Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre’s Nutcracker Tickets Make a Great Holiday

COMMUNITY NEWS

Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre’s Nutcracker Tickets Make a Great Holiday Gift!

By Betty Sanchez

Santa Cruz County’s resident ballet company Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre presents The Nutcracker at the Civic Auditorium this December 10 and 11. This year marks the 20th of this holiday classic at the Civic with live orchestra.

SCBT moved its production to the Civic in 2002, building a custom stage using local union stage hands, and setting the musicians in front, which allows the audience to see them in action during the performance.

SCBT continues to bring 52 professional musicians under the baton of Music Director Pamela Martin to local audiences. 2022 also marks Maestro Martin’s 10th year conducting the orchestra.

The SCBT Nutcracker features over 50 local dancers, including its own talented pre-professional company dancers. These dancers train rigorously all year long, honing their physical and artistic skills for many hours every week. Many of these young dancers will move on to a career in the field, as the graduate ratio of professional dancers produced by SCBT is incredibly high.

Come see the professional dancers of the future in their formative years! The official academy of SCBT includes choreography training in its syllabus, and this year, three of the company dancers are creating the Arabian divertissement for the stage. With the right training and mentoring, these young people can do it all!

Guest artist and SCBT alumna Melody Mennite will star as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Melody is the quintessential Sugar Plum and has danced this role with SCBT many times, including as a 16-year-old student as well as guest artist.

A principal dancer with Houston Ballet, Melody relishes the ability to return to her hometown and reconnect with local audiences as well as the dancers who might just follow in her footsteps.

“Nutcracker” page 18