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Piedmont Dance Theatre to perform 'The Nutcracker'
Photo by Jonathan E. Coleman
Luke Griffin, 14, and Emily Simpson, 13, rehearse a scene from "The Nutcracker" at the Kannapolis Performing Arts Center Saturday, Dec. 5. The two dancers are a part of the Piedmont Dance Theater and will perform the lead roles in the ballet for seven performances through the next two weekends.
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Published: December 9, 2009
KANNAPOLIS — It's been seven years since the Piedmont Dance Theater began performing "The Nutcracker" ballet, and it has grown by leaps and bounds each year.
Under the direction of Rebecca Massey Wiley, the dance company will perform Tchaikovsky's famous holiday ballet seven times this year at two different locations.
This weekend, the dance troupe will perform at the Kannapolis Performing Arts Center at A.L. Brown High School. Then the show will move to Salisbury next weekend to perform with the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra.
The story of "The Nutcracker" centers around Clara, a little girl who falls asleep and wakes up in a fantasy land, where nutcracker soldiers fight an army of mice, flowers dance and sugar-plum fairies flit around the stage.
Children dance the lead parts. Rehearsals, which run 20 hours a week for three months, operate like a Broadway show, complete with mandated lunch breaks, Wiley said.
This year's performance has 79 cast members — most of whom range in age from 2 to 17. The challenge for the kids: balancing schoolwork with balancing on their tip-toes.
"Balancing their homework, their overall health and nutrition and overall stress level, learning to say, 'Ms. Rebecca, I can't come to rehearsal because I have an AP Statistics exam tomorrow.'" Wiley said. "That's difficult for the older students. The difficulty for the younger students is the long rehearsal periods, being here from 12 until 7. It's exciting; it's also tough."
Planning for the annual production begins in June, with instructors reviewing choreography and the musical score. This year, the troupe will dance to the full score for the first time, Wiley said.
In August, students audition and in September, the cast is set. This year, a newcomer to ballet plays the male lead role of the Nutcracker.
Luke Griffin, 14, from Locust, has only danced ballet for six months.
"I wasn't expecting to get the part, and I was surprised to get the part, so it's really fun," he said. "I've only had ballet for six months, so it's pretty difficult that I'm going out and doing all this stuff."
Griffin is partnering with Emily Simpson, 13, of Charlotte. She is dancing as Clara and is one of two girls playing the main female lead.
"Dancing in 'The Nutcracker,' when you are younger, is more for fun," Simpson said. "When you are older, it's more of a challenge."
The challenge comes in learning to dance with a partner, Simpson said, and the long rehearsal hours.
But whatever the time commitment, these kids say they are up for the challenge. And Wiley runs her shows like a professional performance.
"It's super close [to a professional production]," she said.
Want to go
Showtimes are Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Kannapolis Performing Arts Center at A.L. Brown High School. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for children.
The show moves to Salisbury to Keppell Auditorium at Catawba College on Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. and Dec. 20 at 2:30 p.m. Balcony tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children; orchestra tickets are $25 for adults and $12 for children.
For more information, call the Piedmont Dance Theater at 704-932-8888.
• Contact Web reporter Ben McNeely: 704-789-9131
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