{"id":73690,"date":"2018-12-04T14:59:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T20:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=73690"},"modified":"2018-12-04T15:00:16","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T21:00:16","slug":"cultural-centers-the-nutcracker-invited-all-dance-lovers-to-perform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/cultural-centers-the-nutcracker-invited-all-dance-lovers-to-perform\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Center’s \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d invited all dance lovers to perform"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Xiaoyi Liu<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Nutcracker\u201dballet is a holiday classic that sets the tone for the season at national opera houses and school stages across the world. Through beautiful music and charming choreography, it celebrates the holidays by taking audiences on an unforgettable journey with young Clara as she travels from her home on Christmas Eve to the Land of the Sweets.<\/p>\n

But dance lovers of all ages and abilities came to point their toes in Tchaikovsky\u2019s ballet at the Chicago Cultural Center on Sunday. Participants learned the basic ballet positions and movements taught by members of\u00a0Ballet Chicago<\/a>\u00a0at an optional lesson before joining in the performance of \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has loved the Nutcracker story since she was a little over a year old, and she loves to dance,\u201d said Chicagoan Julie Trent, who brought her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter to dance. \u201cShe enjoys it and I enjoy watching her. She is a free spirit, so she really likes to move and she loves music.\u201d<\/p>\n

She joined the dozens of amateur dancers on stage who took roles with the Chicago Ballet performers, adding lots of energy and their most beautiful steps to the magic world of the Nutcracker.<\/p>\n

\"Voluteer<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Volunteer instructors with Ballet Chicago taught little ballerinas basic arm positions for ballet. (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\u201cBack<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cBack in my home studio in New Mexico, I saw a performance of \u2018Peter and the Wolf\u2019 [danced] by a friend, and ever since then I wanted to dance,\u201d said Jacob Hernandez, one of the \u201cChinese dancers\u201d playing the role of Tea in Land of Sweets. \u201cThis is my first Nutcracker,\u201d said the Ballet Chicago dancer. \u201cEverything is really new.\u201d (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\u201cThe<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cThe beauty of ballet itself is that it teaches you to always think ahead and have contingency plans,\u201d said Katherine Alvarado, lead \u201cArabian dancer\u201d playing the role of Coffee in Land of Sweets. Ballet dancers always have to be prepared for malfunctions on the stage, such as a sudden going off of lights. \u201cSo a lot of us have more than one passion,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just are focus on this one [ballet].\u201d (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\u201cI\u2019ve<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cI\u2019ve always been a storyteller. I feel like story is what keeps the imagination on,\u201d said Paris Stigger, one of the \u201cRussian dancers\u201d playing the role of Candy Canes in Land of Sweets. The Chicago Ballet performer became interested in dancing after getting accepted to the dance conservatory for Chicago High School for the Arts instead of theater conservatory, which was his first choice. \u201cAs long as you find an outlet, for me which is dance, I feel like the limits are just endless.\u201d (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Dancers<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Dancers with Ballet Chicago performing \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d on the stage at the Chicago Cultural Center. (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Lakeside<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles played the music for the performance. The musical organization is committed to the education of the public about the positive aspects of the metropolitan Chicago LGBTQ community through public musical performances, workshops and non-musical events. (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"It<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The ensemble has four major music groups \u2013 Jazz Orchestra, Marching Band, Symphonic Band, and Chamber Ensembles. (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\u201cMusic<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cMusic helped me to come out of my shell when I was younger,\u201d said Vahona Richardson, a volunteer clarinet player with the ensemble since May. She said music showed her that she had a unique talent, and taught her to work hard toward a goal. (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\u201cIt\u2019s<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cIt\u2019s very rewarding for my wife and me to see when people take initiative and move forward on their own,\u201d said Daniel Duell, who co-founded Ballet Chicago with his wife in 1995. \u201cWe are really just messengers, in the end they are really teaching themselves after this.\u201d (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Ballet<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Ballet Chicago is bringing its own rendition of \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d to the Athenaeum Theatre in Lakeview this holiday season from Dec. 7 through Dec. 16. (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Music for \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d was provided by the\u00a0symphonic band of Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles<\/a>, one of Chicago\u2019s premier performance groups for the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n

Identifying herself as pansexual, Vahona Richardson, 49, had been volunteering with Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles since May, so as to \u201cdo something for the community\u201d that she enjoyed. She said it was fun to be there watching little kids dance, and spending time with her \u201cmusical peers\u201d at the same time.<\/p>\n

Richardson started playing clarinet at the age of 12 and clarinet helped her make it through her parents\u2019 divorce when she was younger. \u201cIt kept me occupied,\u201d she said. \u201cIt gave me a goal when there\u2019s a lot of chaos going on in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paris Stigger of Ballet Chicago performed with the “Russian dancers” in the\u00a0 role of the Candy Canes in Land of Sweets.\u201cIt\u2019s a very long but short career,\u201d he said, referring to the fact that being a professional ballet dancer requires time and a lot of sweat,\u00a0yet they also have to battle against time to reach perfection in the short-lived time of most dance careers. But seeing kids “wanting to become dancers is kind of cool, knowing that we can be one of the reasons that inspires them to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Wittig, also with Ballet Chicago, has been dancing since she was three, and played roles in \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d from the age of seven.\u00a0 \u201cI have been Clara – when I was little,\u201d Wittig said. \u201cI\u2019ve pretty much been everything of Nutcracker, but this is my first year doing the Sugar Plum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The role of Sugar Plum Fairy in ballet is played by the principal female dancer of a troupe. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of pressure, but in a good way,\u201d Wittig said. She faced the stresses such as living up to the expectation, and trying to be as good as the multiple ballerinas who had played that role before. \u201cI\u2019m really grateful for the opportunity, but it\u2019s also very scary,\u201d Wittig said.<\/p>\n

Katherine Alvarado, lead \u201cArabian dancer\u201d playing the role of Coffee in Land of Sweets, agreed. Stepping on a stage means \u201cyou carry the pride of all of your teachers standing behind you,\u201d said the Ballet Chicago performer.<\/p>\n

Now 25, Alvarado decided to become a professional ballet dancer at 17, after dancing in ballets as an amateur. \u201cThe industry is very small,\u201d she said, and because it is so small, the job openings are very limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the Olympics, you start preparing yourself from the first second that you realized that this is what you want,\u201d she said. \u201cIt takes a lot of training and a lot of hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Dancers with Ballet Chicago performed holiday classic \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d at Chicago Cultural Center, December 2, inviting amateur participants to join the troupe in the performance. (Xiaoyi Liu\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Xiaoyi Liu Medill Reports \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201dballet is a holiday classic that sets the tone for the season at national opera houses and school stages across the world. Through beautiful music and charming choreography, it celebrates the holidays by taking audiences on an unforgettable journey with young Clara as she travels from her home on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":504,"featured_media":73691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,4447,28],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-73690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-fall-2018","category-general-interest","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nCultural Center's \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d invited all dance lovers to perform - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/cultural-centers-the-nutcracker-invited-all-dance-lovers-to-perform\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cultural Center's \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d invited all dance lovers to perform - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Xiaoyi Liu Medill Reports \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201dballet is a holiday classic that sets the tone for the season at national opera houses and school stages across the world. 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