Get a jump on Christmas season with 'Nutcracker'
Ballet a Flathead holiday tradition
The Northwest Ballet Company gives its annual Thanksgiving weekend presentation of Nutcracker with five shows at the Bigfork Center for the Performign Arts.
The Nutcracker ballet has been presented for over a hundred years to audiences around the world. The story begins with young Clara at her familys annual Christmas party, where she is given a Nutcracker doll as a gift from her Uncle Drosselmeier.
After all the guests go home, Clara falls asleep and dreams that her Nutcracker comes to life as her Prince. They fall in love in the enchanted Snow Forest and he whisks her away to the Land of the Sweets. In this special land, Clara is entertained by many including the beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy, danced by senior company member Whitney Aasheim.
To keep the story fresh and interesting, artistic director Carol Jakes makes changes every year while staying true to the traditional ballet. This year the coveted role of Clara is danced by senior Northwest Ballet Company member Lindsey Schwickert of Whitefish.
Schwickert, who is almost 16, finds herself in a role that demands strength and charisma from start to finish. During the Christmas party, senior company members Rebecca Ostrom and Tabitha Albright dance the role of Clara's friends. In the Battle Scene, Schwickert is joined by her Nutcracker Prince, Rodney Rickard. Then, Clara and her Prince finish Act One with a pas de deux in the Snow Forest.
Quinn Butterfield makes another wonderful appearance as the magical Drosselmeier. Northwest Ballet School teachers Marisa Roth and Natalie Molter make appearances as Drosselmeiers life size dolls and former company member Talia Marino is the Queen Rat.
Act 2, Land of the Sweets, is full of first-rate dancing by Northwest Ballet Company members in the roles of Spanish, Russian, Ribbon Candy and the Waltz of the Flowers.
Senior company member Katie McEwen is the Arabian Princess with Eli Smith as her Prince. Sam Dauenhauer once again joins the cast as the Sugar Plums Cavalier. With the largest cast ever, young students of the Northwest Ballet School make appearances throughout the ballet including this years brand new roles of the peppermint page girls and the dewdrops.
Nutcracker performance times areNov. 25 and Nov. 26 at2 and 8 p.m. and Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $17 for adults, $12 for children 12 and under, and seniors.
Directly following the 2 p.m. matinees will be a Sugar Plum Parade, where the children in the audience will receive a treat and get to meet the cast.
Tickets are available at Books West in Kalispell. For ticket information, please call 752-6900.