It may have been raining in Ottawa a few days ago, but backstage at the National Arts Centre, Alberta Ballet was all smiles.
Their seven-day stop at the nation’s capital to highlight The Nutcracker, a ballet in the process of creation since 2006, was considered a hit. And this delightful confection comes to the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium from Dec. 10 to 12.
The company’s ballet master, Edmund Stripe, is its creator and this fresh Christmas staple first debuted in Calgary and Edmonton in 2008. This year Stripe took the lead in commissioning new costumes for this $1.5-million production.
After receiving applications from across the world, he selected Zack Brown, an Emmy-award winning costume designer with a dramatic flair that uses lots of sparkle and bling — an apt style to highlight the lush world of Tsarist Russia where The Nutcracker is set.
Former St. Albert dancer Galien Johnston, as the Snow Tzarina, wears one of the most majestic and breath-taking costumes in the two-hour show. But the floor-length, fur lined gown is much heavier than normal dance costumes and limits fluid movement.
“When I dance this role, it’s more of a pantomime. It’s more of a bourrĂ©e on point – very quick teeny, tiny steps so she looks like she’s floating on stage,” Johnston says.
She also dons the mantle of Clara’s more matronly mother and performs a sinuous pas de trois as an Arabian dancer in the Sugar Plum Kingdom. And that’s pretty cool when you’re the mother of a lively two-year-old.
Johnston is a natural for these three roles and she has repeatedly been cast in them. How does she keep it fresh?
“I try to see it through the children’s eyes and I try to key into their energy,” she replies.
About 70 young dancers from across Edmonton and St. Albert are featured as party guests, mice, rats and soldiers. From St. Albert, Anikka Hanson plays a Cossack rat while Amanda Sha dons a soldier’s uniform. The party girls are Mara Palahniuk, Shalina Naidu, Brianda McArthur, Bryna Lindstrom and Katrina Sha. Additional local dancers are party boys Kailey White, Rachel Babichuk, Arlyssa McArthur and Emily Rolheiser.
Alberta Ballet’s music director Peter Dala, conducting the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra brings Tchaikovsky’s frothy, yet eloquent score to life.
Tickets are $27 to $106. Call 780-428-6839 or go online to www.albertaballet.com
Preview
The Nutcracker<br />Alberta Ballet<br />Runs Dec. 10 to 12<br />Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium<br />Tickets: $27 to $106. Call 780-428-6839 or purchase online at www.albertaballet.com
