This version of “The Nutcracker” follows the beloved story of a young girl, Clara, who goes on an adventure with her magical nutcracker doll after the rest of the family has gone to sleep for the evening.
But Ballet Theatre Company Artistic Director Stephanie Dattellas’s version includes a few unique twists and turns.
Fan favorites include the breakdancing Mice Battalion as part of the epic Battle Scene, Dattellas’ rendition of “Waltz of the Flowers” that features a swirl of dancers in a landscape of flower garlands and the dancing dolls echoing West Hartford’s own Noah Webster and the Blue Back Speller Book.
Having the breakdancers on stage with the ballet dancers is “awesome,” said Emily A. Silva, rehearsal director for the Ballet Theatre Company, who is also performing the leading role of the Snow Queen seen in Act I of The Nutcracker. “It’s cool to appreciate other forms of dance” together on stage.
The addition of the Webster connection is “a cool nod to West Hartford,” she added, noting that the younger dancers who create a landscape of petals for the corps de ballet to dance through is “a fun scene to be part of and looks really cool.”
Another twist to this particular production of “The Nutcracker” is a female Drosselmeyer. To have a godmother figure rather than godfather “brings a new layer” to the interaction of that character with Clara, Silva said. “She is a powerful woman who inspires and encourages Clara to take on challenges thrown at her during the course of the ballet.”
Mayara Pineiro and Ashton Roxander, principal dancers of Philadelphia Ballet, perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, respectively.
“We are so thrilled and lucky at Ballet Theatre Company to bring in guest artists. We couldn’t be more excited to bring in Mayara and Ashton,” Silva said. She said such professional dancers “inspire our company,” and it “adds another level to the production to bring in such beautiful and experienced dancers.”
Trained as a child at the Boston Ballet School, Silva — from Sandown, New Hampshire — remembers attending performances of “The Nutcracker” each year with family members and was in her first “Nutcracker” production when she was about 9 years old, portraying a Party Girl.
She participated in a traineeship at the Pittsburg Ballet Theatre and earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance performance and ballet pedagogy from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford in 2018.
Silva performed for one year with Ballet Hartford and has been dancing with Ballet Theatre Company since 2017.
She enjoys being on stage, feeling alive and at home there. “I consider myself one of those lucky people who has a job they love and dreamed of doing since they were a child,” she said in a telephone interview from her home in Tolland, Connecticut. It’s “magical” and “exciting” for her to walk out onto the stage, but she also likes the behind the scenes work — “the constant drive to fine tune everything” and the “attention to detail, always having more to work on.”
Ballet Theatre Company will present “The Nutcracker” at The Bushnell on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.; Dec. 2 at 2 and 7 p.m.; and Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. for four standard performance offerings. On Dec. 3 at 11 a.m. there will be a special presentation, “The Nutcracker: A Sensory-Friendly Ballet.”
To purchase tickets for the public performances (including “A Sensory-Friendly Ballet”), visit The Bushnell’s website. For more information, email boxoffice@dancebtc.org or call 860-570-0440.
