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Ballet Idaho is back

Published over 2 years ago • 5 min read

659 days.

That’s how much time had passed since Ballet Idaho had performed for an in-person audience when the company took the stage last Friday night. This year, Ballet Idaho is returning to in-person performances and opening with The Nutcracker, a classic and compelling holiday show.

“I think it’s a great opening show,” said Ballet Idaho Principal Dancer Elizabeth Barreto. “It seems like this is the first holiday where people can actually go do stuff and everyone knows The Nutcracker, so I think it’s a very special opening for the first show back in the theater.”

Credit Ballet Idaho

Barreto’s last performance with an in-person audience (prior to last Friday) was in March 2019.

“I’ve sort of blocked it out how long it’s been,” she said with a laugh. “Being back in the theater feels like we just left off and came back. This space is sort of like a time warp, where you don’t really have a sense of what month it is or what time of day it is. You’re just back here — it’s kind of like coming home for Christmas.”

“It was kind of one of those things you just had to push through and keep working hard and try to stay on top of your game,” said Barreto. “Now that we’re back, it’s just feels really, really great.”

Barreto has several roles this year, but her primary is The Sugarplum Fairy, which she is dancing this coming weekend.

“I’ve danced Sugarplum for, I want to say, seven years now. You get to where you’re very comfortable with it and it’s kind of like coming back to meeting an old friend,” she said. “Sugarplum Fairy will always be very special to me. It’s like magic. It’s just a really meditative role. It’s slow and beautiful but it has a lot of chances to add some sparkle and excitement. You can sort of make it your own over the years. The steps are there, but you can embellish it in certain places.”

Credit Ballet Idaho

Ballet Idaho joins ballet companies all over the nation in opening their return to in-person performances with The Nutcracker. It’s a very nostalgic show, bringing people of all ages back to the magic that often surrounds the holidays. It’s also very nostalgic for the dancers, as The Nutcracker is how many dancers are introduced to ballet in the first place.

But unbeknownst to most of us, The Nutcracker is a real doozy to open with. NPR ran a story this morning discussing how complicated this particular performance is to pull off, particularly with covid concerns. They called it “the Macy’s day parade of ballet, except in a very small space.” But what makes it so difficult? Well, there’s hundreds amazingly elaborate costumes and dozens of characters coming on and off stage every few minutes. And there are many, many roles that involve children.

Ballet Idaho navigated these concerns in a few ways. They enlisted older academy students and trainees to fill children’s roles and even worked masks into costumes for the parts that had to be filled by younger dancers — like for the army of toy soldiers. All of the dancers also rehearsed fully masked, which is truly amazing given the level of cardio these dancers are doing.

I felt super lucky to be at the beautiful Morrison Center last Friday to see all of Ballet Idaho’s hard work come to fruition.

My mom and big sis came to Boise for Thanksgiving and when my sis and I found out that Ballet Idaho was opening its season with The Nutcracker the day after thxgiving, we knew we had to take our mama. She danced ballet for like 30 years and absolutely loves The Nutcracker. So, we took her to dinner at Luciano’s (soo good) and surprised her with tickets. It was so, so fun and so amazing that I had to tell all of you because there is one more weekend left!

The Story

In case you’ve forgotten or don't know, The Nutcracker opens on Christmas Eve. The Stahlbaum Family has decorated their living room to the nines and are entertaining friends. The children perform a holiday dance and their parents follow with a peppy Polka. In the midst of the dance, Herr Drosselmeyer appears – a mysterious magician and doll maker. He brings three mechanical dolls with him: a ballerina, a mouse, and a nutcracker soldier. The dolls each perform a dance for the party and little Clara Stahlbaum falls in love with the Nutcracker, As the party winds down, Drosselmeyer gifts her the doll.

Credit Ballet Idaho

Clara and her Nutcracker are dancing together when suddenly the mouse doll attacks the Nutcracker and a scuffle ensues. The Nutcracker is knocked over and lies lifeless on the floor. Clara cries over the broken doll but her mother ushers her off to bed. Later, she sneaks back to console her doll and falls asleep by his side. As the clock strikes midnight, Drosselmeyer appears again. He casts a spell over Clara, putting her in a dreamlike trance which quickly becomes a nightmare. Her house disappears and the Christmas tree grows enormous. Mice begin scurrying all over the room and suddenly the Nutcracker doll transforms into a handsome prince and gathers his army of toy soldiers. A battle follows, in which the Nutcracker is victorious. The Nutcracker Prince offers to take Clara to his home, the Land of the Sweets. They travel through the Kingdom of the Snow on their way and run into the Snow Queen and King and their court, who dance a gorgeous Waltz as snow falls all around them.

Credit Ballet Idaho

The second act opens with Fairytale Angels dancing at the gates to the Land of Sweets. Clara and the Nutcracker Prince are greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. All of the inhabitants dance a special dance for Clara and the Nutcracker – Spanish Chocolate, Chinese Tea, Arabian Coffee, The Marzipan Shepherdesses, Russian Nougat, Salt Water Taffy, and the Dewdrop Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. The Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier dance a pas de deux, followed by an incredible finale with all the characters for Clara. The Nutcracker and Clara then bid the Land of Sweets farewell and are whisked into the sky and back to Clara’s home.

The Experience

This performance was so fun and so dazzling. Especially knowing how long these dancers have waited and rehearsed for this moment. You could feel so much of the energy and happiness. It feels really special to be in the audience.

The entire performance is set to live music by the Boise Phil, with vocals by the Opera Idaho Children's Chorus. It was so beautiful and added so much to the overall experience.

The scenery is absolutely incredible. Alanna from Ballet Idaho told me that it took more than three years to make it all! It's stunning. And the Morrison Center is decked out for Christmas right now and it looks amazing! If you need to get in the holiday mood, you just need to go to the ballet.

Credit Ballet Idaho

Our favorites

Everything about this performance was seriously impressive, but a few standout moments for each of us:

Mom: “The Snow Queen and King and their Court dancing with the snow falling all around them. The scenery was amazing. Also, the Arabian Coffee dancers were so gorgeous.”

Sister: “When the tree grew huge, a very dramatic scene even though it was short. And the Spanish Chocolate dancers, all of the lifts they did were amazing and I liked the way they ended their dance. Also the grandparents dancing in the first scene was really funny.”

Me: I loved all the costumes and scenery. It was so elaborate but in a subtle way. My favorite dances were The Marzipan Shepherdesses and the Dewdrop Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. So amazing!

One weekend left

Ballet Idaho's The Nutcracker has one weekend left with multiple performances and tix are still available. It's this Friday, 12/3 at 7:30pm, Saturday 12/4 at 2pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday 12/5 at 12pm. Tickets are $44-$78.

Credit Ballet Idaho

Thanks for reading and I hope you get to see Ballet Idaho this year!

With love from Boise,

Marissa

From Boise

by Marissa Lovell

A weekly newsletter & podcast about what's going on in Boise, Idaho. Every week we share stories about people, places, history, and happenings in Boise.

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