Tough Nut to Crack: Local Dance Company Takes on 'Nutcracker'

No matter how commercial Christmas becomes, some traditions remain pure: festive music, scrumptious food and The Nutcracker.

For 118 years, Tchaikovsky's ballet masterpiece has wowed adults and captured young imaginations with its globetrotting adventure story of Russian maidens and giant mice.

In past years, fans of the ballet had to head to Downtown Pittsburgh to take in a full production. The show is big, after all, with an enormous cast and lavish costumes. But last weekend, Moon residents had a chance to enjoy The Nutcracker staged on their home turf by Arena's Performing Arts Centre.

"To us, it's a holiday tradition," said Barb Lavin, assistant director at Arena. Saturday's recital at nearby Ambridge Area High School was the third annual Nutcracker production by the the Moon-based company. 

In 2008, the center's director director, Adrianne Arena-Jacobs, and Lavin decided to stage one of the world's most famous ballets.

"It was just a conversation between us," Lavin recalled. They had already collaborated on several summer productions, and they were feeling ambitious.

"We really weren't sure what to expect that first year," Lavin recalled. "Once we saw that it was a success, we thought, well, let's keep going with it."

Even a modest production of The Nutcracker is a sizable undertaking. The cast is huge: There's Clara, the young girl, and the Nutcracker, her heroic wooden beau. There are also human snowflakes, angels, an army of mice, and dancers representing mythic China, Russia, Spain and Arabia. The first scene alone, which takes place during a holiday party, requires a large number of celebrants.

"We have 45 people in the show," Lavin said. The cast covers a range of ages, from 7-year-old children to adults, most of whom were drawn from an open audition pool.

"The majority of them are dancers. We bring in some boys to fill in the party scene, and we give them a little bit of movement to do."

Ballets like The Nutcracker often use the same choreography over and over, but Arena-Jacobs and Lavin have given themselves some leeway to tweak it.

"Each year we've added new roles in," Lavin said. "Yes, it's a ballet, but we like to throw some surprises in there."

For example, the company introduced the acrobatic method of Russian tumbling.

Choreographing the production is only half the challenge. There is also the question of costuming. In describing the first production, Lavin said, "let's say, stressful."

Most of the costumes, tailored in the style of Czarist fashions, were rented.  Others were purchased, and some were even "dyed wedding dresses."

Named after its director, Arena's Performing Arts Centre for 17 years has cultivated young talent in its three studios, where students of all ages (starting at age 2) can learn the gamut of theatrical skills, from tap and jazz to voice lessons, guitar and hip-hop. The school also offers instruction in gymnastics.

But Arena is more than an after-school program: students may go on to perform for Arena's Centre Stage Dancers, who perform for local nursing homes, community events, malls and amusement parks, including Walt Disney World.