NEW JERSEY BALLET PRESENTS its 41st season of
THE NUTCRACKER
WHEN: December 16-26; Eleven performances with full orchestra and a cast of over 100 dancers
WHERE: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South Street, Morristown
There’s no better way to bring in the holidays than spending an afternoon with a little girl named Clara and her amazing Nutcracker. The production features splendid dancing , colorful costumes and scenery, eye-popping special effects and a touch of holiday magic that inspires critics to write, “It’s a spectacle that never seems to age…magic that should go on and on” and “One of the best…as good as it gets.” (Above: Waltz of the Flowers from NJ Ballet's production of Nutcracker)
New Jersey Ballet’s Nutcracker is the longest-running original professional production in the state. It debuted at Paper Mill Playhouse in 1971 with Edward Villella (then a star with New York City Ballet) as the Cavalier. Today, after over 800 performances involving more than 4000 dancers and children and seen by over a million viewers, this Nutcracker has become a cherished holiday tradition with generations of theatergoers throughout New Jersey and beyond.
The production began touring in the early 1980s and continues to travel around the state each year. This year’s stops include bergenPAC in Englewood and Middle township Pac IN Cape May Court House. In past years, Nutcracker has visited nearly a dozen other NJ venues and numerous theatres out of state. In 2008, it became the first full length classical ballet ever performed in India, where it packed that country’s huge new Performing Arts Center in Mumbai.
The heart of the production is the company itself—New Jersey Ballet’s 16 professional artists of international reputation. The dancers hail from 9 countries—Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Japan, Russia, Tatarstan, Zaire and the United States. They have performed nationally and internationally renowned companies including Ballet Theatre Argentino, Tatar State Theatre, the Royal Ballet, London, Bulgarian National Theater, Ochi International Ballet of Japan, Sesimenas Dance Company in Brazil. Many have also performed with such acclaimed American companies as Stars of American Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Fort Worth Ballet, Carolina Ballet, Columbia City Ballet, Ballet Austin, and the international tour of Riverdance.
