Wednesday, November 29, 2000

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The holiday season always seems like a magical time of the year.

Traditions have been handed down for many generations and almost every culture in the world can feel connected by them. The ballet presentation of "The Nutcracker" is one of these traditions. It has been around for over 100 years and the story continues to attract and entertain audiences.

The Georgia Youth Ballet is just one of the many ballet companies to perform "The Nutcracker" every year. The company will present its production in Fayette County, this weekend and next.

"The Nutcracker" is based on a book by E.T.A. Hoffman. In 1891, famed choreographer Marius Petipa became enchanted with the book and commissioned Tchaikovsky to write the music for a ballet. The ballet debuted in Russia at the Kirov Ballet in 1892 and the rest, as they say, is history.

The story is about a holiday christmas party where a little girl, Clara, receives a Nutcracker as a gift. Her brother breaks it and Clara sneaks downstairs to check on it after everyone goes to sleep. Things begin to get strange as the Christmas tree grows and mice, led by the mouse King, fill the room. The Nutcracker comes to life, summons his soldiers and battles the Mouse King. He cannot defeat him, though, and the Mouse King captures Clara.

Clara stops the Mouse king and the Nutcracker becomes a prince. Clara and the Nutcracker travel to the Land of Snow and the Land of Candy before the dream ends and Christmas Day arrives.

The Georgia Youth Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker" will be performed at Our Lady of Mercy High School at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 and at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 3. A portion of the proceeds from the weekend's performances will benefit the school's fine arts department.

The troupe also will perform at Sams Auditorium Dec. 8 and 9. Dr. Ferrol Sams will be a special guest Dec. 8 and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Joseph Sams School. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. The show Dec. 9 will be a performance for scouts and other groups at 2:30 p.m. They will receive a backstage tour and a commemorative patch as well as admission to the show.

Tickets are now on sale. Phone the studio in Fayetteville at 770-716-9858 forinformation and reservations.

Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Weekend Home Page