Dorrance Dance
Cal Performances presents Dorrance Dance: The Nutcracker Suite, December 14–15, 2024 at Zellerbach Hall
Photo by: Christopher Duggan
Tap dance meets jazz rhythms in Dorrance Dance’s production of this holiday classic. Danced to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s jazz interpretation of the classic Tchaikovsky score, The Nutcracker Suite boogies, slides, struts, and dives through the magical story of a young girl and her fantastical Christmas adventure. Along with collaborators Hannah Heller and Josette Wiggan, artistic director Michelle Dorrance gives the ballet’s pageant of national dances a 21st-century twist as the Sugar Plum Fairy transforms into a slinky Sugar Rum Cherry and the “March of the Toy Soldiers” becomes a swinging brass “Peanut Brittle Brigade” romp, among other creative inventions…