‘Tis the season for the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop, and the Mouse King, which means that just about anywhere right now, someone, somewhere, somehow, is staging The Nutcracker. And with good reason—major American ballet companies generate around 40 percent of their annual ticket revenues from performances of the iconic show.
Now the San Luis Obispo Movement Arts Center is serving up a decidedly local production with The Nutcracker: A San Luis Obispo Story.
SLOMAC co-founders Ryan Lawrence and Maartje Hermans-Lawrence, in cooperation with the History Center of San Luis Obispo County, are staging an inaugural performance that reimagines the ballet in 1894 San Luis Obispo.
In this fresh interpretation of a familiar tale, Clara, a young girl who now lives on Buchon Street, begins a magical journey that transform’s Tchaikovsky’s classic into a celebration of local history.
After a party at her home, Clara falls into a deep sleep and dreams about her Nutcracker prince and the Land of Sweet Things: San Luis Obispo’s historic Chinatown.
The production showcases historic local businesses, including the Ah Louis store and Mr. Chong’s candy store, along with mercury mine workers, wildflowers from the Carrizo Plain, a dairy shepherdess and even (gulp!) a rattlesnake.
Why such a local take on a universal classic? For Hermans-Lawrence, who trained professionally in her native Netherlands, it’s about connection. “We wanted to develop something that the dancers and audience would connect with deeply,” she says. “We wanted to bring this traditional tale closer to home.”
The choice made sense to Lawrence. “The history of San Luis Obispo and the arrival of the railroad parallel that of the original Nutcracker ballet, which debuted in 1892.”
Audiences can decide for themselves. Performances are scheduled for December 20 and 21 in the Harold J. Miossi Cultural and Performing Arts Center at Cuesta College. Tickets are available online.