The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Company will perform “The Nutcracker” this weekend, and rather than sticking to a traditional style, the contemporary dance company puts their own spin on the classic ballet. But for the dancers, who have performed in the “Nutcracker” many times, keeping the excitement alive can be a challenge.
Right about now, ballet companies across the country are putting final touches on their interpretations of The Nutcracker. While little kids have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, dancers of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” in theirs.
And because groups across the country are doing the same thing, ballet veterans have racked up tons of Nutcracker experience.
“Probably like a million years worth of Nutcracker,” says Joseph Watson, one of the dancers in the company. “I’m 30 and I’ve been doing it since the 5th grade. Nineteen years per person. Twenty years per person.”
The key to keeping it fun, he says is to try and learn from the people you dance with.
“Oh you always have fun, but when you’ve done it for 19 years, you get reinspired as you see other people go out and do stuff,” says Watson. “When you go out on stage, you’re like ‘I’m doing this. I’m enjoying it and I’m gonna have fun. Do it to the best of my abilities every time I have to go out there.’”
“We have different people come in,” says Seia Rassenti, a dance partner of Watson’s. “It creates a little less work for the ballerinas of the company. It makes it nice because you get to watch other people.”
That’s what makes this rendition of the Nutcracker different - dancers trained in Russian dance, and aerialists - the people who gracefully fall while hanging from long ribbons attached to the ceiling - are included in the performance.
Tom Mossbrucker, the artistic director for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, says the decision to make those changes came from a place of authenticity.
“We thought it made more sense, rather than have a ballet dancer do a Russian dance, maybe they were never trained in Russian dance,” Mossbrucker says. “We thought it would be more interesting to have two guest dancers who have been doing Russian dance their whole lives.”
These changes have made performing “The Nutcracker” more bearable, but Rassenti says that doesn’t mean they want to jump right into the performance before Thanksgiving. On one occasion, their piano player started playing a song from the dance, just a bit too early in the year.
No matter what time of year, the dancers know this ballet is a staple...but, hopefully not a chore. Watson says the biggest benefit of changing things up in “The Nutcracker” is being able to allow yourself to become a spectator. You get to see what’s going on on stage.
“As a dancer, you don’t really get to be an audience member,” says Watson. “There are certain points in the second act, where as dancers we become audience members and we can sit back and enjoy - from the side of the stage - but you can still see your peers and other really good artists do what they’re really good at.”
Mossbrucker leads the rehearsals now rather than dances, but remembers how he made it through performances of “The Nutcracker.” He would just focus on enjoying the performance, and the work he was doing, rather than the monotony of another year, and another “Waltz of the Flowers.”
“I remember when I was a dancer, that’s how I got through the Nutcracker,” says Mossbrucker. “I actually enjoyed it. It has a reputation of ‘Oh another Nutcracker,’ but I always enjoyed it. I could always hear the kids in the audience, screaming, or laughing or crying.”
The first performance is on Saturday.
