By Kate Neeley
Classy. Elegant. Delightful. Cache Valley Civic Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker Ballet is truly one of Northern Utah’s sweetest gifts of the Holiday Season. This year is special as it marks the 40th year of this Cache Valley tradition. With that, the show opens with an incredibly well done video produced by Bodwa Productions, Jeremy Nivison overviewing the history of the ballet company, founded 40 years ago by the talented and exceptionally caring Sandra Emile, who is also artistic director. You’ll be touched and amazed at the story of the fledgling ballet company that has grown into one of the community’s greatest assets in helping hundreds of artists of all ages each year to bloom and develop in the art of ballet.
As soon as you hear the Northern Utah Symphony, under the direction of Mark Emile, start Tchaicovsky’s masterpiece, you’ll melt under the influence of pure Christmas magic. A story indeed, it was originally written by E.T.A. Hoffman. Your senses will be delighted as the first scene begins with families gracefully sallying into a warm Victorian Christmas party. Beautiful big hoop dresses and suits on each party guest (costumes by Beth Graham, Shannon Hansen) truly add to the elegance of the scene, with the party girl dresses (Christy Grove) as an especial highlight.
It is within the first party scene that you are introduced to this year’s Clara (Sophie Filimoehala/Ellie Christensen) and the whimsical and mysterious Drosselmeyer (Kyle Spuhler). You’ll be wowed by the skilled movements of the mechanical doll (Layla McBride). The party girls, boys and parents, hosts and other guests are all fully engaging and lovely to watch.
As the scene shifts into nighttime and the guests all head home, the arrival of the mice and the magic of the Nutcracker Prince (Jace Shaaf) will entertain you and pull you into the battle that ensues, complete with a full army of toy soldier dancers, a working cannon that blows snow-like confetti, and you’ll enjoy the sword fighting between the Mouse King (Andrew Jenkins) and the Nutcracker Prince, staged by Clifton Richards.
No spoilers on who wins that battle necessarily, but as the victory is won, the sleigh leads Clara and the Nutcracker Prince into a magical snow kingdom and into one of the most stunning numbers of the show. Under the direction of Karyn Hansen, Pamela Kirschman, Jaime Lindley, and Vivian Taylor, the choreography originally by Lev Ivanov, presents in such a lovely way. Snow princesses (Sarah Hamilton, Ellie Filimoehala, Cassie Bowers, Madelyn Mickelson), snowflakes (composed of ten skilled ballerinas) and constant white snowfall onstage transports you to another winter world.
The grace and movement as you hear the music and perhaps some muted tapping of toe shoes on the stage will truly entrance you. The Snow Queen (Laura Geertsen/Anne Summers) will take your breath away – but not only her, the entire tutu-clad snow kingdom is exceptionally stunning in appearance and skill (tutus by Debi King). Accompanying this number is a live Children’s Choir, which is audibly and visibly beautiful.
What the artists are wearing truly adds to the performance, but it certainly wouldn’t be the same without the makeup (Emily Geertsen) to match the glittering costumes. And as lovely as makeup can be, the ballerinas couldn’t glitter without the proper lighting (Braden Howard). All this and more are held together by a number of people working hard backstage, with Ella Stephens running the fly, and stage manager Anissa Potts Welligton, sound engineer Samuel Cooper, lighting director Kyle Sutherland, the many moving parts of the detailed surroundings for the dancers is seamless.
Anyone who is familiar with The Nutcracker Ballet knows that the Sugar Plum Fairy (Laura Geertsen/Anne Summers) is one of the sweetest highlights of the Ballet, and her part in CVCB’s production will inevitably take your breath away. She is pure royalty in the Land of Sweets, and her partner, the Cavalier (Jared Cordova) is an incredibly gifted dancer. Both light up the stage with incredible grace.
Indeed, the entire ensemble in the Land of Sweets is a feast of color, joy, delightful movement and celebration. From Flowers to Arabian to Marzipan… it’s all so lovely. When Mother Ginger (Richard Kirschman) and her gigantic dress fill nearly half the stage, it’s a treat when she lifts her skirts and all the bouncy little clowns emerge and give you all the giggles with their leaps and flips and rolls.
Like the magic of the first snowfall of the season, Cache Valley Civic Ballet’s 40th yearly tradition of The Nutcracker ushers in the joy of Christmas. The legacy of love is seen in every step of the dancers from tiny to tall, and the audiences over the years have felt that. Indeed, they must feel it, because they keep coming back each Thanksgiving weekend to fill the seats of the historic Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan.
Cache Valley Civic Ballet Presents The Nutcracker Ballet
Ellen Eccles Theatre, 43 S Main St Logan UT
November 24-25, 2023 Watch for tickets for Thanksgiving Weekend 2023 at https://www.cvcballet.org/
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