the nutcracker

Visions

Holiday performances bring magic of the season to Musical Arts Center

the nutcracker:december 1 3

Plums

Right: Julie Kent, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, leads the dancers in one of the ballet's most well-known pieces. Kent, a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, was a guest performer for "The Nutcracker." Photo by Brian D. Schultz

Below: Dancers for the IU Ballet bring out the beauty of "The Nutcracker" in the Musical Arts Center. The dancers began practicing three months in advance for the annual holiday performance.

Photo by Brian D. Schultz

Story by Rebekah Carpenter

t

he Nutcracker Suite" was composed in 1892 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and the ballet was first performed that year as well. He was never particularly fond of this piece of work, based on a story he didn't like, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," by E.T.A. Hoffman. Tchaikovsky was convinced his piece, "The Sleeping Beauty," was far superior. "The Nutcracker" became one of his most popular works, and more than a hundred years later, it remained a popular holiday piece.

The IU Ballet Theater performed "The Nutcracker" every December but every year's performance was different, with changes in choreography to help the dancers grow and improve in the art of ballet.

Choreographer Jacques Cesbron, a professor of dance from the School of Music, made the ballet more difficult this year, incorporating Russian and West European styles. "It was hard to retain everything; it was just so complicated," said freshman Scott Harris, who played the role of the Nutcracker. Senior Laurie Basloe, who played Clara, agreed. "He (Jacques) is an amazing choreographer ... he doesn't make it an easy ballet," she said. "But I think that's important just to challenge us so we don't get bored with our parts."

The show featured 50 dancers as well as Bloomington children. The two-hour long performances on Dec. 1, 2 and 3 filled the Musical Arts Center and ushered in the beginning of the holiday season. Even though "The Nutcracker" was performed every year, the enchanting music and impressive dancing didnot get old and tired for the audience or the people behind the scenes, especially Virginia Cesbron, who staged the performance and had worked on fourteen versions of "The Nutcracker" in her career. "It's very magical and I love the music," she said. "I really never get tired of it."

Cesbron believed that audiences got caught up in this magic, which helped to tie "The Nutcracker" to the holiday season. "It's just that it's so much a tradition and a part of their holiday activities," she said.

The dancers began practice in October and worked five hours a day, five days a week. For Basloe, one of the more difficult parts of portraying Clara was having two different partners, one for the Saturday show and another for the Sunday show "It was a challenge juggling between the two because I perform differently with both," she said. "But it was also a thrill."

Basloe felt that in addition to the dancing, one of the benefits of playing Clara was the chance to do some acting. "I was able to have the little girl inside me come out," she said.

Cesbron, Basloe and Harris all agreed that their favorite part of "The Nutcracker" was the snow scene, where Clara traveled to the Land of the Snow and danced with her prince while snowflakes danced around them. "Visually, it's magnificent," said Cesbron. "The choreography is really exciting."