Often the holidays go hand-in-hand with family traditions. For a lot of people in the Champaign-Urbana area, The Nutcracker by the Champaign Urbana Ballet (CUB) in collaboration with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (KCPA) is one of those family traditions.
Adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and Alexander Dumas’ ‘The Nutcracker’ short story, The Nutcracker ballet by Marius Pepita and Lev Ivanov with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is a holiday staple for many communities. The story, admittedly, is a little strange. Young Clara, our protagonist, cares deeply for her wooden Nutcracker, a gift from her eccentric Uncle Drosselmeyer. When her younger brother Fritz breaks the Nutcracker, Drosselmeyer repairs the toy before dashing away. Worried and awake, Clara goes to check on the Nutcracker later that night. As the clock strikes midnight, she finds herself in a magical world where her Nutcracker has come to life to do battle with the Rat Queen and her army of mice.
For 19 years and counting, CUB has drawn whole families into its annual winter production. Boys and girls audition to be polichinelles, mice, party boys, and party girls. Moms and Dads help build sets and sew costumes. In some cases, they even perform. Through their Tickets for Kids organization, CUB invites “at risk” elementary and pre-kindergarten children and their families to attend The Nutcracker. The opportunity allows for children to experience ballet when they may not otherwise be exposed to the art form. The inclusivity of this local C-U production is what makes it extra special in my opinion. In talking to Kay Greene, CUB’s Executive Director, I learned more about the changes in store for this year’s The Nutcracker, the families involved, and the Tickets for Kids organization.
Starting in 2015, CUB began a three-year development plan for improving their production of The Nutcracker. New sets imagined and designed by Cory Rodeheaver, Technical Director and Production Designer, meant new choreography from the Ballet Mistress Tobey Martinez and Artistic Director Deanna Doty. The new sets also meant new directions and more involvement from the stage crew. New costumes, handmade by volunteers under the director of Costume Mistress Masumi Iriye in KCPA’s Green Room meant for a more cohesive artistic direction for the production. These changes were bigger than initially planned noted Greene. “Now we get to add to [these changes] every year.”
This year is a “Phase II” of sorts. A new Christmas tree will be the centerpiece of the Stahlbaum’s home in the first act. An expanded tree root system is also set to wow the audience. Inspired by the Napoleonic and Neoclassical paintings in Stahlbaum home, things will pop-up out of the root system as Clara ventures underground for the epic battle scene between the Nutcracker and the Rat Queen. There may be more features in store for audiences as well. Next year Greene and CUB hope to use a grant to complete the tree’s root system. “We want to keep [the production] fresh every year for everyone,” Greene said during our conversation. Since the audience fuels the dancers, CUB, KCPA, and everyone involved wants to make the audience experience spectacular. Greene also said that they want to keep the experience both familiar and new for the families involved.
When I asked about families involved in The Nutcracker, Greene gave me several examples of whole families participating in the production. “We want our parents to feel involved, too,” Green said. “It’s a lot to ask of a family [to volunteer and participate year after year].” It seemed to me to almost be an annual tradition for some families. We talked about:
- The Ochs family are a great example of a family returning year after year to help out. Father, Chris, returns to play Uncle Drosselmeyer this year while his wife helps out as the props manager again. Their son Elijah is one of the Nutcrackers and their daughter Sydney is one of the soldiers.
- Mike and Kim Cochrane have three children in the play: Matilda is a polichinelle, Odin is a mouse, and Finnegan is a party boy. As often happens, one child auditions and participates, which causes another sibling to say, “I wanna do it, too!” So, everyone eventually becomes involved.
- The Morrison family is another example of a whole family participating together. Sean (an Elementary school principal) plays a party father, his son Emmett Morrison is a polichinelle and party boy, and his other son Finn is a party boy/soldier. Hope Morrison, Sean’s wife, is a volunteer.
In looking at this year and last year’s cast lists, it’s no surprise to see surnames repeated a couple of times. Not to mention senior dancers (like Erin King and Nick Hittle) returning to help out in the production. Yet new families become involved each year thanks to audition flyers and word of mouth. Sometimes the spark to participate begins with seeing the ballet for the first time. Greene shared this heartwarming story: since the age of 3, Elliot has asked his mother if he could participate in The Nutcracker. Finally, this year he auditioned and landed a spot in the case as a party boy and polichinelle. After 19 years, there are probably hundreds of stories similar to Elliot’s. The Tickets for Kids organization also draw in children and families that may not have considered ballet as a hobby or interest.
As a 501(c)3 non profit organization, Tickets for Kids promotes and offers opportunities for local youths to participate in classical ballet. Since 2001 Tickets for Kids has reached out to the community. The organization has donated 150 tickets per year to kids and their families. While not every child is inspired to take up ballet, the program does inspire the arts in other ways. There are a few cases of children who wouldn’t normally see a ballet becoming inspired to dance. In some cases, they may be eligible for CUB’s scholarship program. With their Ticket for Kids program, Greene and the rest of CUB’s staff hope to start spark a few more this year.
“We didn’t know how deep of a tradition we are,” said Greene towards the end of our conversation. “But if we don’t make it, they won’t come, and it’s a beautiful, classical form of art.” By sharing this art form either by introducing a new family tradition or continuing one, The Nutcracker is an exemplar of inclusivity by bringing a community together in so many different ways.
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The Nutcracker by the Champaign Urbana Ballet and Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will be from Thursday December 1st to Sunday December 4th. Performances are as follows: Thurs. Dec. 1st, Fri. Dec. 2nd, and Sat. Dec. 3rd at 7:30 p.m, Sat. Dec. 3rd and Sun. Dec. 4th at 2:00 p.m., and Sun. Dec. 4th at 6:00 p.m. For more information and tickets, visit the Krannert Center’s website.
There will also be a new or gently used winter coats and accessories drive as well. The collected items will go to the Champaign Unit 4 School District and Urbana School District 116.
Images are courtesy of Champaign Urbana Ballet. Images are: Maggie Twekesbury as Clara and other cast members from the 2015 production of The Nutcracker; returning senior dancer Erin King as the Rat Queen; Unity High School student Lauren Frost as an Ice Fairy leaping; Deanna Doty with ice fairies during rehearsal.
Sarah Keim is a contributing writer for Smile Politely’s Arts section. She’s a bit of recluse on social media, but you might bump into her out in the wilds of C-U. Frequent sightings occur at local groceries stores and breweries.