How Modesto company jazzes up traditional Christmas production

Whether you prefer your sugar plums straight up or with a twist, Central West Ballet has the perfect holiday spirit awaiting.

The Modesto dance company brings Christmas tradition “The Nutcracker” to the Gallo Center for the Arts this month – as well as its fizzy contemporary version “The Nutcracker In Jazz.”

This will be the second year for the latter presentation, returning after a successful 2016 outing. The company took a bit of a risk with the production, turning it on its ear with contemporary music, tap and swing, according to Ballet Mistress Leslie Ann Larson – but it paid off with a delighted audience.

“We were so nervous about doing it,” Larson said. “It sold better than we thought it would, but the thing that was really great for us was that when people came out of the audience they were ecstatic and everybody said ‘you’ve got to do this next year – and more’.”

Still, only one show of “The Nutcracker in Jazz” will be offered again this year, on Dec. 14. If it continues to take off, CWB will look to expand that for 2018.

The dancers loved the change as much as audiences, including Sarah Weaver, dancing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy for both jazz and traditional performances this year. “I think it’s really fun to have a different aspect of (the story) and you get the chance to be a little more free,” she said.

Following the jazzy show, the audience again is invited to a Champagne reception with live music, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction. “People poured into the lobby and it was this really festive, fun way to kick off the holiday for a lot of people,” Larson said of last year’s event.

Meanwhile, the traditional “Nutcracker” will have six production dates, Dec. 8 through 17. It’s the biggest show of the season for Central West Ballet, which also brings in dancers from its student academy to round out the cast.

That main cast consists of 178 dancers. And even though some of the dancers – as well Larson and Artistic Director René Daveluy – have been doing the production for years, it remains a favorite.

“It’s my favorite show we do all year,” said Grant Landon, who dances the part of the Cavalier this year. “I love ‘The Nutcracker,’ I love all the children, I love the hustle and bustle in the studio and its classic choreography and music and the costumes. It’s like coming home every year.”

Presented annually by dance companies across the United States, the story follows Clara, a little girl who receives a nutcracker on Christmas Eve and then dreams of fanciful and magical adventures, including a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King – all set to the masterpiece music of Tchaikovsky.

Daveluy created all of the choreography and continues to evolve the production for local audiences, Larson said, giving Modesto its own version. A few years ago, for example, Central West tripled the number of children who appear in the second act and Daveluy added new music for the addition.

“So when you come to see (our ‘Nutcracker’), when Act II opens, it’s completely different than anybody else’s,” Larson said.

A relatively new tradition in the show is the inclusion of special guests selected to perform the larger-than-life role of Mother Ginger, who appears in the second act to dance with children in the Sugar Plum Fairy Court. Prominent community members have played the role each night for the past two years. This year Mother Ginger will be played by Krista Joy Serpa, Chris Murphy, Ann Endsley, Betsi Fores, Kate Trompetter and CWB Board President Hugh Rose.

The rotating Mother Gingers is just part of the it-takes-a-village aspect of staging “The Nutcrakcer” each year.

“It’s huge, it’s a huge volunteer project,” Larson said. Parents of academy students handle such duties as passing posters, helping with wardrobe, chaperoning, making phone calls and joining hair and makeup seminars. “They are extremely involved and excited.”

Also excited are the lead dancers who grew up through the ranks of CWB, and “started out as little cookies and bonbons and pixies and Clara,” Larson said. “And they’ve worked their way up to the very, very top in the lead roles.”

Traditionally, the key character of Drosselmeyer has been played by Modesto Performing Arts founder Paul Tischer. Last year and again this year, he and Daveluy will share the role.

“I’m aging,” Daveluy said with a laugh. “There is something to being a little bit older to playing that part, which is a much more mature part, kind of an eccentric kind of part. It fits better for an older aged man than younger.”

Also in keeping with tradition, families are welcome to the take part in the Sugar Plum Fairy parties after matinee performances.

Despite all that tradition, despite dancing and producing “The Nutcracker” for decades, neither Larson nor Daveluy ever tire of the presentation.

“It’s almost,” Daveluy said, “like it’s not Christmas without ‘The Nutcracker’.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2017 at 11:23 AM with the headline "How Modesto company jazzes up traditional Christmas production."