Catching up after Nutcracker

It's been a couple of weeks since my performances as the Grandfather in "The Maryland Nutcracker". Here I am with my "nurse" and "Grandmother".

 The "nurse" character is a hold-over from a bit of scripting that got dropped. I was originally supposed to hobble in like I was decrepit, then surprise everyone by "busting a move" in a duet with "grandmother". That was dropped in favor of me strutting in like the patriarch of the family, but the "nurse" character remained.

Personally, I'd rather they'd swapped the dancer who played the nurse into the role of the "single, independent woman" originally given to the supporting cast member who was injured in September. I thought it would have been more fitting, but that didn't happen.

My First Nutcracker

First a question for Nutcracker veterans: how long before the music stops playing in your head?

In addition to rehearsals, I watched rehearsal videos repeatedly to fix the timing of my (small) role in my head. In quiet moments I still hear it playing. A friend of mine who grew up dancing in The Nutcracker year after year told me she still hears it.

Nutcracker 2023 Tech Week

We've entered "tech week" for The Maryland Nutcracker. After having last weekend off for the US Thanksgiving holidays, we spent both days of this weekend in rehearsals. Saturday's rehearsal was noon to 4pm, starting with selected dances and ending with a full run-through. Today, Sunday, was 10am to 3:30pm, including two complete run-throughs followed by some clean-up of some problems.

Add on about 4.5 hours of driving back and forth, and I'm bushed.

The Nutcracker claims another dancer

The Nutcracker may have claimed another dancer: one of the professionals suffered a sprained ankle during rehearsal this weekend. 

Maybe pointe shoes should come with a warning label?

Nutcracker's first casualty

Our little group of adult supporting cast has suffered its first casualty. One of our members has torn ligaments in her ankle, and will be off her foot for the next 6 weeks. Since our performances are in 7 weeks, she's out of the production.

We all wish her good healing and a speedy return to dance. I hope we see her in the audience in December, or the next audition this winter.

Oct 8th Nut rehearsal: Inspired casting

Sunday was the first supporting cast rehearsal for a local company's production of The Maryland Nutcracker. Although it uses the traditional Tchaikovsky music, the choreography is non-traditional. For example, instead of Drosselmeyer, there is Edgar Allen Poe.

When we auditioned, we danced a bit to what most people would identify as "Mother Gigogne". In previous years this has been a dance performed as a male solo, but now will have supporting cast backing. My reaction to the supporting cast choreography for this piece was that it was clearly "girly", but if they wanted me to dance those steps then I was going to do my best.