Holiday ‘Nutcracker’ productions run gamut from classic to hip hop

For many people, taking in a performance of “The Nutcracker” is as much a part of the holidays as the shopping, baking, visiting and general merriment.

It certainly is for Natalie Ann Kasievich, executive director of the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, who grew up in Allegheny County’s North Hills.

“My family was very involved with ‘The Nutcracker’ with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre,” she said. “My mom was a costumer. I was backstage. I actually got to go down in the pit.”

In 1988 when she was just a tot, Kasievich and her two sisters were in the PBT production as toy soldiers.

“It’s such a part of my childhood experience, and it really is actually what drew me to this job, knowing that Westmoreland Symphony does the live orchestra with ‘The Nutcracker,’” she said. “It’s kind of like a full-circle moment for me.”

The Westmoreland Symphony will join with McMurray-based Texture Ballet School and guest dancers from Texture Contemporary Ballet to present the holiday classic Dec. 10 at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

It’s one of several options available to area audiences, some more traditional than others.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker returns to Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center today, Nov. 30, with a production celebrating the fusion of the classic and the contemporary.

It’s New Years Eve 1980 in this version of the story danced to “some funky, funky hip hop beats under the classical music,” said rapper Kurtis Blow, who starts the show with an old-school rap medley and also serves as emcee.

The production can introduce fans of hip hop music and dance to classical music, and vice versa, said Blow, whose own music has melded rap with genres including rock and country.

“Classical music is the basis for everything when we learn about music — the strings, the brass, the winds, the percussion,” he said. “This fusion is a good look for hip hop and music in general.”

“The Nutcracker” owes its enduring popularity to several factors, Texture artistic director Alan Obuzor said.

Not only is it set during the holidays, he said, “The music is just amazing. No matter how many times you come back to it, it’s as compelling and engaging as the first time you heard it.

“There are a lot of story ballets that I think have a somewhat-less linear story line to follow,” he said. “With ‘The Nutcracker,’ it’s nice for the audience to have that flow of the story through the different scenes.”

Adapted from “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” an 1816 story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the ballet tells the tale of a girl named Clara, sometimes called Marie, who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life as a prince on Christmas Eve and battles an evil Mouse King.

Among other notable characters is Drosselmeyer, the magic trick-performing uncle of the Nutcracker prince. The ballet’s best-know scenes also include the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Commissioned by the director of Moscow’s Imperial Theatres in 1891 and set to music by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, it premiered just before Christmas 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Introduced in the West in the 1940s, it gradually became a Christmastime staple.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker

The contemporary dance spectacle is set to Tchaikovsky’s timeless score, energized with hip hop beats. As in the original, this version presents Clara and the Nutcracker Prince on a dream adventure, battling the gang of mice and visiting the land of sweets. Digital graffiti and other visuals transport the story from its original 19th-century German setting to modern-day New York City.

Along with Blow, the company includes hip hop dancers, a DJ and a violinist who blends the two music genres in his playing.

“He’s like a pied piper almost, he’s just magical,” Blow said.

The performance will begin at 7 tonight, Nov. 30, in the Benedum Center, 237 Seventh St., Pittsburgh. Tickets, starting at $32, are available at 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

It’s the 20th anniversary of the production conceived and choreographed by longtime PBT artistic director Terrence S. Orr, with Steel City backdrops including The Point, for the snowfall scene, and bygone local amusement parks standing in for the Land of Enchantment.

“It’s just quintessential Pittsburgh, and it’s become such a holiday tradition to come to the Benedum and see the marquee lit up and hear local choirs in the lobby,” said PBT executive director Kathryn Gigler.

The 81 roles are filled by company dancers and students from the PBT school. Many of the dancers started out as students and have progressed to principal roles, Gigler said.

The production is accompanied by a recording of the classic Tchaikovsky score.

Performances are scheduled for Dec. 9-28 in the Benedum Center. PBT will present sensory-friendly “Nutcracker” performances at 2 p.m. Dec. 16 and 27.

Tickets start at $29. For information and reservations, call 412-456-6666 or visit pbt.org.

Pazaz Christian Dance Academy

Using classical choreography and the Tchaikovsky score, the Greensburg-based troupe will use “The Nutcracker” as the basis for story with a Christian perspective.

“A Christmas Gift” is set on Christmas Eve in the Whittington home, where the children’s missionary aunt and uncle visit with gifts, including a Bible for the eldest child, Katherine.

Later in a dream, Katherine finds herself in the midst of a battle pitting mice and bugs against the army of heaven. Instead of the Land of Sweets, she journeys to the Throne Room of Heaven and the presence of Jesus.

The production, based on “A Christmas Dream” by Mississippi-based Ballet Magnificat, will feature 121 dancers, said Pazaz founder and choreographer Toni Bazala.

Performances will be 7 p.m. Dec. 9 and 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 10 in Science Hall Theater at Westmoreland Community College, 145 Pavilion Lane, Hempfield. For ticket information, call 724-837-2787 or visit pazazchristiandance.com.

Keystone Contemporary Ballet

The professional company associated with Pazaz will present “A Very Special Christmas Gift” at 7 p.m. Dec. 15 at Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, 951 Old Salem Road.

The production features nine professional dancers and six special-needs dancers of various ages.

“It’s the same story line as ‘A Christmas Gift,’ but it’s a smaller ballet with shorter movements,” Bazala said. “It lasts about an hour,” Bazala said.

Tickets will be available only at the door. For information, visit keystoneballet.org.

Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra

The orchestra is joining with Texture Ballet School and Texture Contemporary Ballet for the second year, following a long association with the former Laurel Ballet, offering the only live-music production in the area.

Conducting the orchestra is Maria Sensi Sellner, co-founder and artistic and general director of the Pittsburgh-based performing arts company, Resonance Works.

With a company of 100 student and professional dancers, this version has elements of traditional Russian and French “Nutcracker” choreography and additional choreography by Obuzor and Texture’s Associate Artistic Director Kelsey Bartman.

Performances are 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Dec. 10 in The Palace Theatre, 21 W. Otterman St., Greensburg. Tickets are $16-$61 at 724-836-8000 or thepalacetheatre.org.

Seton Hill University Dance Academy

“The Jazzy Nutcracker” sets Clara and the Nutcracker in a magical place called Swingland.

The familiar characters and Christmastime setting provide a framework for modern dance to adaptations of Tchaikovsky’s original score by contemporary musicians Busy McCarroll and Jeff Nelson and jazz legend Duke Ellington.

Performances are 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17 and 1 p.m. Dec. 18 in the SHU Performing Arts Center, 100 Harrison Ave., Greensburg. Tickets are $9, or free to children 3 and younger, at setonhill.edu/events.