City Ballet School's production of The Nutcracker December 11, 2010

City Ballet School will once again present its delightful production of the Nutcracker. The storyline which is loosely based on the original production by Lew Christensen has been reworked by a team of very talented choreographers including Artistic Director Galina Alexandrova (Bolshoi, San Francisco Ballet and Smuin Ballet), Yuri Zhukov (Kirov, San Francisco Ballet and Royal Birmingham Ballet), Isadora Duncan award winner Svetlana Afanasieva (Stanislovksi Ballet) and Lupe Calzadilla (National Ballet of Cuba)

Lupe Calzadilla choreographs Spanish. Yuri Zhukov choreographs Party Scene, Battle Scene, Arabian, Russian and Mirlitons. Galina Alexandrova choreographs Chinese and the Snow Pas de Deux. The Sugar Plum Pas de Deux choreography was the work of Svetlana Afanasieva, something she remembered by Vainonen from her childhood.

This year we are extremely pleased and excited to have James Mills, formerly with Smuin Ballet, performing with the school. James will be performing the part of Sugar Plum Cavalier. The production also features 80 dancers between the ages of 6 and 18 years. What sets City Ballet School's Nutcracker apart is the fact that the production with the exception of the lead male role is performed completely by its own students. The level of these students is extremely high as is the production value of the show; from the costumes which are sewn by City Ballet parent volunteers, to the lighting and its choreography.

One professional dancer once said of City Ballet School. "What makes this production different from many other school productions is the fact that the kids don't look afraid of making a mistake onstage, they pour their hearts into this production."

Official Website: https://www.fortmason.org/tm/tm.cgi?tmEvent/tmEventDefault.html?P_SEQ=765&