39th Ballet Theater 'Nutcracker' at MAC

By Erik Novak

An Indiana University Bloomington tradition will move a few blocks north this season.

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's famed holiday ballet, The Nutcracker, opens Thursday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center (MAC) on the Bloomington campus. Additional performances are scheduled Dec. 5 at 8 p.m., Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. An 18-foot Christmas tree and a 12-foot nutcracker will greet audiences in the MAC's vast lobby.

This year's production is the first in IUB history that will not be presented on the IU Auditorium stage, due to an 18-month renovation of the building (see related story, page 7).

According to set designer Robert O'Hearn, moving the production into the MAC offers several advantages -- although less seating. "The stage is deeper, lighting is better, and there's less constriction in the orchestra pit," said O'Hearn, who has been a set designer at IU for eight years. "The stage is also safer for dancers because they've got much more room to move around -- they can do circles instead of ovals," he said. "Doing the ballet in the MAC feels like doing it in our own home instead of being a road show," added O'Hearn, noting that the orchestra and dancers are able to rehearse and perform on the same stage.

The IU Ballet Theater production includes in the cast of dancers many children from southern and central Indiana ballet programs. Thousands of Indiana children have either participated in or watched the performances each year since 1958, many of whom count it as their first exposure to ballet. The IU production still packs the house, and performances are almost always sold out by the day of the show.

Ray Cramer will conduct the University Orchestra for this season's production, choreographed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Jacques Cesbron. The sets are designed by O'Hearn and Max Röthlisberger.