No average Nutcracker, as Arts Umbrella dancers serve up holiday Mixed Nuts, December 10 to 12
Vancouver Playhouse show combines styles in pieces by top Canadian dance artists
Arts Umbrella presents Mixed Nuts from December 10 to 12 at the Vancouver Playhouse
LOOK AROUND: Mixed Nuts, Arts Umbrella’s fun, genre-mashing twist on The Nutcracker ranks in this pandemic year as Vancouver’s only full-length live production of Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic.
And if you’re used to more classical versions of the ballet, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.
The top-notch cast throws itself into everything from hip-hop and ballroom numbers to classic pas-de-deux. As Arts Umbrella’s dance program likes to say, it’s “tradition with a twist”.
This year’s dancers are aged 13 to 22, performing an assortment of pieces choreographed by leading Vancouver and Canadian dance artists—including Ballet BC and Kidd Pivot company members.
Related Articles
Presented by DanceHouse, Taiwan’s Hung Dance draws on the headpieces of Chinese opera to conjure calligraphy, weapons, and birds in flight
The local arts and culture scene has bright gifts in store this season, from music by candlelight to wintry ballets
New production comes as a result of the street dancer’s Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award win earlier this year
This spin on Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker features a flavoursome assortment of styles, ranging from classical ballet to hip hop
Quebecois choreographer Audrey Gaussiran’s work tours to Alliance Française Vancouver’s V-Unframed and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Dancers Omer Backley-Astrachan and Jana Castillo explore the importance of connection and trust
Company looks sharp across opening program of eclectic, full-throttle LILA, mysterious SWAY, and epic BOLERO X
Renowned Indigenous choreographer Santee Smith brings her haunting yet hopeful piece to The Cultch and Urban Ink’s TRANSFORM Festival
Presented by RBC, production features more than 250 performers and a live Tchaikovsky score played by members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra
Production explores identity as the dancers’ movements influence a highly reactive digital projection onstage
