When the Mouse is King
By Eileen M. Carlton
Only the plot remains the same in this Christmas classic; Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, some historic reports indicate, was not all that thrilled with the music he composed for the plot taken from "The Nutcracker and The Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffman and the choreography of Lev Ivanov.
But since "The Nutcracker" was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1892, it has enchanted all audiences of all ages to a degree unsurpassed by any other Christmas classic.
Maybe it is the tree that grows several stories high in seconds.
Maybe it is the dreams of dancing candy, the challenges from a sinister Mouse King or the flirtatious chivalry of a come-to-life nutcracker imbued with the bravery of a soldier's spirit.
Regardless, this ballet has a magic that allows everyone, no matter what age, the chance to let child-like imagination rule supreme and unashamed once a year.
The Loudoun Ballet Company brings this to the stage for the 18th season and its organizers make it clear that the gift is, has been and continues to be packaged differently every time.
"We have added new male roles with the hot chocolate trio and these are danced by two apprentices with the company. They have boleros and and they look matadorish. And we have two professional male guest artists acting as cavaliers, Norbert Nirewicz and Alfiero Supan," said Chris Babilonia, the publicity representative for the LBC.
Babilonia explained that Nirewicz is a free-lance dancer, teacher and choreographer; a native of Poland who began training as a child and who has competed all over world. He has performed with companies in Europe and recently with the Cleveland San Jose Ballet and the Columbia City Ballet where he was a principal dancer. Most recently he has danced with the National Ballet of Venezuela.
Supan, Babilonia continued, was born in the Phillippines and began dancing as a very young child. He eventually studied with the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Washington Ballet and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Like Nirewicz he is also a free-lance dancer, teacher and choreographer.
But there are also children as young as 4 years old, Babilonia said, who portray toddler babies and gift bearers. There are those in their 50s who are the adult party guests, the grandparents and, of course, the cause de celebre, the godfather of Clara and Fritz, Herr Drosselmeyer.
In all, there are 225 cast members with almost all the roles double cast.
One of the changes, Babilonia said, was that the LBC contracted an artist to create a new sweets backdrop to the tune of $5,000.
"We've also done something completely different this year with our artwork in our posters and ads. The program cover was designed by a former dance student and apprentice of the company, Inslee Haynes who is now a senior at Washington and Lee University who is majoring in art. ... She danced at least five Nutcrackers. Hers is a very whimsical cover, very different from the bold nutcrackers we’ve had before," Babilonia said.
LBC Artistic Director Maureen Miller explained that part of the magic is the tradition as well as the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle changes.
"People come because they’re into the ritual. Pretty much everybody in the United States goes to see "The Nutcracker." It has become such an American tradition. And we try to change things a bit each year," Miller said.
Miller first came on board with the LBC as ballet mistress in 1993. The artistic director at that time was none other than a descendant of E.T.A. Hoffman, Sheila Hoffman-Robertson who is the founder of the LBC.
Miller also emphasized the company's commitment to keep each production fresh, unique. For instance, Miller said, there are new candy-cane costumes and new big mice.
The three individuals behind the costumes are Nina Esoda, and Sandy Waskiewicz and Debi Strauch.
"The costumes don't change every year but we always upgrade," Miller said.
Most of the real change, Miller said, is found in the dancers themselves.
"Every time you come to the performance you’ll see something different -- but it was something that was always there. Each dancer brings something different to each role. We try to bring out the strengths of each dancer. The same dance can look completely different. We do different casting each year and that makes it different," Miller said.
Not only have the audiences continued to grow, so have the numbers of those auditioning.
"We had to double the cast because we had so many people audition and we don’t want to turn people away. We had over 100 people show up for auditions. And that’s not for the main roles because we have members of the company do the big roles,"Miller said.
Miller did caution that those who want to share in this year's magic should act quickly. Tickets sell out more quickly for the performances closer to Christmas.
Contact the writer at ecarlton@timespapers.com