THE NUTCRACKER SUITE Comes to Skirball Center with Dorrance Dance

Dorrance Dance has announced that award-winning tap dance stars Michelle Dorrance, Josette Wiggan, and their frequent collaborator Hannah Heller will bring The Nutcracker Suite to The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place, New York NY) this Christmas for a strictly limited six-performance engagement from December 23-27. 

This event is part seasonal concert, part tap ballet, and all celebration!  The high-energy performance features a virtuosic company of 22 world-class dancers and reinvents the classic Nutcracker Suite as a jazzy new vision of the holiday tradition.

The exceptional talents of Dorrance Dance meld with Duke Ellington's and Billy Strayhorn's extraordinary arrangement to zhuzh up the Tchaikovsky classic with an explosion of tap dance and pulsating color, as the cast boogies, slides, and struts into an intoxicating and revolutionary interpretation of the Tchaikovsky classic.  

Family Friendly Matinees on December 24, 26 and 27 at 2pm offer young audience members and their grown-ups a variety of additional activities led by Dorrance Dance Teaching Artists, including crafting inspired by the Nutcracker, photo opportunities with artists in vibrant costumes, and more! Activities are available in the lobby beginning at 1:30pm.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets start at $55. Pre-sale begins today here and go on sale to the general public on October 2 here. Phone sales are at (888) 611-8183.Tickets are also available starting Oct 2  at the NYU Box Office in the Skirball Center's lobby (566 LaGuardia Place).

RUNNING TIME: The show runs 65 minutes and is performed without an intermission.

Casting and programming are subject to change.

The cast includes Elizabeth Burke, Alaman Diadhou, Michelle Dorrance, Megan Gessner, Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Asha “DaHomey” Griffith, Sterling Harris, Hannah Heller, Jerome Korman, Addi Loving, Aaron Marcellus, Maddie Murphy, Emiko Nakagawa, Dario Natarelli, Case Prime, Claudia Rahardjanoto, Leonardo Sandoval, Sophie Savelli, Gisele Silva, Veronica Simpson, Matthew “Megawatt” West, Josette Wiggan.

Co-Created by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, and Josette Wiggan.
Choreography by Michelle Dorrance and Josette Wiggan with solo improvisation by the dancers.

Additional Choreography by Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Hannah Heller, Matthew “Megawatt” West, and Joseph Wiggan
Choreographic Advisor Risa Steinberg
Original Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arr. Ellington/Strayhorn by arrangement with G Schirmer, INC. publisher and copyright owner. Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment, all rights reserved.

Lighting Design by Kathy Kaufmann
Costume Design by Andrew Jordan
Scenic Design by Sean Sanford
Additional Scenic Design by Peiyi Wong
Assistant to Peiyi Wong: Maya Topping Weed
Mother Ginger Design & Build by Carolyn Mraz
Rat Puppet Design & Build by Ariel Lauryn and Peiyi Wong
Additional Puppet Fabrication by Amelia Lang and Mele Borges
Sound Design by Christopher Marc
Choreography by Michelle Dorrance and Josette Wiggan with solo improvisation by the dancers.  
Additional Choreography by Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Zakhele "Bboy Swazi" Grabowski, Hannah Heller, Matthew “Megawatt” West, and Joseph Wiggan.

The Nutcracker Suite is arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn from the original work by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.