'Nutcracker' takes to local stage Dec. 13-14

MOSES LAKE - Today's Generation Dance studio will present the classic story of a little girl named Clara and her Christmas evening dreams in the "Nutcracker" at 7 p.m. Dec. 13 and 14 in the Moses Lake High School theater. A matinee performance is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Dec. 14.

The cast of 146, mostly in dancing roles, will present "pretty much the full length ballet," said director and choreographer Naomi Harvey. This is the third Nutcracker production for Today's Generation, she said, but the first one the company is undertaking on its own.

Tylee Fuhrman plays Clara, the little girl who receives the nutcracker as a Christmas gift. In her dreams the nutcracker is transformed into a prince, played by Peyton Visker.

The world of Clara's dreams is populated with magical characters like the Sugar Plum Fairy (Kaylee Stine) and the Snow Queen (Quincy Wilks). But the fun is interrupted by an attack from a group of rats, led by their queen (Baylee Hamilton). Daren Vernon plays Drosselmeyer, the magician and Clara's godfather, whose gift of the nutcracker sets Clara's dreams in motion.

That's the traditional story, and Harvey said she's sticking to that, but with "a little bit of a plot twist." Her goal is to keep the story going in the second act, when the plot sometimes gets lost among the dancing, she said.

For the past six productions Today's Generation and the Ballet Academy of Moses Lake have cooperated to put on the show, Harvey said. The dance studios would trade off taking the lead on the production, she said, with the other providing support. But the ballet academy has some other projects going this year, Harvey said, and dropped out for 2013.

"This year we're going solo. It's been a big task for us, but it's been exciting," Harvey said.

The Nutcracker is "technically and artistically challenging," Harvey said. Various choreographers have added their own stamp on the production since its premiere 121 years ago, and Harvey has done some of that herself, she said.

It's a big project. "I usually start working on Nutcracker about a year in advance," she said. "Around November, December I usually open up my computer," look at the previous choreography and start tweaking, she said. "The hardest part for me is breaking away from what I've been doing."

As a Christmas classic, most choreographers stay within the classical tradition, she said, and most of the 2013 Nutcracker choreography is classical too - with the exception of the attack by the rats. "My goal is to make the battle scene exciting and a little creepy," she said.

It's also a big challenge for the performers, and as a result practice starts in June, Harvey said. "It takes a lot of practice to master everything," the timing, the spacing, managing the crowds in some of the scenes. The big challenge for the dancers is the classical repertoire, she said, "and that's what takes the longest time."

Tickets are $10 reserve seating, $6 general seating, and can be purchased online only at tututix.com. If any tickets remain, they'll be sold at the door.