Clara's Dream - a nutcracker story

So there have been many references to Clara's Dream on this blog already, but what's the story?  Because there is no talking in ballet, it's usually a good idea to have a basic understanding of the story you're about to see before attending the performance, this makes it easier to understand what is happening on stage so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the performance.

Clara's Dream- a nutcracker story is City Center Ballet's adaptation of The Nutcracker, however they have tightened up the story to fit it into one act to maintain the attention of younger children.  The Nutcracker is a Christmastime story, and attending this ballet annually grows into a tradition for many families, so City Center Ballet has gone that extra step to make this ballet even more family friendly.

Here's an outline of what will unfold on stage at The Lebanon Opera House on December 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2013:

The curtain rises on a sleeping Clara, a young girl whose family just hosted a Christmas Party, she had a long day and has fallen asleep in an arm chair. It had been an exciting day full of treats and sweets and lots of merry dancing.   Her Godfather, Heir Drosselmeyer, was a surprise guest at the party. Drosselmeyer, a magician and toymaker, brought gifts for all the children in attendance. Drosselmeyer presents Clara with a carved nutcracker doll, which she cherishes immediately. As the curtain rises Clara awakens and rises to check on her new nutcracker doll, Heir Dorsselmeyer appears and performs some magic on the nutcracker.  Suddenly, something begins to happen, either Clara and Drosselmeyer are shrinking or the entire living room is growing, and then Clara's Nutcracker appears to have come to life! But wait, something is not right, Clara's now gigantic living room has filled with giant mice with a Rat King as their leader! Magically, toy soldiers emerge from under the Christmas Tree and a battle between The Nutcracker and the Rat King, and their minions ensues. Clara is terrified, suddenly it seems the Rat King is about to defeat her Nutcracker! In a moment of quick thinking Clara distracts the Rat King, who is then quickly killed by her Nutcracker. 

Victorious, Clara's Nutcracker transforms into a Prince and escorts his heroine away.  Outside in a pine forest near Clara's home  it begins to snow, the King and Queen of the Snow dance as Clara and her Prince enter the forest.  Suddenly it begins to snow harder and a group of Snowflakes dance gracefully around Clara and her Prince.  Eventually the Snow King and Queen emerge again and guide Clara and her prince on through the forest. 

Clara and her Prince arrive in the Land of Sweets and are greeted by The Sugar Plum Fairy and a group of angels, they are so thankful that Clara helped to defeat the Rat King, they present her with gifts and show Clara and her Prince to a throne. Then, the Pastry Chefs arrive to delight their eyes with treats and sweets from around the world.  First come the hot beverages, Hot Chocolate from Spain, Arabian Coffee, and Chinese Tea, then suddenly Russian Candy Cane Dancers emerge from Fabergé Eggs, Marzipan from Denmark arrives on a beautiful cake, Finally the Pastry Chefs, from Germany, dance for Clara and her Prince. Suddenly a beautiful  string of flowers arrive, and Waltz of the Flowers  begins, staring The Dewdrop Fairy.  To conclude the performance The Sugar Plum Fairy  herself, escorted by her Cavaleir, perform a dance, to some of the most iconic music from the ballet. 

All the sweets from all the countries come together for one final dance to usher Clara and her Prince out of their land. Clara wonders, did this really happen, or was it all just a wonderful dream?

Tickets for Clara's Dream- a nutcrracker story can be purchased on the Lebanon Opera House website  or by calling the Box Office at (603)448-0400.  Read this post for information on group ticket pricing. Get your tickets soon for preferred seating! Tickets for Clara's Tea can be purchased on the City Center Ballet website, tea tickets include tickets to the show following the tea.

**Note that as of 11/22/2013 Tickets to Clara's Tea for the 1pm show are SOLD OUT, there are still a few tickets left to Clara's Tea for the 4pm show**

Meet the Resident Choreographer!

Beltrami Photography

Jennifer Henderson, the Resident Choreographer, or Maker of Magic, for City Center Ballet, is the brains behind a lot of the beauty that happens on stage. Jennifer began choreographing with City Center Ballet in 2008 when she choreographed City Center Ballet's production of Cinderella. Since then Jennifer has added Clara's Dream- a nutcracker story and Coppélia to her repertoire.  In 2013 Jennifer also undertook setting Giselle, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa, on the City Center Ballet Company.

Jennifer's choreography is beautiful to watch, it is clear that every phrase is carefully planned to build on the previous phrase.  Dancers move seamlessly from one formation to another.  Larger group pieces are full of "wow"moments.  It is clear that in planning choreography Jennifer has a clear view of the big picture.

In Clara's Dream- a nutcracker story watch for moments in Snow and Waltz of the Flowers where it becomes clear that these classic Corps de Ballet pieces were carefully planned to give the illusion of a swirling snow shower or flower petals blowing through a meadow. All 8-10 dancers suddenly appear on stage in a pattern, which transforms before your eyes into something completely different in a few seamless counts in the music.  In fact, these stunning transitions often yield a round of applause from the audience. To get the best view of this careful pattern planning, pick a seat near the front and center of the balcony.

Tickets for Clara's Dream- a nutcracker story can be purchased on the Lebanon Opera House website  or by calling the Box Office at (603)448-0400.  Read this post for information on group ticket pricing. Get your tickets soon for preferred seating!

Have you heard about Clara's Tea?

Tables full of Tea Party goodies to delight everyone
and get you into the holiday spirit before the show!

Clara's Tea is a wonderful tradition that has grown with City Center Ballet's Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story.  This event is organized every year with a lot of hard work from the City Center Ballet staff and volunteers (Thank you dancer parents!). Monies raised from this event feed directly back into the company to pay for costumes, lights, scenery, props, and yearly maintenance for all those things essential to the day-to-day functioning of our not-for-profit company. This year Clara's Tea is on Saturday, December 7th at 11:30 am (before the 1 pm performance) and 2:30 pm (before the 4 pm performance).

Clara's Tea takes place at Lebanon Ballet School, the ballet school
 of City Center Ballet. It sells out every year, get your tickets soon!

Clara's Tea is an opportunity for kids to meet some of the cast members of Clara's Dream, enjoy some tea (or juice) and little goodies before the show! It's a little bit like Disney's Character Breakfast! Kids can ask the dancers about their rolls, and get their photo taken. Let your children dress-up and enjoy High-Tea before an experience at the ballet. This is the ultimate theater experience, and a rare opportunity to get photos with some of the dancers in costume!

Let the City Center Ballet Pastry Chefs make your Tea Party with Clara a fabulous experience!

Tickets for Clara's Tea can be purchased on the City Center Ballet website, the ticket price for Clara's Tea includes a ticket to the Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story performance immediately following The Tea.  All Tea attendees are given prime seating at the Lebanon Opera House.  Tickets sell out every year...Get yours NOW!

Affordable Entertainment! (read for info on a group ticket discount!!)

Let's talk money...briefly. Ballets are inherently expensive productions, there's no way around it.  Between costumes, set-pieces, lights, lighting designers, stage crew, choreographers, directors, theater fees and bringing in some professional dancers the expenses quickly add up.  City Center Ballet is lucky to have many, many volunteers who help dilute some of the costs that would be associated with costumes, set building, etc. But the materials alone are a significant expense.

When I was younger I remember sitting around the theater during the tech - week for my youth-company's production of The Nutcracker. One of the other dancers had been outfitted in a brand-new costume and was patiently sitting in the auditorium watching some of the stage crew working on the scene where the Christmas tree grows.  Well, the director of the company spotted her sitting in that costume and came marching over and yanked her out of the seat. All of the dancers in the vicinity were about to receive a stern talking-to! The director asked us to guess how much that costume our friend had been so casually lounging in cost, $300? $400? $600? "No!" said the director "That costume cost $1500, you will probably never own garment that expensive, well maybe not until you buy a wedding dress." We were all shocked, but it stuck. And now just imagine outfitting several dozen dancers in costumes that compare in price to a wedding dress! Like I said ballets are expensive!

These Snowflake costumes from Clara's journey through a pine forest to The Land of Sweets even resemble wedding dresses

The finale to Waltz of the Flowers, the Dewdrop costume (center) was newly constructed in 2012, look for some exciting new costume additions this year too!

However, City Center Ballet works very hard to raise funds in ways that help them pass a minimum amount of those expenses on to their Upper Valley audience! This year Adult tickets purchased in advance are just $16.50 and Children 12 & under are $11.50. BUT WAIT! Because it is City Center Ballet's 15th Season if you are buying tickets for a group of 15 or more people you can take advantage of a 15% Discount! That means tickets are just over $14 for Adults and just under $10 for Children 12 & Under! Purchase group tickets early to ensure that your group gets seated together!

Get a group from your office, book club, yoga class, neighborhood, or school together to enjoy this fantastically affordable performance!

You can purchase tickets on the Lebanon Opera House Website or by calling the Box Office at (603)448-0400. **For Group Ticket pricing, please call the Box Office**

I'll see you at the Ballet!

Wilis, Sylphs, and Fairies, OH My!

You might just get to see these magical ballet creatures come out for some Trick-Or-Treating at the Powerhouse Mall from 4pm to 6pm on Halloween (Thursday 10/31). Bring your little monsters to meet some of City Center Ballet's characters! Past years have featured, Cinderella, her Fairy Godmother and Evil Stepsisters, Aurora and some of the Fairies that visit her, The Sugar Plum Fairy and dancers from the countries visited in Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story, and many other characters from City Center Ballet productions. Who will be there this year?

A line-up of City Center Ballet dancers passes candy to eager Trick-Or-Treaters 

City Center Ballet dancers helping to fill the bucket of a Powerhouse Mall Trick-Or-Treater

Linda Copp, Artistic Director of City Center Ballet, accompanies her granddaughter, dressed as Little Bo Peep, to the City Center Ballet candy stop.

If you have not participated in the trick-or-treating at the Powerhouse Mall, this is an Upper Valley event not to be missed! First, it's indoors, stay warm and don't fight about that parka ruining your child's carefully planned costume. Second where else can your child be delighted by the whimsical planning from all the shops in the mall, as well as special additions like the dancers from City Center Ballet!


Trick-or Treating at the Powerhouse Mall is free and open to the public, put it in your calendar now, you'll thank me later!

We're a Hoot!

Actually, City Center Ballet has won The Complete Hoot's Owl Award for "Outstanding Community Dance Performances" for their 2012-2013 Season performances of Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story and Giselle.  Congratulations to the cast and crew of both these outstanding productions!

The Complete Hoot's Awards ceremony was on Sunday, October 20th in White River Junction, VT.  They gave awards to several local arts organizations in the Vermont and New Hampshire Upper Valley Region. Awards were given in almost 30 categories spanning Music, Theater, Dance, Art, and Community Outreach.  City Center Ballet is honored to have won the award for Community Dance Performances for the fourth year in a row and to be honored among so many outstanding arts organizations in the community.

Here is a link to The Complete Hoot's Website, and here is their description of how winners of Owl Awards are chosen:

"The Owl Awards recognize and celebrate achievements in the arts in the Upper Valley for a given arts year, September to September.  Nominations are made by our readers and the top five-six are then listed in each category for the final voting.  Final voting is done through both the readership and e-mail contacts of The Complete Hoot."

Congratulations also go to Lebanon Ballet School, the ballet school of City Center Ballet, for their Owl Award for Outstanding Youth Dance Education! Congrats to the 2012-2013 teaching staff, guest teachers, and the amazing students who make teaching fun!

Fundraiser!!!

On Saturday, October 19th, 2013 City Center Ballet has a fundraiser at Margarita's Mexican Restaurant located in Centerra Marketplace in Lebanon...this is super easy! Go enjoy a meal with friends and/or family at Margaritas and present your server with the voucher below before 5:30pm...that's it, then City Center Ballet will get 15% of your bill as a donation from Margaritas!

Remember City Center Ballet is a Not-For-Profit semi-professional student company, every penny they get contributes to performance experience for Upper Valley youth in Vermont and New Hampshire.  The youth-members of City Center Ballet gain valuable experience from every performance.

Hope to see you at Margaritas!!

Welcome!

Welcome to the brand-new City Center Ballet Blog! City Center Ballet, a not-for-profit semi-professional ballet company, is the Upper Valley's premier ballet company located in the heart of Lebanon, NH. The 2013-2014 season, City Center's 15th season, is well underway.

We kicked this year off with an exciting performance of Giselle at the Lebanon Opera House on September 20th and 21st, the performance was spectacular and the story of Giselle's epic love for Albrecht brought tears to the eyes of many. Our season continues with Clara's Dream-a nutcracker story at the Lebanon Opera House December 5th, 6th, and 7th (tickets can be found here).  In April 2014 City Center Ballet is very excited to be bringing The Sleeping Beauty to the Upper Valley, performances are April 25th, 26th, and 27th at the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, New Hampshire! Mark your calendars now!

We are very excited to start this blog where we can share facts and trivia about our favorite ballets, fun anecdotes about City Center Ballet, profiles of our local and professional talent, sneak peeks of performances, and opportunities to interact with the City Center Ballet dancers at local events, with the Upper Valley Community of Vermont and New Hampshire!

We're quality ballet in your backyard!