Based in Lake Highlands, Ballet North Texas is getting ready for its annual production of The Nutcracker, scheduled to premiere this Friday.
Ballet North Texas’ 2023 production of The Nutcracker. Photo courtesy of Ballet North Texas and shot by Sharen Bradford.
The production will run this Friday through Sunday at the Moody Performance Hall in the Arts District Downtown. There will be five performances — one on Friday night, two on Saturday and two on Sunday — including a sensory friendly performance on Saturday. BNT’s Nutcracker runs approximately one hour and 40 minutes, including intermission.
The company has produced Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet seven seasons in a row, and Artistic Director Nicolina Lawson says there have been some changes from last year.
“I really like trying to brand aspects of the area and incorporate it into the ballet,” Lawson said. “So while there’s the traditional form of The Nutcracker, and we still follow that format, there’s little elements I throw in as far as costuming and kind of set design and stuff like that to incorporate it and make it really feel more like Texas. And every year we add more and more of those elements as we go and as the show kind of progresses and builds. So you’re not going to see the same show.”
The show will incorporate a cast of 28 professional dancers and 35 youth performers, with some cast members rotating roles over the course of the production to avoid excessive fatigue.
Lawson says that when attendees arrive pre-show, they will be “transported” into “the land of sweets” with a lobby decorated to match the flair of the on-stage production. The pre-show immersion also includes activities for children, hot chocolate and a bar. In addition, a cast member playing the Sugar Plum Fairy will be in the lobby teaching dance movements and demonstrating pantomime.
The sensory-friendly performance is scheduled for this Saturday at 2 p.m. To create a more inclusive environment for sensory sensitive audience members, lights and music will be toned down, and the production team will make changes to ease the audience into new sights and sounds.
“It really has to do with accommodating the people that are coming,” Lawson says. “We call it a no shush zone. Nobody’s going to ask you to be quiet. Nobody is going to tell a kid that they need to sit still. Sometimes we have kids dancing in the aisle during the show. But then as far as lighting and sound, we make adjustments for that. If you’re just going to the show, you’re not going to really notice. But if you were to watch it side by side for a regular production, you would see the differences.”
The production — which Lawson says is the first and only production of The Nutcracker to be originally produced in Dallas — will premiere this Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on Ballet North Texas’ website or at TicketDFW.com.
“[We’re] pretty excited. Nutcracker is one of those that every dancer just waits for it to come around,” Lawson says. “You know, it’s like it happens every year, and you just really can’t wait for it, it’s fun.”
Ballet North Texas’ next scheduled production is Epək, slated to run at the Moody Performance Hall on February 21 and 22.
A full schedule of The Nutcracker performances can be found on TicketDFW’s website.
