The Ever-Evolving
Nutcracker
Orchestra NEXT joins Eugene Ballet
Company for a holiday tradition
BY LAUREN MESSMAN
L
seemed like a great idea,” she says. In the story, Clara, a
young girl, falls asleep after checking on a toy nutcracker,
a gift from the toymaker Drosselmeyer. The nutcracker
jolts to life in Clara’s dreams as a prince, and in this
version, as Drosselmeyer’s nephew, Hanes. This year,
principal dancer Yoshie Oshima will switch off with Beth
Maslinoff, a new addition to the company, in the role of
Clara.
Another exciting change is the recent addition of
Orchestra NEXT, a training orchestra led by trumpet
virtuoso Brian McWhorter. NEXT, which places leading
professionals alongside aspiring musicians, will be
performing the iconic Tchaikovsky score. “To have young
people in the show on stage and then to have young
people in the pit,” Pimble says, “it just gives a wonderful
feel, a community feel, to the performance.”
After 32 years, and touring up to 15 different cities,
the classic ballet still leaves a lasting impression on
audiences. Pimble recalls a touching time when a single
mother and her daughter approached her backstage. “She
said, ‘You know her grandmother sends her money every
Christmas and usually we’ll buy shoes, we’ll buy this or
we’ll buy that, but this year we said no. We’re going to
spend that money on tickets to The Nutcracker.’” ■
ike fragrant pines, candy canes and
twinkle lights, The Nutcracker is a
perennial symbol of the holiday sea-
son. Toni Pimble, artistic director for
the Eugene Ballet Company, agrees.
Most people tell her that without the
ballet company’s annual performance, Christmas just
wouldn’t be complete. This December, audiences in
Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and across the Northwest are
invited to join the dancers of EBC as they journey to the
Land of Sweets with Clara (the young, nightgown-clad
heroine), the Sugar Plum Fairy and, of course, the Nut-
cracker Prince for the 32nd consecutive year.
But after three decades of the same story — a
mischievous Christmas Eve tale filled with magic, a mouse
king and a snow queen — Pimble admits, “Sometimes you
just want to pull your hair out!” To keep things fresh,
Pimble and the EBC have taken some creative liberties
over the years because, like Christmas gifts, you wouldn’t
want to receive the same present year after year.
For example, Pimble, an award-winning choreographer,
explains that this is actually the third version of The
Nutcracker that the company has performed. She was able
to expand her artistic options by swapping a child dancer
for a company dancer in the role of Clara. “That obviously
gave me much more opportunity choreographically with a
professional dancer to create a totally different story line
and so then the idea of creating a little love story for Clara
Eugene Ballet Company presents The Nutcracker Friday, Dec. 21, through
Sunday, Dec. 23, at the Hult’s Silva Concert Hall; $22-$48, student and youth
discounts available.
EB C D A NC ER S BE T H MU SL INOF F A ND R EED S OU T HER
PHOTO JON CHRISTOPHER ME YERS
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