One hundred and eighteen young local dancers will join the world-acclaimed Joffrey Ballet on the stage of the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Tchaikovsky’s beloved Christmas ballet for six performances on December 3-6, when Dance St. Louis and AmerenUE present the ultimate holiday entertainment of Nutcracker at the Fox.
The children won their roles at open auditions held in St. Louis on September 20 and have been rehearsing every weekend since. Dance St. Louis has double-cast the performances to give as many children as possible the opportunity to perform.
The Joffrey Ballet’s sumptuous storybook production of the seasonal classic evokes the warmth and nostalgia of a 19th-century American Christmas and the adventure and fantasy of a child’s imagination. The performances unite the Joffrey dancers, the Ballet Orchestra of St. Louis playing Tchaikovsky’s music, the Cambiata Singers of the Kirkwood Children’s Chorale, and the 118 local dancers.
The youth, from both Missouri and Illinois, range from age 6 to 15 and play the roles of guests at a Christmas Eve party, mischievous mice, toy soldiers, dolls, angels and little clowns called “polichinelles” who hide under the giant skirts of Mother Ginger, a 16-foot-tall puppet designed by Kermit Love of Sesame Street fame.
Dance St. Louis first brought The Joffrey Ballet from Chicago to dance in Nutcracker at the Fox in December 2007. Michael Uthoff, Dance St. Louis artistic and executive director, calls the Joffrey’s production “unmatched by any other, a magical evening of theater and dance, an incredible jewel of family entertainment bringing joy for one and all.”
“The Joffrey’s vast Nutcracker is the stuff of dreams,” said the Chicago Sun-Times. When The Joffrey toured to the Kennedy Center in 2006 and 2008, the Washington Post called its Nutcracker “cosmically right” and “a luxurious confection of rich period costuming and detail … a theatrical event of irresistible power.”
Performances of Nutcracker at the Fox are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, December 3 and 4; at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 5; and at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 6. The story of the ballet will be read for children in the Fox’s Marquee Room 45 minutes before every performance.
Tickets start at $20 and are available at the Fox Theater box office, by phone at MetroTix at 314-534-1111, and via metrotix.com, as well as via Dance St. Louis at 314-534-6622 and dancestlouis.org.
