Ballet Yuma's 'Nutcracker' this weekend

Christmas is a magical time for children, and seeing a live production of "The Nutcracker" can make it even more so.

"Most children who see it are awestruck," said Kathleen Sinclair, artistic director at Ballet Yuma. "Children see a lot of movies and TV and flat-screen entertainment, and being able to watch a live production, for most children, is very, very magical."

Ballet Yuma presents its 16th annual production of the traditional Christmas ballet Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m. in Yuma High School's Snider Auditorium

All tickets are reserved seating and are on sale at Dillard's for $12, $17 and $22, with a $4 discount for children age 12 and under. For more information, call 345-1534

"The Nutcracker" is a ballet that companies around the United States do every Christmas season. "It's about a little girl who gets a nutcracker as a present," Sinclair said. "Then she falls asleep and has a wonderful dream about it."

With a traditional setting of old-fashioned Germany, the ballet starts with a family's living room. The little girl, Clara, wakes up, goes downstairs in the middle of the night and falls asleep in her living room.

"When she wakes up her dream, or the magic, starts to happen," Sinclair said.  

In a major scene the Christmas tree, characters, presents, mice and toys all grow to life size or bigger. And so the tree grows very, very tall and out the top of the theater.

While an annual ballet production naturally has recurring traditional scenes, many changes, including the growing Christmas tree scene, provide audiences with fresh material to see each year, Sinclair said.

Last year's three-dimensional tree, for example, grew out and up. "But this time, we're using a little bit of theatrical technology to keep it a flat tree so that when it grows, it won't take up as much space on the stage," she said. "It's going to grow up, but it's flat."

"The Nutcracker" is a good ballet for people to attend with their families because the story is very easy to follow, Sinclair said. "There usually are not any kind of odd or super-artistic things that they have to think about. It's a nice way to spend a holiday tradition."

Despite the misconception that small children cannot sit through a theatrical production like "The Nutcracker," Sinclair said most small children in fact do.

"People hesitate bringing them to the theater, but I found that my boys, by the age of 2, were able to watch 'The Nutcracker,' and they loved it."

Besides, "The Nutcracker" is a fairly short ballet. "From the time it starts to the final curtain call, it is probably between an hour and 30 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes," Sinclair said.

Although guest artists have been brought in to play the parts of the Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairy, Cavalier and Arabian, most of the dancers are local, she said. "Ballet Yuma is a group of about 15 dancers who range from (age) 13 to about 20, and they're kind of young dancers in training. Then we augment the production with children from our school, Yuma Ballet Academy."

Children, teenagers and people from the community participate the production as well. "Some of them are just people who have done this for a while. We have some boys from the AWC Spirit Team and from local dance teachers.

"What I think is sort of exciting is that we have a lot of male dancers on stage this year, which sometimes doesn't happen," Sinclair said. "The youngest male dancer is 5 years old, and the Yuma Ballet alumni/guest artist playing the part of the Nutcracker is 20. These are all local young men who are involved."

Not only is attending the performance a good way involve families in a Christmas tradition, but it is also a good way to expose children to the performing arts, she said.

When children see magic unfolding before them during a live theatrical performance, they think maybe someday it will be them, she said. "And it will spur them on to ask for ballet class or an opportunity to be in 'The Nutcracker.' And they can be in their local production. Most areas have a production of 'The Nutcracker' where children can participate.

"Lots of times, if you ask an older or a professional dancer what was their first experience and why they decided to dance, it would be as a child, seeing the performance of 'The Nutcracker.'"