The holiday ballet classic "The Nutcracker," an annual event presented by the Northwest Arkansas Conservatory of Classical Ballet and the Northwest Arkansas Ballet Theatre, couldn't be slowed down by covid-19: in 2020, the event's eighth year, the show went virtual.
"Our students and our parents were really grateful that we were able to make something happen at the height of the pandemic last year," notes school principal Jennifer Davis. "But it's just not the same when you're not performing for a live audience. It was really a little bit weird for our dancers just to be performing for a camera. It was edited beautifully, it was recorded beautifully, it was packaged beautifully -- but as a performer, you're being very generous, and you're being a little bit vulnerable, with your art and with your technique, and that just feels a little bit shallow and hollow, when you're just doing it for a camera. To have an audience again, to have that give and take of performing -- the applause and the reception of the audience -- you can just feel that as a dancer, when your audience is really enjoying what you're doing and enthralled in the performance. It's very rewarding to have that.
"I'm so very glad that we're at the point that we're able to get back in the theater and get back in front of people."
And they're coming back with a bang: the organization is in its 10th year of existence, the event in its ninth, and the company is celebrating by mounting its largest production ever, weighing in with a cast of 175 people.
"There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes for a production this size," says Davis. "Here are some fun stats for you: It takes about 200 rehearsal hours, at least, to mount this production. It also takes about 1,000 volunteer hours behind the scenes, both in preparatory work and also just backstage during our theater week rehearsals and the actual performances. It really requires a lot of hands to keep all these pieces moving."
In addition to performing her duties as school principal, Davis is also partially responsible for some of the choreography of "The Nutcracker," along with staff members Karen Castleman and Anna Sulanke.
"We work together on different sections of the show so that it all gets choreographed and worked out, because it's a lot of work," Davis says. "It's two hours worth of choreography, and many, many dancers, and so we share the workload."
The cast includes about 150 student dancers, Davis says.
"Our auditions for 'The Nutcracker' are open, which means that they're open to community dance students, as long as they meet the age and eligibility requirements," Davis says. "Any local dance student is welcome to come and audition for our show. I would say that probably about 20% of the dancers that are involved in the student cast are from other studios. It's nice for us to be able to open it up and make it really a communitywide event."
"The Nutcracker" has a long and storied history, says Davis. It debuted in 1892 in Russia to a slightly tepid reception, but when it was performed in the United States for the first time, 50 years later, it was a smash hit. Traditionally presented around the holiday season, it usually serves as the most profitable performance for many ballet companies in the country, and is often the first ballet performance seen by children -- and therefore their introduction to the art of ballet and music of Tchaikovsky.
"Tchaikovsky's score is really recognizable, it's really beautiful -- it doesn't matter where you go at Christmastime, in any department store, you're probably going to hear some 'Nutcracker' music playing," says Davis. "I think that people just generally tend to get a little bit sentimental, have a connection to things that are holiday traditions. People always want to go see the 'Nutcracker' -- and kids want to see it. It's just a nice thing for families to do together during the holidays."