Holiday Dance
The holiday season is a great time to see a dance performance. Many dance companies have special holiday dance offerings that you can only see for a brief time, so don’t miss out. I will tell you about a few holiday dance performances happening in the San Francisco Bay Area – please start a discussion and share with the rest of us if you have any suggestions from your area of the world!
Perhaps the most famous holiday ballet is The Nutcracker with its gorgeous score by Tchaikovsky. Lev Ivanov, the great Petipa’s choreographic assistant, choreographed The Nutcracker when Petipa fell ill. The first public performance of The Nutcracker was in 1892 in the Maryinsky Theatre and it has been loved by audiences of all ages ever since. The San Francisco Ballet’s version by then director Willam Christensen was the first production of The Nutcracker in the United States in 1944. It is a holiday tradition for SFB as well as many other companies around the world. As always, the San Francisco Ballet performs at the beautiful Opera House in San Francisco.
This brief story introduction of The Nutcracker was taken from The San Francisco Ballet’s web page:
It is Christmas Eve long, long ago. A mysterious toymaker named Herr Drosselmeyer is preparing to attend a holiday party with his nephew at the home of the Stahlbaum family. In his toyshop, Herr Drosselmeyer puts the finishing touches on a wonderful toy, a nutcracker in the shape of a wooden soldier. The present is intended for Clara, the Stahlbaum’s daughter and Herr Drosselmeyer’s godchild. This special gift is put in a box and wrapped, and together uncle and nephew go out into the snowy, sparkling night…
For more of the story, history of The Nutcracker, and ticket information, go to:
http://www.sfballet.org/performances/nut...
Another local company who will showcase The Nutcracker is Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley. This is a relatively new company created from an offshoot of the now defunct San Jose/Cleveland Ballet. I have not yet had the opportunity to see this new company perform, but I can tell you that its roster boasts many exceptional dancers from the former SJ/Cleveland company and I have read many favorable reviews of their work in the newspaper. They perform at the Flint Center in San Jose.
For more information on Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, go to:
New traditions are being started in holiday dance as well. Mark Morris’ The Hard Nut is one such dance. It is Morris’ amazing version of The Nutcracker, again set to the timeless score by Tchaikovsky. Allan Ulrich of San Francisco Chronicle says this of Morris’ ballet:
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