its less than auspicious debut on December 17, 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. At its premiere, The Nutcracker was considered a failure by the public and critics. Tchaikovsky (who died less than a year later) was said not to know what a huge international success the ballet would later become.
> Harriet Kaplan is an L.A.-based entertainment writer and music reviewer and interviewer with over 20 years of experience contributing to print and online publications. Harriet likes going to the movies, theater and concerts.
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