Submitted by Ballet Northwest
Olympia, WA – Ballet Northwest presents The Nutcracker, a ballet that has become synonymous with the holiday season. The music of the Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky provides a rich background to the story of a young girl’s Christmas-eve imaginings. Ballet Northwest first performed The Nutcracker in 1984 and has been performing at the Washington Center for the Arts since the building opened in 1985. Attending the show has been an Olympia tradition for 28 years.
200 people make up the cast, which features local dancers as young as 8 years old as well as Ballet Northwest company dancers. Ballet Northwest’s dance company is comprised of over 70 dancers age 12 and older, primarily from the South Puget Sound area. Guest dancer Iyun Harrison joins the production as the Nutcracker Prince. Mr. Harrison danced professionally with Dance Theater of Harlem and Ailey II, both in New York City. Currently he is on faculty at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, and locally at Johansen Olympia Dance Center. He is also the Artistic Director of Ashani Dances, a contemporary company based in Seattle.
The production is choreographed by Ballet Northwest’s Artistic Directors Ken and Josie Johnson and is sponsored by The Olympian, Dr. Andrew Kapust, DDS Kell-Chuck Glass, Mixx 96.1 FM, and Olympia Credit Union.
Co-Artistic Director Josie Johnson states, “We’ve had a number of our dancers who studied this past summer at prestigious programs such as American Ballet Theater in New York, Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, and Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, so it’s fun to see them come back and take this year’s production to a new level.”
Her husband and Co-Artistic Director Ken Johnson adds,“It’s wonderful to have an amazing artist like Iyun Harrison who danced professionally in New York work with our local dancers.”
WHO: Ballet Northwest
WHAT: The Nutcracker , a ballet in two acts featuring a cast of 200 local dancers
WHEN: 7:30pm on Dec. 14, 15, 21, and 22;
2pm on Dec 15, 16, 22 and 23, 2012.
WHERE: The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St SE Olympia, WA 98501
HOW: Ticket Office – 360-753-8586 or order online at www.olytix.org
PRICES: Tickets are $14 to $30, plus $3.00 service fee. Student, senior, and youth discounts available.
Student Rush tickets go on sale one hour before curtain.
Plot Synopsis and History:
During a family Christmas party, the mysterious Herr Drosselmeyer gives Clara a wooden Nutcracker in the shape of a soldier dressed in parade uniform. Her brother, Fritz, grabs for the toy it breaks. Crushed, Clara nurses the Nutcracker with Herr Drosselmeyer’s help.
After the party, Clara visits her Nutcracker in the great room and falls asleep on the sofa. At midnight, the Christmas tree grows to an enormous size. Giant mice wake Clara and corner her. The Nutcracker springs to life and he, Clara, and a host of Toy Soldiers defeat the Mouse King and his army.
The Nutcracker’s wooden façade disappears and he turns into a prince. To thank her for breaking the spell that bound him inside the nutcracker, the Prince takes Clara to the Land of Sweets, where The Sugar Plum Fairy and her people dance to celebrate the Prince’s return.
The Nutcracker is a fairy-tale ballet based on the L’Histoire d’un Casse Noisette (The Story of the Hazelnut-Cracker) by Dumas Père, which is itself based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the score for the ballet, which premiered on December 17, 1892 at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg with the Imperial Russian Ballet. Though The Nutcracker was performed in Russia for many years, it was not performed in its entirety in the US until December 29, 1944 by the San Francisco Opera Ballet, where it became an annual holiday tradition. For 10 years, they were the only company in the country to perform it until the New York City Ballet staged a production with George Balanchine’s choreography on February 2, 1954. It wasn’t long before the ballet secured its place in American tradition. Balanchine’s choreography has become the most emulated in the world.
Biographies:
Josie Johnson, Co-Artistic Director
Josie and her husband Ken are the Directors of Johansen Olympia Dance Center. She trained at Orange County Ballet Theatre, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where she received a B.F.A. in Dance Pedagogy. Josie danced professionally with Dance Connecticut/Hartford Ballet, Connecticut Opera, Roxey Ballet, and ARC Dance Productions. Guest credits include Eliot Feld’s Mr. XYZ with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Kirk Peterson’s The Nutcracker with the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. Josie has taught and choreographed extensively throughout New Jersey and Connecticut, and locally at Washington Contemporary Ballet, Evergreen City Ballet, ARC Dance Productions, and Saint Martin’s University. She is an American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum certified teacher.
Ken Johnson, Co-Artistic Director
Ken and his wife Josie are the Directors of Johansen Olympia Dance Center. He trained at Johansen School of Ballet, Evergreen City Ballet, and the School of Hartford Ballet. He attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet on scholarship. Ken danced professionally with Hartford Ballet, Dance Connecticut, and Connecticut Opera, as well as at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Following his retirement from performing, Ken received a bachelor’s from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. In addition to teaching dance, Ken has worked at American Repertory Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Connecticut, ACT Theatre, and Tacoma Art Museum. He is an American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum certified teacher.
Since 1970, Ballet Northwest has been a community-based group dedicated to promoting, teaching, and preserving the art of dance in Southwestern Washington. The company offers educational opportunities for local dancers as well as outreach throughout the community.
