Wednesday, December 5, 2001
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Wednesday, December 5, 2001 |
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Two dance schools present 'The Nutcracker' this weekend By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
"The Nutcracker" is synonymous with the holiday season. It is a story of magic and enchantment that occur during one Christmas Eve for a little girl named Clara. Both the Georgia Youth Ballet and the Peachtree City School of Dance will present the beloved classic this weekend. "The Nutcracker" is based loosely on the story, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffman. The story focused on a little girl named Marie who lived in a loveless household and was forced to battle a mouse king with seven heads. Alexander Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," revised the story and Marius Petipa choreographed a play based on that version of the tale. In 1892, Peter Llyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music for the ballet. The revised version of the tale starts at a holiday party at the home of siblings Fritz and Clara and their parents. The children's grandfather arrives and gives them gifts. After Fritz sees Clara's present, a beautiful nutcracker, he breaks it. After everyone in the house goes to bed, Clara returns downstairs to check on her nutcracker. The Christmas tree grows and the room fills with an army of mice, lead by the mouse king. The nutcracker comes to life, defeats the mouse king, and takes Clara on a magical journey to the Land of Snow and the Land of Sweets. They meet enchanting characters and see a variety of dances before Clara returns home and wakes up from what must have been a dream. The Georgia Youth Ballet will present "The Nutcracker" at Our Lady of Mercy High School Dec. 7-9. Performance times are 7:30 Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Friday, Dec. 7 is family night and all tickets are $5. Tickets Saturday and Sunday are $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and students. Saturday's performance will have a special guest, Dr. Ferrol Sams, who will narrate the performance. A portion of Saturday's proceeds will benefit the Sams School. The Peachtree City School of Dance will present "The Nutcracker" at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 9 at Duke Auditorium at Starr's Mill High School. Admission is $7 for adults, while children 12 and under will be admitted for free. |
