Baton Rouge Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ pivots again

It’s been two years since spectators have experienced one of the city’s beloved holiday traditions, Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s original The Nutcracker—A Tale from the Bayou. Shuttered in 2020 due to COVID-19, the iconic ballet is back this month. Performances will be staged Dec. 18-19, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

“There’s nothing like having a live audience,” says BRBT co-artistic director Molly Buchmann. “The local dancers are really strong, and we’ll have great guest artists, as well.”

BRBT had looked forward to staging the show in the refreshed River Center Performing Arts Theatre, under renovation since 2018. But a shipment of the auditorium’s new seats was delayed by Hurricane Ida and thwarted the scheduled September completion. BRBT had to make a last-minute call to stage the show in an alternative space. For expediency’s sake, it opted for the River Center Ballroom, rather than the larger, more cumbersome arena, where it staged shows in 2018 and 2019. About 1,000 tickets will be available for each show this year, Buchmann says.

BRBT has been working with the River Center to design a floor plan offering spectators the best viewing experience, while also following health and accessibility guidelines.

“The visual experience is very important to us,” Buchmann says. “We’ve been working on sight lines to make sure every seat has good visibility. And we’re making sure we have social distancing, and spacing for wheelchairs.”

The venue change notwithstanding, Buchmann says the 2021 performance will deliver the same yuletide resonance it’s known for. Along with local dancers, who have been preparing for months, the ballet company’s guest artists include Francisco Estevez, former principal dancer with the Colorado Ballet; Gabi Lukasik of the Boulder Ballet; Baton Rouge native and Cirque du Soleil performer Neal Courter; and BRBT alumni Riley Richard, Marlon Grigsby and Patrick Jefferson. Buchmann says the show will also incorporate high-quality animated projections of The Nutcracker’s original sets, which Baton Rouge-based director and videographer André Chapoy created for BRBT when the show moved to the arena in 2018. And once again, the dancers will be accompanied by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.

Find out more about the performances and get your tickets (before they sell out!) here.

This article was originally published in the December 2021 issue of 225 magazine.