November 9, 2022 Submitted by South Shore Ballet Theatre
Celebrating the magic of the holidays through the joy of dance, South Shore Ballet Theatre (SSBT) presents the seasonal classic “The Nutcracker,” on Saturday and Sunday, December 17 and 18, 1 pm and 5 pm, at Thayer Academy Center for Performing Arts, 745 Washington Street, Braintree.
For more than 14 years, South Shore Ballet Theatre’s full-length production of “The Nutcracker” has celebrated the magic of the holidays on Boston’s South Shore. Based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” and set to Tchaikovsky’s treasured musical score, “The Nutcracker” is the dance classic that offers quintessential enchantment for holiday season entertainment. Become entranced by Clara as she explores a charmed world from her family’s living room on Christmas Eve, adventures through an enchanted forest of dancing snowflakes, into the magical Land of The Sweets led by the Sugar Plum Fairy.
“This year is very special as we welcome back two South Shore Ballet Theatre graduates to perform the roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and Dew Drop,” shares SSBT Founding Artistic Director Marthavan McKeon. “We are also thrilled to welcome back Leslie Woodies as part of our production team, who is sharing her expertise with the dancers as well as working with me to update this year’s production with quite a few surprises for the audience.” McKeon notes that Woodies previously served on SSBT’s senior faculty for many years, and now serves as a projection designer with Harbor Media’s Kristina Yannotta.
Known for its spectacular professional-quality productions, SSBT engages guest artists in The Nutcracker’s leading roles, including Olivia Hansen of Cohasset as Sugar Plum Fairy, a SSBT graduate, appearing courtesy of The Dallas Conservatory’s Classical Training Program, Wyatt Payne as the Cavalier of American Midwest Ballet in Omaha, Nebraska, Lila Jacobs as Dew Drop, a current National Ballet of Canada student, as well as a SSBT graduate and Hingham native, and Harry Yamakawa-Moser as Drosselmeyer, SSBT Faculty member. The production also engages 65 student dancers from SSBT’s ballet training programs, residing in 19 South Shore communities.
Founded in 2008, South Shore Ballet Theatre is the South Shore region’s pre-professional ballet school featuring world class faculty, training tomorrow’s dancers today! SSBT’s mission is to provide students and their families with the opportunity to develop an appreciation of ballet and related dance disciplines in a safe and nurturing environment, encouraging students to strive to achieve their fullest potential, regardless of course of study.
Tickets to “The Nutcracker” range between $20 to $30, available for purchase starting November 15, available at 29965.danceticketing.com/r/events. The event is family-friendly and performs in approximately 90 minutes. To donate to support South Shore Ballet Theatre Foundation’s scholarship program, or for more information about SSBT’s programs, tuition, and performances, visit southshoreballettheatre.com, call 781-312-7224, or follow South Shore Ballet Theatre on social media.