The tradition returns: Ballet Idaho will open 2021-22 season with ‘The Nutcracker’
After 18 months of working in small rehearsal pods during lockdown, and performing ballets only digitally, Ballet Idaho’s dancers are ready to break out on the Morrison Center stage.
And what’s up first?
The company’s new visually stunning and magical production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.”
“We’re going to open with a splash. It’s been so long,” said Ballet Idaho Artistic Director Garrett Anderson in a phone interview. “And this is a great production to come back with. We all feel a mix of nostalgia — because, from the time we were kids, we’ve danced in a ‘Nutcracker’ — and because this is a new production, we’re also very excited to come back with this show, especially because we missed it last year.”
It will run on Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend in December, the earliest the company has performed the holiday classic in its institutional memory. It also has never been the first production of a season. The musical “Hamilton” is taking over the Morrison for much of December, so the dates had to be shifted.
But it’s really perfect timing, because another major holiday event, Saint Alphonsus’ Festival of Trees, isn’t happening this year, and it normally starts on Thanksgiving. “The Nutcracker” can help fill that void in the community for something festive to do.
The company’s previous artistic director, Peter Anastos, spent three years developing this production with designer Margaret A. Mitchell and her team at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. They debuted it in 2019 but skipped 2020 when the season closed down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can rent the 25-minute documentary “Behind the Scenes at The Nutcracker” for $5, and learn how this production came together.
Inspired by Russia in the 1840s, this version of the E.T.A. Hoffmann children’s tale blends the best of the traditional story with a few twists. In it, Clara and her Nutcracker Prince defeat the evil Mouse King and then journey through the Land of Snow to the magical Land of Sweets, where they meet waltzing flowers, dancing sugarplums, bouncing bakers and savvy salt-water taffy sailors, along with other delicious divertissements.
And this treat comes with all the trimmings — oodles of Ballet Idaho Academy kids and young dancers, Opera Idaho’s Children’s Chorus, and the Boise Phil in the orchestra pit, conducted by its music director, Eric Garcia.
Of course, with coronavirus safety concerns, there are a few minor differences. The company recast some children’s roles for a little bit older dancers so it could use kids who are vaccinated and keep everyone safe, Anderson said. You’ll even notice some costumes — like the soldiers who rally behind the Nutcracker — will include masks.
With some changes comes the opportunity for the academy’s burgeoning company of apprentices and trainees, Anderson said.
“They are getting a really broad experience this year,” he said. “You’ll see them in multiple roles.”
This moment has been a long time coming, Anderson said.
“As a company, we never stopped dancing,” he said. “The dancers worked through the lockdown and did a full digital season. But what was missing was the feedback from an audience. We didn’t get to share it with our city. We’re really hungry for that.”
The rest of the 2021-22 season
Don’t think “The Nutcracker” is all this company is about.
- “The Stories We Tell” will play Feb. 4-5 at the Morrison Center. The next concert of the season will be completely different, with a mix of classical contemporary ballets. It brings back pieces from the concert the company was preparing to perform just before the city closed down venues in March 2020, including Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Offscreen” and Craig Davidson’s “Ghost(Light).“ It also brings the return of Balanchine’s “Serenade” and a company premiere of Lar Lubovich’s classic “Concerto 622.”
- On March 6-7, the company will present Bruce Well’s “Beauty and the Beast” and a new production of “Peter and the Wolf,” created by Ballet Idaho associate artistic director Anne Meuller.
COVID protocol: Masks are required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, while in the building.
Go see it
What: Ballet Idaho’s “The Nutcracker”
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4; noon Sunday, Dec. 5
Where: Morrison Center, 2201 Cesar Chavez Lane, Boise.
Tickets: $44, $63 and $78. Ticketmaster, 208-426-1110.
Season tickets: $179-$226 for a four-show season (includes “The Nutcracker”), $122-$156 for a three-show package at BalletIdaho.org.
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The tradition returns: Ballet Idaho will open 2021-22 season with ‘The Nutcracker’ ."
