Nevada Ballet celebrates 30th season of ‘The Nutcracker’

If you've been waiting to see the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier dance, now is your chance.

"The Nutcracker" ballet, a holiday tradition, is being performed by the Nevada Ballet Theatre at Paris Las Vegas, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Saturday through Dec. 24.

Beth Barbre, executive director and CEO of the Nevada Ballet Theatre, said the production "continues to enjoy immense popularity in Las Vegas and around the country, for good reasons. It is a wonderful traditional story, danced by professional artists and young children and set to one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. The show is a marvelous introduction to the magic of ballet, not just for the thousands of local children who attend each year but also for adults who have not been exposed to our art form."

This marks the 30th year that NBT has presented the ballet. It's the third year it has been performed on the Strip, a strategic move that has seen 25 percent of ticket sales come from tourists.

"We strongly believe in contributing to the enrichment of our community by supporting cultural organizations such as NBT," said Jonathan Halkyard, NBT board member and senior vice president and chief financial officer of Caesars Entertainment.

This year's production is choreographed by Peter Anastos, the artistic director of Ballet Idaho. It includes more than 100 roles for children, and Anastos' choreography is complemented by elaborate sets and costumes.

NBT's version of "The Nutcracker" is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's story, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," a fairy tale originally intended for adults. The history of the ballet dates to the end of the 19th century.

Choreographer Marius Petipa first staged the ballet and invited Peter Tchaikovsky to create the musical score for it. The pair already had collaborated on two other ballets -- "Swan Lake" and "Sleeping Beauty."

Tchaikovsky began composing the score in 1891, and Petipa began working on the choreography. But Petipa became too ill to complete the task. His assistant, Lev Ivanov, took over the job and completed the ballet.

The Imperial Russian Ballet premiered the new ballet on Dec. 17, 1892, at the Maryiinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was not well-received. As a result, the ballet was dropped from the repertoire after only two seasons.

In 1944, William Christensen's San Francisco Ballet became the first American company to present a full-length production of "The Nutcracker" in the United States. Since Christensen had never seen the ballet performed, he relied on the recollections of two dancers, Alexandra Danilova and George Balanchine, to shape his choreography.

Balanchine, from Russia, had danced the role of the Prince in "The Nutcracker" in 1919. He was 15 at the time.

Christensen's version includes only the original choreography of the grand pas de deux, the dance between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

The new version of "The Nutcracker" was greeted enthusiastically. Balanchine later founded the New York City Ballet and choreographed his own version of "The Nutcracker." It also was well-accepted, and the ballet became the American holiday tradition for hundreds of professional ballet companies and thousands of dance schools.

Seeing "The Nutcracker" presented by one company does not necessarily mean you've seen them all.

"All Nutcracker ballets vary from company to company ... in choreography and size and scale of the ballet," said Clarice Geissel-Rathers, artistic associate and company instructor of NBT.

With "The Nutcracker" being an annual tradition, NBT dancers often remember the choreography from year to year, said Geissel-Rathers, "but rehearsals are imperative in order to bring the production up to a professional performance quality."

After this year, NBT will perform its shows at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave., which is set to open in March.

"Performing in a world-class venue such as The Smith Center allows us to expand the size, quality and impact of our ballet productions," said Barbre. "We expect to enhance our production of "The Nutcracker" in the years to come so that it will continue to appeal to future generations here in Las Vegas."

Tickets for "The Nutcracker" start at $32, plus tax and fees. For tickets, visit the Paris Theatre box office, call 946-4567 or purchase them online at harrahs-web.vegas.com/paris/Nutcracker.html.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.