In the United States performances of the Nutcracker by various ballet companies have become a Christmas tradition. The Nutcracker tales have been a huge part of popular culture since late 60s of last century, there are countless adaption of the Nutcracker in film, musicals, television and even video games. Ballet Quad Cities continues with its tradition of the Nutcracker performance this year as well, only this year something different is happening. Ballet Quad Cities and Orchestra Iowa are partnering with the Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico (QCBF) to bring an even more amazing adaptation of the Nutcracker.
QCBF selected Caillou Delapaz, Justin Garcia, Matthew Garcia, and Michael Garcia to dance at this year’s Nutcracker Spanish scene.
“In this part of the ballet, there is a celebration of sweets from around the world and Spain is represented by Chocolate,” Ray Terronez Jr, maestro and Director of QCBF, explained. “As Mexican folklorico dancers, we can find traces of influence from Spain including our fast footwork and posture.”
Mr. Terronez created folklorico dance steps that the chosen dancers will perform next to a ballerina.
“The folklorico style adds a growing heavy volume in conjunction with visually fast paced steps mixed with the grace and beauty of ballet – similar to what you might see in a bullfight in Spain,” director Terronez described the dance steps his dancers will perform for the Nutcracker adaptation this year.
Along with the four dancers from QCBF, Domingo Rubio, professional ballet dancer from Mexico City known for his role of Dracula with Ballet Quad Cities, will perform as Herr DrosselMeyer.
Mr. Terronez shared that this partnership between Ballet Quad Cities and Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico took root in June during an event called Ballet Under The Stars, when Joedy Cook, the Founder and CEO of Ballet Quad Cities invited QCBF to be part of that event.
“Since then, we have been in communication about ideas and projects which eventually led to the invitation to include some of our older male students in their presentation of the Nutcracker. However, they also wanted to incorporate our style of dance, folklorico, into one of their acts,” Director Terronez told us about how the invitation to perform in a summer event turned into a bigger project for QCBF.
The Nutcracker is a beautiful Christmas tradition. It is amazing experience for young and old to see the tale told by graceful ballet dancers. Besides lovely ballerinas, this year The Nutcracker adaptation will also have some Mexican folkloric dance infused into a performance. Don’t miss this beautiful performance by Ballet Quad Cities and Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico.
The following are the performance dates and places:
December 1, 2018 Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids, IA. 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM
December 7, 2018 Adler Theater in Davenport, IA – 10:00 AM
December 8, 2018 Adler Theater – 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM
December 9, 2018 Adler Theater – 2:30 PM
For more information visit http://balletquadcities.com/
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