Unique Version of ‘The Nutcracker’ Coming to Macey

Mountain Mail Reports

Enter into the fantasy world of “Clara and her Nutcracker Prince,” when the esteemed State Street Ballet company brings this timeless holiday classic to life on the Macey Center stage on Wednesday, Dec. 8, part of the New Mexico Tech Performing Arts Series.   
The Santa Clara, Calif.,-based State Street Ballet company is known for introducing dance as mainstream entertainment, while honoring classical training and tradition.
The story begins on Christmas Eve at the house of Herr and Frau Silberhaus and their children, where among the presents are toys, but must be put away. Clara, however, takes a wounded nutcracker to her doll’s bed and lulls it to sleep. After midnight, Clara sneaks downstairs to check on the nutcracker, and that’s when the magic begins.
More than one young ballerina has gone to sleep dreaming of dancing as Clara in a world of Sugar Plum Fairies and enchanted forests from the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E. T. A. Hoffmann.
Modern magic has cast its own spell on this holiday classic. This show will have special effects and digital technology, state-of-the-art sets, production design and lavish costumes, as part of the State Street Ballet.
As an added treat, 30 local children will appear in a couple of scenes as Bon Bons, Mice and Soldiers, and are learning their roles from Jenelle Partridge and Breanna Venson.
Meanwhile, Tech Club – Club Macey will host a social at Macey between 5 and 7:30 pm. The pre-performance event is free to club members, while the cover charge is $5 for non-members.
The Nutcracker is a children’s story at heart, but people of all ages will be mesmerized and moved by this modern production of a two-act ballet first performed in 1892.
The San Francisco Ballet staged the first U.S. performance of the ballet on Dec. 24, 1944. The fantasy tale brought a much needed escape from a country that at the time was at war. Ten years later, in 1954, the New York Ballet gave its first performance of the George Balanchine-staging of The Nutcracker, thus beginning a holiday tradition that eventually spread to the rest of the country.
Tickets for The Nutcracker are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and older, and $16 for children 17 and younger; with a $2 discount if purchased by 5 p.m. the day before the performance. Tickets are available at the New Mexico Tech cashier’s office (second floor of Fidel Center), Brownbilt Shoes and Western Wear, Burrito Tyme Drive-up, or at the door. Admission is free to full-time Tech students.
Students are advised to pick up their tickets in advance at the Tech bookstore.

Unique Version of ‘The Nutcracker’ Coming to Macey