“Oh my gosh! what is happening?”: A Reimagined Nutcracker

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

From sugar plums fairies to the prince himself, the Nutcracker has been a part of holiday tradition for years. It first debuted in the 1870s, along with other celebrated pieces such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. Lori Lahnemann, director and founder of Philadelphia Dance Academy (PDA) stated, “there’s that irony where it's one of the most loved, most popular ballets but it received bad reviews when it first opened… it’s evolved a lot.”

Many versions of the original nutcracker exist today— each with their own unique twist. “[George] Balanchine is considered the father of American Ballet so his verison is the one that shapes most of what people think of the Nutcracker here in the US,” Lahnemann explained, “the version that inspires our production [at the PDA]… the George Balanchine version that NY City ballet does— PA ballet also does that version— there's a number of companies that do it.”

During the summer months and into the autumn months, when COVID cases dropped, ballet companies and other businesses reopened with limitations. However, as infection rates climb higher and COVID-19 restrictions heightened, the holidays will be unlike any other. Late November, the Pennsylvania Department of Health declared another mask mandate and limited gatherings with hopes to decrease the number of COVID-19 related deaths; this caused ballet companies big and small to recommence virtual classes. Lahnemann explained, “we’ve been really lucky, we’ve been open for 20 weeks before we got shut down last week with no issues at all… we’ve been very conscious of maintaining all of the protocol.”

Watching the Nutcracker is a Christmas tradition for some families. Bonnie Schwartz (11-4), who dances with Mt. Airy Performing Arts, explained, “I used to see it every year with my parents, but it was expensive so we

haven’t gone in years… I’d like to see it again.” Many companies, however, won’t be performing the dance at all this year. Aidan Duffy (age 16), Masterman alumni and aspiring professional ballet dancer, recalled, “[The Nutcracker] is something that I’ve done every year and it's one of the big shows that you look forward to. I won't be performing this year but a lot of companies are broadcasting past years of their nutcrackers. Even though I won't be able to perform, I think it's nice that other people can still watch it.”

While many companies have taken to releasing recordings of past performances, Philadelphia Dance Academy (PDA) decided to organize a completely different approach to broadcasting their 11th annual Nutcracker. The week following Thanksgiving, Lahnemann spoke about her company’s execution of their plan. “Instead of one day of auditions we had two. We rented the theater [Christ Church Neighborhood House] across the street. We get to the theater, they practice once [without costumes]. I run up the backdrops we always do, the set pieces we

always do, all the costumes, everything like it's normal. Then, we filmed one scene then they [were] dismissed. Then we called the next one: one scene and then they dismissed [etc.]... We didn’t do any partner dancing… naturally, dance is spaced six feet apart because you don’t want to hit each other so the formations don’t look odd.” She later explained, “I still am a little freaked out when I see the kids with masks on [but] the kids are going to feel proud.”

“Nutcracker to dancers is not a show— it's a season!” Lahnemann exclaimed. They’ve been rehearsing for about 10 weeks now and as Christmas approaches, “what I’m doing now— what I did my whole Thanksgiving weekend was watch endless footage of the nutcracker,” she explained, “we took each dance two to three times… I’m picking the best version… even though it [was] filmed in these separated [sections] over the course for two days, it’ll still look like the full ballet.” Darlene Leohansson (11-2) who currently dances with PDA explained, “the fun part about filming this year is that we would just do takes over and over… I'm sure there are a lot of bloopers and they just have people messing up the dance or having to refilm it. There were a couple of wipeouts where people just fell.”

Lahnemann ultimately decided to persevere through the unknown for two of her faithful students. “I have to… they are graduating and they’ve been with me since they were four… I have to find a way to do the

nutcracker— I have to do it for these two alone, I have to do it!” she exclaimed firmly. Afterall, she only had two choices: “Skip it and give up on it or be creative and figure out another way and we created and figured out another way!” Lahnemann got her first taste of ballet at around four years old. “I initially thought that I would pursue a career in performance but, “I’m a teacher first,” she stated.

“Normally, I’m trying to give [the kids] as many roles as they can,” Lahnemann continued. Given the circumstances of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, “a lot of them only had one role… everything was reduced in size.” For many dancers, Nutcracker training starts young. Leohansson, who will be shown performing as spanish lead and a flower in this year’s reimagined nutcracker, started ballet when she was just two years old! Isabella Lee O’Halleran (age eight), another young dancer at the Philadelphia Dance Academy explained briefly, “some of my friends have [danced the Nutcracker]... I might perform it one day.”

O’Halleran recalled that “The [youngest] person in my class who did the nutcracker was probably six.” Coincidentally, Duffy said, “My first nutcracker was with the rock school when I was six.” When he was six and seven, “I was a little mouse,” Duffy explained, “I was really excited because I got to die. They shot me… and then I died.”

“You know [the Nutcracker] is the gateway ballet… for most people it is their first introduction to a classical ballet,” Lahnemann said jokingly. She couldn't have been more correct— at the beginning of the meeting with Duffy one Friday afternoon, he began with, “I started dancing when I was six, probably because of my

experiences of going to see the Nutcracker.”

Known for his starring role as the Prince, Duffy explained how he grew through his years of performance. Imagining the timeline of events ahead of him, Duffy continued,“When I was eight, I started with Pennsylvania Ballet… I was a party boy in the party scene for one year and then the next year I was both Fritz and the Prince. And then I did the prince for three years after that.”

“Nutcracker is pretty unforgettable,” Duffy added warmly, “it gave me a chance to dance with the main company with a starring role. When you're young and you get lots of attention it's a big thing. It made me like performing a lot more and it made me decide that it was something I liked to do.”

Similarly to most schools and some businesses, the onset of Covid-19 in March prompted ballet companies to close for two weeks. Duffy recalled, “In those two weeks I was just taking time off from dancing because, you

know, you thought you would go back.” Little did anyone know, “it became a month and then like two months and then I was like ‘Oh my gosh! What is happening?’” Duffy exclaimed. Today, about nine months since Friday, March 13, most organizations are still virtual.

“Dance generally is not very integrated with technology… There are places where there are high budget performance companies but as a school, it was a very rapid jump. We’re city people so most people live in a pretty small home or condo or apartment with other people,” Lahnemann began understandingly. “I’ve hit my leg, hip, or arm on a wall, doorframe, or bureau,” Leohansson explained, “It's definitely a big adjustment… I dance on a wood surface… it's not that bad, it's just that my space is not the optimal place to be, but making it work!”

Others have seconded that experience. Schwartz described her experience dancing on carpet: “Pointe on the carpet is not the greatest… it’s been doing quite the number on my shoes,” she wrote, “I got a new pair of ballet slippers a few months before quarantine, they are made out of a cloth… I had to tape up the box of my shoe so the carpet doesn’t wear away at the satin.” Likewise, Duffy explained, “My house is really small and it's really difficult to dance… my cats would walk through my zoom calls or my mom or my brother or I might kick a chair