The Nutcracker 2024

Published December 6, 2024

The Nutcracker 2024

In two weeks, 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.

Filer image element — *Photo: Nutcracker Clara*

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. Mr. 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 Evie Pullman. Pullman is a straight-A student at St. Albert the Great Catholic School.

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. Johnny Castle will be performing as the Prince. Castle is no stranger to dancing as the Nutcracker Prince as he has performed the roll for the last three seasons in western Colorado. He has training in a mix of dance styles and was a trainee with Colorado West Performing Arts Company for the 2023-2024 season. His training has also taken him to intensives with BalletMet and Nashville Ballet, and he is currently enrolled in the Professional Training Division at Ballet West in Salt Lake City.

The prince invites Clara to join him on a journey to the “Land of the Sweets”. Along the way, they meet the Snow Queen and King. The Snow Queen is being portrayed by Mia Petkovic. She began ballet at age ten, training at the Salt Lake City Ballet, where she was given opportunities to compete in Youth America Grand Prix. During her time at Salt Lake City Ballet, she was offered year-round and summer intensive scholarships to the Royal Ballet School, The Kirov Academy, and The Bolshoi Academy. At age thirteen, Mia was invited to join Ballet West Academy’s Professional Training Division. Petkovic spent three years in the Professional Training division on full scholarship. When she was sixteen, she was invited to join Ballet West’s Trainee division and is currently in her second year of the program.

The Snow King is being danced by Pieter Gunning. Gunning began dancing at age fourteen, attending the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. The Royal Conservatoire’s annual collaboration with the world renowned Nederlands Dans Theater gave Gunning some of his most memorable experiences.

After three years of study in The Netherlands, he continued his dance education in Germany. He was accepted into the upper levels of the School of the Hamburg Ballet under the artistic direction of John Neumeier. He appeared in the Hamburg Ballet’s productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare Sonnets, Anna Karenina, and On the Town. While studying in Hamburg, Gunning was given the opportunity to choreograph and present his creations on stage. From that, he was selected to represent the School of the Hamburg Ballet in the Young Creation Award 2021 at Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland.

That same year, Gunning was offered a contract with Orlando Ballet II in Florida. While in the second company he danced in every production of the Orlando Ballet. Being on stage regularly gave him the chance to feel comfortable performing an array of different characters and become a more versatile dancer. After completing two years in Orlando, he is now a trainee at Ballet West in Salt Lake.

Once Clara and the Prince arrive at the “Land of the Sweets”, they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. The Sugar Plum Fairy is being danced by Lexi McCloud. McCloud is from North Salt Lake, Utah. She joined Ballet West II in 2022 and Ballet West in 2024. She trained at MOGA Conservatory of Dance under the direction of Misa Oga. McCloud was awarded the Senior Bronze Medal at the 2022 Youth America Grand Prix International Finals. She was named the Grand Prix Winner at the 2022 YAGP Seattle Semi-Finals. Also in 2022, she was one of the 20 finalists at the Prix de Lausanne. McCloud was awarded first place in the classical division at the YAGP Salt Lake City Semi-Finals in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

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 26, Huffmire trains five to six hours a day—not including rehearsal time for Ballet West performances. Last year, he graced the Pioneer stage for A.V.A. Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” and this past September was the Knave in “Alice in Wonderland”. 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 Petkovic and Gunning.

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 lead waltz is performed by Julia Zorio, a 16-year-old senior at Bishop Manogue High School. 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 20-22.