Shifting the bar | About City

In Act one of “The Nutcracker”, a cozy and familiar world is turned upside down. Toys come to life. Angels, mice and soldiers swarm in the living room. A tree grows right through the ceiling.

Much like Mr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum’s house on Christmas night, the world of the performing arts changed in 2020. Well-established ways of working were turned upside down. And dance, perhaps the most “personal” of all the arts, had to figure out how to move in this unknown new zone. As with Clara and her prince, it takes courage, grace and teamwork to get to the other side.

This Christmas season, a new “Nutcracker” will grace the stage at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, and that’s a fitting synchronicity. Despite all odds, Tulsa Ballet is making a hard-won gift to a city in dire need of magic.

When the company celebrated the 50th anniversary of “The Nutcracker” in Tulsa in 2019, a revision of the production created by the Artistic Director was already planned Marcello Angelini in 2003.

“This version, set in Paris in the 1920s, was built to last 10 years; We never expected her to hold 17, ”says Angelini. “The backdrops faded and torn, costumes tore everywhere. Instead of spending a fortune on the renovation, we decided to change it. “

The new version returns to a more traditional version of ballet and is designed to be accessible to a wide audience.

“Tulsa has come a long way in nearly two decades,” he says. “We are much more diverse than ever before; We are much more connected and integrated with the rest of the world through social media. In 2003 we wanted to take our audience on a magical journey to a distant place, on the magic carpet of dance. We don’t need to do that today; that’s what the internet is for.

“Today we can afford to return to tradition because as a community we move forward with verve and conviction,” he continues. “We will continue to push the cultural boundaries of our community – just not with ‘TheNutcracker’no longer.”

But “traditional” doesn’t mean old hat. Determined to create a “nutcracker” that will appeal to today’s audiences and reach the next generation, Angelini has provided $ 1.5 million in funding and an international creative team.

“It was crucial that the driving forces behind it were people who knew the community, knew what works and what doesn’t, and who are committed to the success of the company through the success of the show,” he says. The audience will see choreographies from Tulsa favorites Ma Bent and Val Caniparoli, first-class multimedia projections and animations by Shawn Boyle and set design by Tracy Grant Mr (whose constantly changing sets for TB’s “Tchaikovsky: The Man Behind the Music” are still a topic of conversation).

In close cooperation with the technical team, the choreographers forged a dance story that would introduce the audience to the familiar story in a sonorous manner. “We all have high goals,” says Caniparoli, who has made versions of the ballet for four different companies. However, thanks to dynamic collaborations, this has driven him into new creative territory, he says.

He is closely associated with the San Francisco Ballet, which premiered the nation’s first complete “Nutcracker” in 1944 – “This traditional version is in my DNA,” he says – and a longstanding artistic connection with Cong, who is his resident choreographer at TB . followed. (Cong played in almost every work Caniparoli created here in Tulsa.)

“Val understands the ‘nutcracker’ recipe that works so well in the US and is a natural storyteller,” says Angelini. “His party scene is absolutely heartwarming. And Ma is a master at creating dynamic, exciting dances. His Mirlitons dance is fast, complex, structured and breathtaking to look at. I love the mix of the traditional and the new. ”The popular dance of the Mirlitons movement in“ The Nutcracker ”begins with playful flutes.

Over generations and worldwide (and of course via Zoom) the dancers developed their visions parallel to those that were developed on the technical side. “It takes constant communication,” says Caniparoli. “We all have to be on the same wavelength and everyone contributes. It’s all for one goal. “

Production started before the pandemic broke out, commissioned as seamstresses and set designers at the Royal New Zealand Ballet with the production of 1,400 items of clothing and accessories as well as elaborate movement scenes for the Tulsa show. Constant disruptions in staff, supply chains and shipping made the genesis of this “nutcracker” almost as thrilling and thrilling as the ballet itself. (In October, the costumes for the show were still on the way and got stuck on a cargo ship in South America.)

In both process and execution, Tulsa Ballet’s new Nutcracker promises an exciting journey of adventure, perseverance and joy – one that connects the past and the future in a collaborative present.