If you haven’t seen “The Nutcracker” for a while, this weekend might be a good time to plan a return visit to the holiday classic.
Redding City Ballet artistic director Cindy Michaels believes her primary company dancers are an extremely strong group. There are 15 top-tier dancers in the RCB company, who range in age from 16 to 35.
This year’s show takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (Dec. 19-20) and 2 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 20) at the Cascade Theatre in Redding. Click here for ticket information.
The ballet will feature an overall cast of some 60 performers, including many young dancers from Michaels’ Redding Ballet Academie.
The RCB “Nutcracker” will also feature the original choreography of Marius Petipa for the grand waltz scene at the end. That will be a slice of history for dance fans, considering that the original choreography is now nearly 200 years old.
Prior to the grand waltz, the ballet’s battle scene promises to be memorable as aerial artist Rosannah Riess will perform above the stage on a rope. Riess, also a company dancer and recent transplant from San Francisco, will perform in the battle scene with Jeremiah Esses, an area martial arts expert.
“The whole fight scene is pretty amazing. It’s like movie stuff,” Michaels said.
The elegant and beautiful Amberly Bell will dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Daniel Arizmendi is the Cavalier.
“The dancers are older and more accomplished,” Michaels said. “I knew it would take seven, eight, nine years for this kind of thing to happen. The quality of our dancers is beginning to attract other people. You want to be around that in terms of inspiration and friendly competition.”
For more information on Redding City Ballet, click here.
