GREENSBORO, NC | From the iconic opening curtain illustration to the final setting of young Clara in the afterglow of her great adventure, UNC School of the Arts’ annual The Nutcracker crackles with all things seasonal, romantic, and familial.
Presented for the second year in the Stephen Tanger Center in Greensboro, The Nutcracker seems to be settling easily into its temporary home while renovations are made to its traditional venue at the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem. The care and devotion of both fans and creators is abundantly evident.
The Schools of Dance, Design and Production, and Music collaborate on this holiday tradition that UNCSA has presented for more than 50 years. Performances are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7, at noon and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 8, at 1 and 6:30 p.m. in the Tanger Center, 300 N. Elm St., Greensboro. Ticket prices start at $39 at www. TangerCenter.com/Nutcracker.
Dance faculty member Ilya Kozadayev, an international, award-winning dancer and choreographer, began creating the current iteration of The Nutcracker during the COVID pandemic. At that time, Kozadayev and his usual collaborators added the Filmmaking School to their team and made a remarkable video version of the tale that aired on NC PBS TV and is available for streaming.
When the cast and crew were once again able to work together up close and personal, Kozadayev continued to revise some of the dances and staging, resulting in the current production, which is lively and inventive. More than 100 ballet, contemporary and Preparatory Dance students perform under his effective direction. It’s a Nutcracker for twenty-first-century attention spans, with staging that never tolerates a dull moment.
One of the pieces that survived the transition from film back to live performance is an athletic, yogic dance by Drosselmeyer in their workshop. Performed on opening night (Dec. 6) by an impish but authoritative Camille Pettiford, this mesmerizing Drosselmeyer made a comic entrance, hiding under a large brown bag and galumphing in time with the music toward the partygoers. The result was kind of a goofy menace – very entertaining.
The leading dance roles will change from performance to performance allowing more dancers to get time on stage – and time off to rest.
On opening night Madeleine Smith danced the role of Clara impeccably. Clara is the character on whom the whole ballet hinges. In the first act, she is the irrepressible daughter/sister/niece who engages with her friends, grandparents and all of the company. She connects effectively with the audience as well.
Drosselmeyer gives Clara the titular nutcracker that transforms into the hero of the piece, defending Clara from the menacing mice before transforming again into a young cavalier who accompanies Clara on her travels through the lands of Ice and Snow, and Sweets. Xavier Cacanindin danced well throughout.
In this production, Smith and Cacanindin performed in the dances of the Snowflakes and, later, the Flowers, all more mature dancers. The youngsters more than held their own.
At the end of Act I, Anna Horton performed the role of the Snow Queen and Nate Jennings the Snow King. They were well matched in their partnering, which was strong and exquisite. All lifts were completed with polish.
Vanessa Meikle as the Snow Queen
In many ways, Clara is the hostess in Act I, inviting us along on her holiday journey, but in Act II, the Sugar Plum Fairy takes over that role, drawing us into her sweet world of delights.
Alea Brown made a lovely Sugar Plum with clear and precise footwork. Andrew McGee partnered her, their most dramatic moment being a daring hands-free “fish dive.” It’s indescribable (but there are variations to view online.)
The UNCSA Orchestra, conducted by Chancellor Brian Cole, synched with the dancers as if by magic. Yes, hours and hours of rehearsals can create magic. Cole, who joined UNCSA as dean of the School of Music in 2016, has led orchestras and operas throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. He was installed as chancellor in 2021.
I probably say this every year, but I swear, this Christmas Tree is the biggest and best one ever. One of the many demanding assignments made of the School of Design and Production is the designing and making of a magnificent Christmas Tree that magically grows to gargantuan proportions to indicate the shift from relative reality to outrageous fantasy in the ballet. It requires both lighting and mechanical mastery.
This year brought the return of Penny Jacobus as guest lighting designer. Jacobus is the former lighting director for the New York City Ballet (NYCB) and was with that company from 2000 to 2018. Additional credits include four world premiere designs for NYCB and designs for Christopher Wheeldon and the Morphoses Dance Company and for Tom Gold Dance.
The School of Dance has its own costume shop, directed by Marissa McCullough. The Marzipan dancers costumes seemed particularly rich this year. All the costumes are designed for ease of movement, assurance of fit, and aesthetic enhancement to the characters and performances. Coffee’s costumes are as lithe and fluid as the dancers themselves: Kayla Estipular, Margaux Beller, and Myla Calhoun. Trepak’s striped blooson trousers are as buoyant as the music – and the dancing – and support the joie de vivre of dancers Fox Hamblen, Nate Jennings, and Noah Braun.
The set designs, overseen by Howard C. Jones, delight the eye: the home in the opening scene has a domed ceiling among other extravagant decorations; the Land of Ice and Snow takes place in a forest landscape both spectral and sparkling; the Harlequin-patterned walls in Act II change with each dance, going from chartreuse to blue to red.
UNCSA’s Nutcracker is as gorgeous and filled with delightful surprises as a particularly happy Christmas morning. The audience is fully half of the fun – so many children, either falling asleep in a parent’s arms or alert at the edge of their seats. In the row behind me, a little girl cradled her foot-long nutcracker that was arrayed in pink and gold. No doubt she’ll be carried home to a snug bed and her own dreams of Sugar Plum Fairies.
Proceeds from The Nutcracker support student scholarships at UNCSA.
