THE HIP HOP NUTCRACKER Returns to Asbury Park

Paramount Theatre Presents The Hip Hop Nutcracker (www.hiphopnutcracker.com), a contemporary dance spectacle set to Tchaikovsky's timeless music, celebrates its 5th year anniversary and hits the road this holiday season at Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre on Thursday, December 13th at 7:30 p.m.

Hip Hop Nutcracker is produced by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) with Executive Producer, Eva Price, and co-commissioned by the United Palace of Cultural Arts, The Hip Hop Nutcracker will feature MC Kurtis Blow, one of hip hop's founding fathers, opening the show with a short set before rapping the introduction.

Directed and choreographed by Jennifer Weber, The Hip Hop Nutcracker is a full-length production featuring a dozen all-star dancers, an on-stage DJ and an electric violinist. The traditional classic Tchaikovsky score beautifully complements the power moves of these 12 dancers, with transitional and incidental music re-mixed and re-imagined, helping to bring a beautifully surprising and contemporary vibe to the production.

Preview the action in this video:

"It's been exciting to evolve the show over the last five years as audiences continue to come back to see the creative changes we make to the production," says Weber. "The dancers continue to raise the bar each year which has taken the show to new heights."

Just like the classic Nutcracker story, in The Hip Hop Nutcracker Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker prince go on a dream adventure battling a gang of mice, visiting the land of sweets and learning the lessons of the holiday season. Innovative digital graffiti and visuals transform the landscape of E.T.A. Hoffmann's beloved story from traditional 19th Century Germany to the vibrant, diverse sights and sounds of a colorful and contemporary New York City. Through the modern, self-expressive gaze of hip hop culture, the dynamic performers of The Hip Hop Nutcracker celebrate the magic of the entire holiday season on the most inclusive holiday of them all - New Year's Eve, a time for new beginnings.