The Chocolate Nutcracker

What do you think of when Christmastime is near?  Colored lights, pine trees, traditional carols, crowded malls, and snow covered streets?  Perhaps you conjure up the delight of fres

hly baked cookies, spending time with family and waiting for Santa’s arrival.  For me, the ever classic tale of The Nutcracker always comes to mind.  I remember one of the first times I saw the ballet. I was a little girl, and my mother took me to see it.  I loved the costumes, the dancing and of course, the beautiful music.  For many Christmas seasons to follow, my mother would continue to take me to see the performance.  As an adult, I continue to look forward to the beloved ballet.  The story is timeless and continues to be a part of my holiday tradition today.

Originally written in 1816 by E.T.A. Hoffman, the popular dance production was called The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and was considered to be quite mor

bid, not exactly something recommended for children.  It was later on revised to a more child friendly version with the help of the French writer, Alexander Dumas Pere.  Pere sparked the interest of Marius Petipa, the senior ballet master of the Russian Imperial Ballet. In 1891, he commissioned Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to compose the score for a full length version of The Nutcracker.  It debuted the following year in St. Petersburg, Russia. The ballet stayed until 1934, when it appeared in London.  Six years later, it was introduced to the United States in a shorter version.  Then in 1954, choreographer George Balanchine created his famous and well known version of The Nutcracker for the New York City Ballet.  Although the ballet is not as dramatic or scary as it first was written to be, it still embraces the original story.  A little girl’s favorite Christmas toy (the Nutcracker) comes to life and takes her away to a magic, fairy tale land populated by dolls after defeating the evil Mouse King.  This is a tale where reality is lost and imagination prevails.  Sugarplum fairies sparkle, and toy soldiers don red candied cheeks.  It’s make believe, happy and wonderfully written for all ages to enjoy.  However, it is a well known fact that nearly every version of ballet production consists of mostly all Caucasian performers.  LaVerne Reed wanted to change that.

Reed, who grew up in South Philly in the 1950s, studied dance and took on small roles in The Nutcracker in the Pennsylvania Ballet throughout the years.  Reed was always a very talented dancer, but was never cast as Claire (or  Clara), the lead character in the production.  Reed said that when she got older she was going to create and direct her very own version of the classic tale where the dancers could all be of different colors; a multicultural Nutcracker production.  This was Reed’s vision, her dream.  She went on to study dance and theatre at Howard and George Washington Universities, and then later on lead a national dance touring company.  At the age of 39, Reed set out to remake The Nutcracker… her way.  This African-American inspired modern take on the original holiday classic would be called The Chocolate Nutcracker.

Reed’s narrative loosely follows the original version, but unlike the original more Victorian version, the opening party scene is set in 1950s Harlem.  And this is just the first change to the version we all know.  The lead dancer, Claire, has to fight off vicious snakes instead of battling the notorious Mouse King and his army.  Traditional snowflakes are replaced with twinkling starlight generated by a hidden disco ball.  And if you remember the original Nutcracker, there are magical lands including that of the Snow Queen and Candy Land.  In Reed’s version, little girl Claire stops off in more realistic places such as Africa, Egypt and Brazil.  She even visits a street corner where a jazz bassist and saxophonist play a duet.  However, there still is magic involved in each of these places.  Claire explores the “Magical Rainforest,” a place called the “Land of Funk” and “Jazz Land.” The little girl and the Chocolate Nutcracker explore these faraway lands in a dream.  With all their global travels, the duo is introduced to a variety of musical dance genres such as gospel, hip-hop, jazz, modern, tap and ballet.  According to Reed, the whole idea was to incorporate cultural touchstones that would better resonate with minority audiences and incorporate more popular dance styles than just the traditional pointy-toe ballet.

The Chocolate Nutcracker came to life in 1994 on the campus stage at the University of Southern California, and it has been exciting audiences ever since.  Performed throughout the country, the ballet production is selling out to large crowds.  It’s not just the popularity of the show that has grown, but also the amount of dancers involved.  When The Chocolate Nutcracker first got started there were only about 75 dancers, mostly all youngsters.  Today, there are over 200 dancers from the ages of six to twenty-five, along with over 120 adult volunteers.  Quite a few of the children involved with the ballet over the years have endured personal struggles.  Some haven’t had much to go home to.  They may live in high poverty situations or come from broken homes. Instead of getting involved with crime such as using drugs or hanging out on the streets, these children have overcome the odds and taken to dance.  In fact, dancing is their life.  When these youngsters perform, they use every ounce of their heart and soul. Their passion and drive is amazing and it truly emanates in each one of their performances.  In addition, the production is not exclusionary, meaning white children can participate and many ending up doing just that.

The end result of Reed’s dream is nothing short of energetic, fun and different.  It’s a refreshing twist to the original version we all know so well.  Sometimes it is hard to embrace change, but in this case, change is a good thing.  The Chocolate Nutcracker has everything and more that the classic tale does.  So, if you haven’t seen it, be sure to do so this holiday season.

The 12th anniversary show will be shown at the newly renovated Mahaffey Theater in downtown St. Petersburg, FL, the weekend of December 4-5th, 2009.  For more information, contact www.mahaffeytheater.com.

Mahaffey Theater

401 1st St. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33701

727-892-5798