The Nutcracker

BALLET PALM BEACH KICKS OFF THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH THE NUTCRACKER Palm Beach Gardens, FL ? Ballet Palm Beach kicks off the holiday season over Thanksgiving weekend with its most joyous tradition of The Nutcracker. With Tchaikovsky?s famed score, the ballet enchants both children and adults with the story of a girl named Clara and her magical nutcracker doll. Performances are at the Eissey Campus Theatre at Palm Beach State College, November 28 at 7:30 pm, November 29 at 2pm and 7:30 pm, and November 30 at 2pm. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased at balletpalmbeach.org or by calling the Eissey Campus Theatre at 561.207.5900. ?We?re honored to share the tradition of The Nutcracker with our community. It?s a magical story that has been enjoyed for generations. Not only is it an exciting time for our company members and ballet students who perform, but it?s the single most influential ballet that inspires children to begin ballet.? says Marshall Levin, Ballet Palm Beach?s resident artist playing the role of Clara?s godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer. ?Our nutcracker performance is different than others in the area because it is cast with Ballet Palm Beach?s fourteen professional dancers who play alternating roles as well as local guest artists and over 70 students from Ballet Palm Beach?s school at The Esther Center.? Set in the nineteenth-century Germany, the ballet begins at a party on Christmas Eve when Herr Drosselmeyer gives Clara a special gift, a wooden nutcracker. The adventures begin in a battle scene when the nutcracker comes alive and saves Clara from a frightful Rat King. From there the nutcracker magically transforms into a prince and travels with Clara to the Land of the Snowflakes and the Kingdom of the Sweets. The audience will enjoy dances from all over the world as Clara and her prince are presented with treats in the Kingdom of the Sweets: chocolate; a Spanish dance, coffee; an Arabian dance, tea; a Chinese dance, and peppermints; a Russian dance. Bon Bons will dance from France and the Dew Drop Fairy leads the Waltz of the Flowers. Mother Ginger and her Gingerbread Children welcome all before the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier dance a grand pas de deux. The evening comes to an end as Drosselmeyer returns Clara from her enchanting dream back to her loving home.