zellerbach hall
the nutcracker suite

Explosive tap dance meets hot jazz rhythms in acclaimed company Dorrance Dance’s intoxicating production of the holiday classic. Danced to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s marvelously inventive 1960 reinterpretation 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 transforms the Sugar Plum Fairy into a slinky Sugar Rum Cherry, the “March of the Toy Soldiers” becomes a swinging brass “Peanut Brittle Brigade” romp, and the original ballet’s pageant of national dances gets a fresh new 21st-century twist.