Soldiering On: ‘The Nutcracker’ conjures up holiday memories, spirit

Kimberley McGee

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 | 9:19 a.m.

It's back.

For the 17th year, the Nevada Ballet Theatre is presenting the holiday staple "The Nutcracker."

The 108-year-old ballet tells the fantasy story of a young girl, Clara, and her gift of a nutcracker soldier which magically turns into a handsome prince on Christmas Eve.

More than 4,000 people attend the annual NBT production, which was also presented by the company when it was known as Nevada Dance Theater. Many return each year to watch such characters as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Mother Ginger and the Snow King and Queen dance beneath a giant Christmas tree.

What is it about "The Nutcracker" that makes it so popular year after year? Some local fans shared their thoughts about why the ballet means so much to them.

"The Nutcracker" is the pinnacle of the holiday season for Susie Perrine, who has attended the local production for the past nine years with her family -- and 300 needy children.

Perrine hosts a "Snowflake Tea" at UNLV's Tam Hall Alumni Center for 150 children who are afflicted with cancer, are homeless or simply facing a particularly bleak holiday season. (This year's tea, scheduled for Sunday, is open to interested families who purchase tickets at UNLV's box office.)

"The children get to eat finger foods and enjoy themselves," Perrine said.

Following the tea she gathers nearly 300 children and purchases tickets for tickets for a Saturday matinee of "The Nutcracker" in the 800-seat Judy Bayley Theatre.

"Sharing the experience and the holiday is very special to me but it's more special to me to share (it) with all these little kids," she said. "With all the tough times that they are going through in their lives, whether cancer or if they're homeless, it gives me such great joy to add a moment where they can escape immediately into the production itself and have a memory to escape into also."

The ballet still takes her back to that moment when she first saw the toys come to life and the children dance onstage to Tchaikovsky's beautiful and uplifting musical score, she said.

"It was the first ballet production that I ever saw," Perrine said. "I have seen it performed by the American Ballet, the Washington Ballet, the San Fransisco Ballet. It's part of my holiday tradition and my family's."

Perrine sits on the board for the National Committee for the Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and decided to bring some of her charitable efforts home to her community.

"I chose 'The Nutcracker' because this time of year can be really hard, and it's such a beautiful ballet and the children can have a good memory -- a Christmas memory," she said. "This world can be pretty cruel at times for kids, whether coming from an abusive or homeless family, or if they are sick."

For others, "The Nutcracker" is a connection to their childhoods.

Amy Wolfe, public relations manager for Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, has a a permanent reminder of the ballet -- a tiny scar on her right knee.

As a child she danced in the ballet. A 6-year-old Wolfe sat under the skirts of the Mother Ginger character during dress rehearsal and waited for her cue to fly out from under the skirt and frolic with other children onstage.

"It reminds me a lot of my childhood," Wolfe said. "When I see it I remember the excitement of performing on stage."

But she got restless between scenes.

"I remember sitting there with all the other kids under that big skirt and it was stuffy in there and we were excited," Wolfe said. "Finally they let us roam around."

A game of tag in the orchestra pit led to a bloody knee -- and hysterical wardrobe people.

"There was blood everywhere and I remember thinking I couldn't get any on my costume, it was so pretty," Wolfe said. "They cut away my tights and bandaged me up but I still danced in the performance."

She has attended the annual NBT production and catches glimpses of other productions on television specials featuring the ballet.

"I've seen it hundreds of times and I danced in it for many, many years, through high school. Even though I stopped auditioning and performing, I still watch it," Wolfe said. "It was a big part of my life when I was younger."

Anne Thorsgrud has also attended the NBT production over the years. She first glimpsed "The Nutcracker" in London as a little girl, when she was wide-eyed over the beauty of the ballet.

"It had a little bit of everything -- beautiful dancing and music," Thorsgrud said. "I always associated it with Christmas and enjoyed it thoroughly."

When she had two children of her own in the '60s, she wanted them to have the same fond memories.

"I took my kids to see it because I wanted to expose them to all the enjoyable things, the culture in life, and 'The Nutcracker' is something that children love," Thorsgrud said.

Her children are grown and have their own memories to pass on to their families. Thorsgrud has let four years go by without seeing the ballet.

"I'm going back this year to see it, I want to refresh my memory. It's a holiday thing."