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Jean Lenihan: dance and other movements

On the First Day of Christmas, ABT Brought Costa Mesa a Lovely “Nutcracker”

November 30, 2015 by Jean Lenihan

Kevin McKenzie, Gillian Murphy and others discussed Alexei Ratmansky’s “The Nutcracker” with me for California’s Coast magazine this month. The heralded production left the Brooklyn Academy of Music to establish a new home in Costa Mesa beginning December 10th.

ABT snowflakes from Ratmansky's "The Nutcracker." Photo: Gene Schiavone

OC’s Ballet Moment: ABT’s ‘Nutcracker’ finds a home in Costa Mesa

On a Saturday morning in a backstage rehearsal room at Segerstrom Hall, 16 toy soldiers are marching in backward formation, morphing from two parallel lines into two rotating pinwheels. Though the outside girls are scrambling to keep in formation, and a stack of toy rifles in the corner slides noisily to the ground, the hushed group does not break focus. This October morning is day one, hour one of rehearsal for American Ballet Theatre’s inaugural season of “The Nutcracker” in Costa Mesa, and quite the firing shot was just issued.     continued here.

 

photo: Gene Schiavone

 

Filed Under: ballet, choreography, education

About Jean Lenihan

Formerly the staff dance critic for the Seattle Times, Jean Lenihan now lives in Los Angeles where she's written for the … [Read More...]

About Fresh Pencil

This blog began as an aggregation of published freelance pieces on a wide range of dance-makers and touring troupes, from Miss Prissy to ABT premieres to  Benjamin Millepied to Ryan Heffington. Nowadays I often review and write straight into this blog.

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