Published December 9, 2022

The Nutcracker Takes the Stage

by Steve Trounday

This weekend, A.V.A. Ballet Theatre and the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra will be hosting more than 6,000 people for The Nutcracker at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. This holiday classic is the most popular ballet in the world.

What makes this ballet so beloved? For me, it’s a myriad of reasons. By the end of the show, I’m all smiles and one look around the Pioneer Center tells me the audience feels the same. No one ever leaves The Nutcracker in a bad mood.

The Nutcracker story begins at the home of the Stahlbaum family. It’s Christmas Eve and friends and family are gathering for a celebration. One of the guests is Herr Drosselmeyer.

Logan Pachciarz will reprise his role as Drosselmeyer after stunning performances with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre for the past several years. Pachciarz began his dance career with the guidance of Shelly Washington in Twyla Tharp’s dance company Tharp! After extensive traveling, he continued his classical training at the North Carolina School of the Arts. At age 18, he joined the Boston Ballet. In 2001, Logan joined the Kansas City Ballet. During his 15 years with the company, he performed leading roles in a diverse repertoire. He was recognized by Dance Magazine’s Wendy Perron as one of the best dancers of 2016. Pachciarz is currently the co-artistic director of Moving Arts Kansas City and Cincinnati.

Drosselmeyer is a toymaker, magician, and godfather to one of the children—Clara. Clara is being performed by local dancer Kate Bland. Bland is 16 years old and a junior at Reno High School and a dancer with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet.

 

Drosselmeyer gives each of the children a present. He has a special gift for Clara—a Nutcracker designed as a small soldier. She immediately falls in love with it but is saddened when her jealous brother, Fritz, breaks the toy. Clara turns to Drosselmeyer for comfort and he repairs the Nutcracker with a handkerchief. 

When the time comes for everyone to leave the party, Clara is distraught that she must leave her Nutcracker by the tree for the night. Not able to sleep without one more look at the Nutcracker, she tiptoes back into the living room and cradles the soldier in her arms. Soon sleep overcomes her.

In A.V.A. Ballet Theatre artistic director Alexander Van Alstyne’s version of The Nutcracker, Drosselmeyer works his magic and everything in Clara’s world changes. Her cherished Nutcracker becomes a live soldier. Alongside fellow soldiers, he fights the fierce Mouse King and his dancing mice. The action on the stage is chaotic as the battle is fought. In the end, the Nutcracker emerges victorious. 

To Clara’s surprise, the Nutcracker has become a handsome prince. Trevin Mark Ralphs from Dallas Ballet will be performing as the prince. He is 17 years old and has been dancing since he was four years old.  He has been dancing at the Ballet Academy of Texas for five years.

The prince invites Clara to join him on a journey to the “Land of Sweets.” Along the way, they meet the Snow Queen and King. The Snow Queen is being portrayed by Natalie Taylor. Currently a sophomore working towards her BFA at the University of Utah, she was born and raised in San Jose, California. She trained at San Jose Dance Theater from the age of eleven. Throughout her years at San Jose Dance Theatre, she has performed many lead roles in SJDT’s productions of The Nutcracker, Firebird, Sleeping Beauty, and other original choreographic works. Recently, Taylor performed the principal role of Aurora in Utah Ballet’s Fall Production of Sleeping Beauty.

The Snow King is being danced by Devin Hammond. He trained for years with the Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Florida. Four years ago, he moved to Salt Lake City where he began training with Ballet West.

Once Clara and the Prince arrive at the “Land of Sweets,” they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. The Sugar Plum Fairy is being danced by Chelsea Keefer. Raised in Huntsville, Utah, Keefer is currently a Soloist with Ballet West and began dancing professionally with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, touring their Nutcracker. She later joined The Tulsa Ballet for three seasons. Keefer has worked with a vast range of choreographers. She is currently a host for The Chelsea Keefer Podcast and is also providing mentorship, life coaching, and workshops for dancers who struggle with anxiety through the process of meditation, life skills, daily tools, and yoga. Wellness is a prominent word within her vocabulary whether it is physical or mental. Keefer believes providing a balanced approach with the correct tools will help facilitate a well self-disciplined ballet dancer and it is key to living a healthy life within this career.

The Cavalier is being performed by David Huffmire. Huffmire was born in Carson City and raised in Reno. He was introduced to ballet through his sister, Lauren. As a child, he would spend many hours watching her at dance classes. At the age of six, he auditioned for A.V.A. Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker and was cast as a soldier. After that experience, he realized he wanted to be a dancer and began taking jazz, tap, musical theater, and ballet classes. At the age of 11, he began taking classes at the Conservatory of Movement with Van Alstyne as his instructor.

“I knew right away he had a special talent,” Van Alstyne said. “He has the gift of natural ability and the discipline to work hard.”

By his teen years, Huffmire was getting serious about his ballet training. He attended summer intensives at both Ballet West and the San Francisco Ballet where he went through rigorous ballet training. Throughout this period, he danced in dozens of ballets with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre. Some of those performances include Colin in The Secret Garden, the prince in The Nutcracker, and as a bluebird in Sleeping Beauty. After graduating from Galena High School, he was offered a trainee position with Ballet West, which he happily accepted. Soon after, he was promoted to a member of the second company of Ballet West. During this time, he would come home to Reno and dance with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre in major roles such as the Snow King in The Nutcracker, The Mer King in The Little Mermaid, and the featured male performer in the rock ballet Vortex during Artown. At 20 years of age, Huffmire joined Ballet West’s first company and worked his way through the ranks as an apprentice, a new artist, and has been a member of the corps de ballet for the last two years as a soloist. Now 24, Huffmire trains five to six hours a day—not including rehearsal time for Ballet West performances. Last September, he graced the Pioneer stage for A.V.A. Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake and I’m looking forward to seeing him perform again.

The Sugar Plum Fairy summons her subjects to perform for Clara and the Prince. Those entertainers include Spanish dancers, Mirlitons, Ukrainian acrobats, Chinese dragon, the irrepressible Mother Ginger and her children, and the mysterious Arabians. The Arabians are also being performed by Devin Hammond and Natalie Taylor.

The popular Chinese dragon is returning to the Pioneer stage after its debut in 2019. The “Waltz of the Flowers” is probably my favorite dance in The Nutcracker. It is danced by the corps de ballet of A.V.A. Ballet Theatre. The waltz is followed by the most famous dance in the ballet—the performance by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

The ballet ends with the cast dancing around Clara and the Prince who have been crowned the rulers of the “Land of Sweets.” Tchaikovsky’s score to this ballet will be performed by the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Laura Jackson.

I hope you will join me at the Pioneer Center. I promise it’ll make you smile too.
 

Steve Trounday is a board member at A.V.A. Ballet Theatre, the resident ballet company of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. The holiday classic The Nutcracker will be performed with the Reno Phil December 9-11.

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