Dancers' Alley brings back 'The Nutcracker'

Keeley Clark holds a fan up before rehearsing a number from "The Nutcracker" on Saturday at Dancers' Alley. The show will be this weekend.
Keeley Clark holds a fan up before rehearsing a number from "The Nutcracker" on Saturday at Dancers' Alley. The show will be this weekend.

Since the mid-20th century, one ballet has become synonymous with the Christmas season: "The Nutcracker."

The tradition of seeing and hearing the magical story and score of "The Nutcracker" live has allowed major American ballet companies to generate a large part of their annual ticket revenues from the one production alone.

Dancers' Alley has seen the popularity of this holiday production since it began presenting "The Nutcracker" ballet every other year since 1999. It, too, has become a Mid-Missouri tradition for the whole family.

"I have a mother of a student who is probably in her 30s now, and she has never missed one," Dancers' Alley owner Katy Howland said. "Now we are able to produce a ballet with a live orchestra. You don't have to go to the big cities like St. Louis or New York. You have that same experience right here in Jefferson City."

Last year, Southside Philharmonic Orchestra joined forces with Dancers' Alley to deliver Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's iconic score live for the company's "The Nutcracker" audiences, with both shows selling out. In its 11th presentation of the ballet, Dancers' Alley and Southside Philharmonic Orchestra have added a third performance, presenting "The Nutcracker" at 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 6 p.m. Sunday at Miller Performing Arts Center, 501 Madison St.

Howland said this is the first year they have performed "The Nutcracker" two years in a row, noting they will go back to every other year performances after this weekend's shows.

"Part of the reason why we have done two in a row is we have a large, talented and dedicated group of students, and I wanted to give them the opportunity for some leading roles in this production," Howland said.

She said seventh-grader Alli Echelmeyer will play Clara, who is the eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum in "The Nutcracker." Clara is happy to receive a shiny wooden Nutcracker doll from her mysterious godfather, Drosselmeyer, during her family's Christmas Eve party. However, after night falls, Clara is taken on an adventure where she must save the nutcracker from the evil Mouse King and travel to the Land of the Sweets.

"Alli has been with Dancers' Alley since she was 3 or 4 years old, and I believe this is her fourth 'Nutcracker' performance," Howland said. "Aaron Gillam, a professional illusionist, plays Drosselmeyer, and his son, Davis, acts as his assistant. They do such wonderful things in 'The Nutcracker' and bring a true level of high quality illusion to this important role."

Jordan Jones, a junior at Helias High School, will play the Sugar Plum Fairy and has been to six major dance summer intensives, including one in San Francisco. Patyon Burcham, a senior at Jefferson City High School, will play the Snow Queen.

Howland said they have about 60 dancers in this year's production, ranging from young children to young adults. They also have many local actors and actresses who are a part of the party scene. With auditions in May and rehearsals starting in August, the production is quite memorable for the cast as well.

"I always try to challenge them with the role that they are given. This production is one of the best learning and growing experiences for them. When they start, they are a little overwhelmed but they continue to learn, practice and push themselves. Now, we are at the point in the year where it is all coming together. I tell them, 'Now it is time to shine and enjoy it,'" Howland said. "You got the turns and leaps, and you find the joy in the ballet and become your character."

Another important character in this timeless ballet is Tchaikovsky's music score. That is another reason Howland wanted to present "The Nutcracker" for a second year in a row: to have another opportunity to work with the Southside Philharmonic Orchestra. SPO performed for the first time Dec. 16, 2016, delivering Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" at the Central United Church of Christ in Jefferson City.

"We could not have guessed that this programming decision would point so auspiciously toward a partnership with Dancers' Alley and two successive collaborations on the entire 'Nutcracker' ballet on the following two anniversaries of SPO," said Patrick Clark, the orchestra's founder and artistic director. "It is both a great challenge and a great honor for SPO to have this opportunity to show our capabilities in Katy Howland's long-established production."

Clark said Tchaikovsky's score should be impossible to play with an orchestra half or less the size of the one that the composer intended. With great care, he has made the necessary transcriptions for Southside Philharmonic Orchestra in the complete score that audiences will hear in the upcoming performances.

"I went into the score and moved notes around from one instrument to another. The important thing is nothing is lost. Everything is there, but played with a more lean orchestra," he added.

Many of "The Nutrcracker" ballet performances are played to a soundtrack, Clark said, but being able to provide live music - like the original conception of the ballet - creates a certain magical feeling that is lost without it.

"The music is really from right in front of that stage, and it communicates to an audience. It makes them even more receptive to the dancing itself," Clark said. "It is the kind of magic live music can provide. There is a little bit of danger and risk in live music, happening in real time, but the energy far exceeds a perfect recording."

"The narrative drama is shifting all the time. The music will suddenly stop, make a sharp turn into a new musical world and then go back into the narrative. We have to be ready to make those turns," he said, noting there are 50-70 turns at least. "It is such a virtuosic score, giving major solos in plentitude to every principal player in the orchestra."

Clark said matching the score with the motions of the Dancers' Alley's talented dancers is amazing and he is continually impressed by their skills, as well as Howland's leadership and collaboration.

"There are some absolute virtuosos at their young ages and they are very impressive. What (Howland) has done as a choreographer, teacher and visionary is really impressive and something Jefferson City should be proud of. There is no ego to be found within Dancers' Alley, which makes them so easy to work with," he said. "It is a dream collaboration and there is no resistance, and everybody is doing their very best. There is a kind of pure communication necessary and present for the artistic product to come out without any resistance."

Howland has mutual respect for Clark and Southside Philharmonic Orchestra, at first not sure if she would every find a group of musicians that could deliver the high quality, professional live sound she was looking for at "The Nutcracker."

"It has been magical. I am picky and a bit of a perfectionist. I didn't know we would find a group that would be good enough to play this score, but they are absolutely fabulous. It has been amazing and we will continue to work with them. In fact, we are planning some different opportunities with them in the future. This truly gives my young dancers a chance to dance to live music. That is the way ballet has always been done, and getting to do that is a real treasure."

At the end of the whole ballet during the curtain call, Southside Philharmonic Orchestra will reprise earlier music, encouraging the audience to come down and look over the pit while they play.

A themed basket raffle fundraiser will be held.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday performance are $15 for adults and $12 for children. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors 65 and older and children for the 6 p.m. Sunday show. For more information, call 573-635-6610 or visit dancersalley.com.