Atlanta Ballet Cancels Production of THE NUTCRACKER

After having to cancel the March and May programs of the 19|20 Season and the opening program of the 20|21 Season due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlanta Ballet's spectacular production of The Nutcracker by Yuri Possokhov will also be canceled. This is only the second season that Atlanta Ballet will be without a Nutcracker production in 61 years.

This production, which would have been performed 30 times between December 5-30, 2020, has a distinctive set of challenges in terms of maintaining social distance throughout rehearsals and the performance run due to the incredible number of people that are required to come together in perfect harmony in order to present a successful show. The preparation to bring this to the stage typically begins in August.

The production includes Atlanta Ballet's roster of 39 Company dancers, 19 Atlanta Ballet 2 dancers, and 168 students from the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education - who collectively spend more than 400 hours rehearsing in the studio in the months leading up to opening night. Additionally, it requires more than 40 musicians in the orchestra, more than 35 crew members, and multiple costumers, lighting and design techs, and production members, to bring the magic of The Nutcracker to life. A whopping 11 stagehands are needed just to move the 30-foot toy cabinet across the stage during the awe-inspiring battle scene.

"Our company dancers are eager to get back into the studio, even during their usual summer time off, but the reality of COVID-19's presence in our state and country requires us to maintain a strict protocol before we can go back to rehearsing and performing as we used to do," Nedvigin said in regards to keeping Atlanta Ballet dancers safe and healthy.