This ‘Nutcracker’ sparkles
Local production celebrates anniversaries for ballet, symphony orchestra
The season of holiday enchantment is here and there’s no better way to celebrate it than recounting a folkloric story imbued with darkness that is ultimately diffused by beauty and light. “The Nutcracker Ballet,” a traditional point of entry to this magical time for many families, will be presented by the Laurel Ballet and the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra Saturday and Sunday at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg.
The exhilarating music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, given visual form by the likes of a soaring Sugar Plum Fairy, high-kicking Russians and dancing snowflakes is ageless, but this year the performance in Westmoreland County is particularly special. Laurel Ballet
is presenting it’s 25th “Nutcracker” with the WSO, which is celebrating its 50th year. It’s that region’s only version with live orchestra.
To mark the anniversary, renowned Laurel Ballet artistic director Eleanor Tornblom changed things up a bit.
There will be a new tree for Clara’s dream sequence. “I built it this summer in my yard,” Ms. Tornblom said. “It’s going to knock your socks off. “It’s 25 feet high decorated with 30 boxes of white twinkle lights.
“We have added to the traditional sets, but costumes will be fabulous, as always. There are a lot more pieces for the very young dancers. They’re very smart and they’re very dedicated. We’ve added two professionals from Pittsburgh, Vince Beatty and Bogdan Haiko, who will dance as swordsmen.
“The party in ‘Nutcracker’ is [usually] portrayed as an adult party. This one is a children’s party. Children didn’t attend adult parties in that time period. This has been a dream of mine, to do it as a children’s party so the children are the stars.”
There will be three Claras, one for each performance. “It’s a little more work, but more ticket sales and those girls grow through those parts.” The part will be danced this year by students Sarah Barkley-Mastalski, Ashlyn Mough and Katie Parker.
The Laurel Ballet Claras typically are 14 or 15 years old. “You have to be young. You have to be strong. You have to be resilient. It’s tough. It’s very hard on the body.”
The grande dame of ballet
“I think it’s going to bounce. I want anyone who comes to be entertained. To say ‘Oh, I like this part and I like this part,’’’ Ms. Tornblom said.
The indomitable 81-yearold Greensburg woman has a passion for ballet that radiates from her face when she speaks about the art form, the productions and, most of all, her students — from 3-year-old beginners (whom she refers to as “the babies”) to those who have gone on to establish studios of their own or dance with major ballet companies here and abroad.
“Their success is their own, but I started them off,” she said with maternal pride of the “many hundreds” of students she’s taught over 65 years. Some will become arts professionals while others will have gained a sense of self and/or an appreciation for the art form.
“To me what you do is who you are. Not what you own. Not how much money you make. The arts give you something that you cannot obtain anywhere else.
“The little ones, they know what they’re doing. Every hand, every head, is involved. And do you know what that develops in a 4year-old? They learn to learn in a way that employs the whole body and the whole mind. They have to make their body do it. Make yourself watch. Make yourself listen. Every time you learn something you get smarter.”
People may hide certain facets of their personalities, but that’s difficult for a dancer to do, Ms. Tornblom said.
“It’s in her carriage, her sense of self. You cannot lie. Dance is going to show who you are. It will squelch the ego. Your ego is not who you are. It is a waste of a person.”
“I tell them the phrase they will hear most is ‘Do it again.’ All this criticism kind of squelches the ego. Then when they really get it, they realize ‘This was really hard and I can do it.’ They want to please you. The finished product is so charming and so real, the real person that they are.”
Ms. Tornblom doesn’t accept everyone to her studio, but she keeps her eyes open for possibility. While she’s thrilled to watch them develop, she doesn’t cater to the talented. Over decades, she said, “I have seen every child. I have seen every personality. I have seen every problem.”
She individualizes attention. Of a developmentally disabled student she said, “I correct her like everybody else but not like everybody else.” A deaf student there “dances to the vibrations” of the music.
‘It would be football’
Like gymnastics or other sports, dance requires a commitment to physical training.
“They have a saying, ‘If dance was any easier it would be football,’” Ms. Tornblom said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Beginning at age 3 or 4 we do stretching exercises. We stretch the muscle, make it strong and stretched long. We don’t lump it up. We’ve had a yoga teacher who does yoga for ballet.
“The ordinary inclination is to hang the body on the bones, and they hold you up. With dancers, it’s the muscles that hold the body up. You train the muscles to hold the body like they were meant to do.”
“Our dancers are injury free. If they have an injury they did it in track, they did it in gym. We build the jump. We don’t just say ‘jump.’ And that takes a while.”
There will be three performances of “The Nutcracker,” but Ms. Tornblom would like to expand that in future years.
“I’d like to do a fourth — I’d like to use another Clara. That part is so coveted,” she said as she paged through scrapbooks filled with images of lithe young dancers floating across a fairytale landscape.
The Palace is at 21 West Otterman St., Greensburg, 15601. Performances are at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Ticket prices range from $13 to $38. Purchase tickets at 724-836-8000 or www.thepalacetheatre.org.