Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker at The Straz this holiday, Dec. 21-23

Nutcracker resonates beyond Christmastime at the Straz Center. Dancers from Next Generation Ballet® (NGB), Patel Conservatory’s pre-professional dance troupe and resident ballet company of The Straz, will perform in recognizable roles alongside guest principal dancers from the New York City Ballet.   

To help get you in a Nutcracker frame of mind, enjoy this mix of fun facts about the well-known holiday ballet and Next Generation Ballet:  

• The original working titles for The Nutcracker were The Christmas Tree and The Fir Tree. NGB’s production of the ballet goes just by Nutcracker.
• The Nutcracker was first performed in the United States in 1944, by the San Francisco Opera Ballet. It took another 10 years to get to New York City where it became a full-on American holiday tradition after being choreographed by George Balanchine in 1954. He used the "best parts" of the original choreography, adding twists and new characters.
• Next Generation Ballet has performed Nutcracker on stage at The Straz for more than 15 years, proving just how much of a long-lasting family tradition this Christmas ballet is for our community.
• A lot of work goes into preparing for each year’s performance. The NGB dancers rehearse 4-7 hours per day, six days a week, from September until the performances in December!
• Depending on where in the world you see Nutcracker, Clara may not be the name of the heroine. There were two versions of the original story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann and The Nutcracker of Nuremberg. In these stories, the heroine is known as Maria or Marie and her doll was named Clara.
• Tchaikovsky, composer of the score for Nutcracker, didn’t think it was his best work. He thought it was "infinitely poorer" than his score for Sleeping Beauty. The Nutcracker was the last of the three ballets he composed for – the first being Swan Lake. Next Generation Ballet has performed all three of these ballets on stage at The Straz over the years!
• The ballet took 42 years to migrate from Russia, first being performed in England in 1934.
• There have been classical productions of the ballet by legendary dancers and choreographers, such as Rudolf Nureyev (1963) Mikhail Baryshnikov (1977) and Matthew Bourne (1992) among others.

Next Generation Ballet will perform Nutcracker Dec. 21-23 in Carol Morsani Hall at the Straz Center. For tickets and information, contact the Straz Center Ticket Sales Office at 813.229.7827 or visit strazcenter.org. 

Nutcracker resonates beyond Christmastime at the Straz Center, Dec. 21-23.