By Roksana Amid<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tFor more than four decades, New York Dance Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d has marked the arrival of the holiday season for thousands of Long Island families. This year, the 43rd annual performance \u2014 set for Dec. 20 and 21 at Hofstra University\u2019s John Cranford Adams Playhouse \u2014 promises to deepen that legacy with an expanded immersive experience, celebrated guest artists and a renewed emphasis on the history that defines the company.<\/p>\n
Since 1982, New York Dance Theatre, in partnership with the Ohman School of Ballet, has staged the full-length classic each December. Rooted in the Balanchine tradition handed down from founder Frank Ohman \u2014 a former student and soloist under George Balanchine \u2014 the production has grown into one of the region\u2019s most recognizable holiday events. Yet for Executive Artistic Director Nicole Loizides, its staying power is not simply about technique or spectacle. It\u2019s about belonging.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really feed ourselves in tradition,\u201d Loizides says. \u201cEspecially around the holidays, people want a place where they can feel comfortable to come home, rest, relax and celebrate together. Our Nutcracker stays rooted in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long before the overture begins, audience members are invited into the world of the Silberhaus family \u2014 the setting of the ballet\u2019s opening scene. When guests enter the Playhouse lobby, costumed Victorian performers greet them, musicians play seasonal melodies and the scent of apple cider wafts through the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Children are invited to hang ornaments on a Christmas tree, one of many ways the production blurs the line between audience and story.<\/p>\n
Loizides describes it as a \u201csemi-immersive pre-show experience,\u201d one the company has been refining for several years. This season, the lobby experience expands through a new partnership with the Long Island High School for the Arts, whose student musicians perform as audiences arrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as people enter our lobby doors, they\u2019re invited in by characters from our very first act,\u201d Loizides says. \u201cWe serve warm apple cider, we have live music from some of our most talented youth on Long Island, and we try to capture the spirit of the season of giving within our community. Our audiences are growing tenfold because of that comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lobby transformation mirrors the company\u2019s mission: to create a space that feels familiar, nostalgic, and welcoming \u2014 something Loizides believes people crave amid today\u2019s fast-paced, hyper-digital world.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many things get wrapped up in what\u2019s new on social media or what\u2019s trending,\u201d she says \u201cBut this time of year, people want tradition. They want to feel grounded. That\u2019s what we offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s production \u2014 as always \u2014 features an impressive roster of professional dancers. Brittany Pollack, a soloist with New York City Ballet, and Daniel Ulbricht, a principal dancer with the company and artistic advisor for NYDT, take on the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Broadway performers Joseph J. Simeone and Samuel Colina also appear, joining New York Dance Theatre soloists Sandra Cieslak, Olivia Fohsz, Trevor Montgomery, and Craig Wasserman.<\/p>\n
Loizides also returns to the stage, portraying Frau Silberhaus. It\u2019s a moment she describes as both personal and symbolic, especially as the company prepares to enter its 50th anniversary year.<\/p>\n
North Shore Village Theatre Artistic Director Christopher Moll returns for his third season in the featured roles of Lead Father and Mother Ginger, contributing to the intercompany collaboration that has become a production hallmark.<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s roles are danced by students of the Ohman School of Ballet and the School of American Ballet, the official training academy of New York City Ballet. For many young performers, \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d is their first experience dancing alongside professionals, a tradition that honors Frank Ohman\u2019s commitment to nurturing the next generation.<\/p>\n
NYDT\u2019s devotion to tradition is not abstract \u2014 it lives in the steps, sets, props, and costumes that have shaped the production for decades. Ohman secured permission from the George Balanchine Trust to use the original Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux, grounding the show in Balanchine\u2019s distinctive style. He also created supplementary scenes and dances that appear in no other staging, adding 10 to 15 minutes to the ballet and expanding opportunities for young dancers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Frank added doesn\u2019t exist anywhere else,\u201d Loizides says. \u201cIt gives more solo moments to our youth, especially the young Clara, and it brings additional cultural dances into the second act. It\u2019s something very special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of the costumes and props used onstage were gifted directly from Balanchine and former New York City Ballet crew members and are now entering formal archival preservation. Some pieces, Loizides notes, are still durable enough to appear in performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat tradition dates back over 50 years,\u201d she says.\u201cThese items are a direct link to Balanchine himself. They\u2019re part of our history.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the company prepares to embark on its 50th anniversary, she is focused on balancing innovation with the artistic values that first shaped the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, even with new opportunities and initiatives all year, the Nutcracker stays rooted in tradition,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where our community gathers. It\u2019s where people feel at home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Roksana Amid For more than four decades, New York Dance Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d has marked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[1117,75,84,83,9,24,19955,63,905],"class_list":["post-58945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-dance","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nutcracker","tag-nyc","tag-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}