“The Nutcracker” has been a yearly tradition of the Anaheim Union School District (AUHSD) with many schools involved including Oxford, Anaheim High School, Cypress High School, Katella High School, Western High School, and Orangeview Junior High School. With the Christmas season coming up, this culmination of students’ hard work and talents will be performed at KPAC on Dec. 14 for free.
Based on the classic fantasy story, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” “The Nutcracker” follows the young protagonist Clara and her nutcracker friend as they fight against the evil mouse king. Taking inspiration from this storyline, AUHSD’s production breathes life into this iconic production with its own creative twists.
“Every year we do a different version of ‘The Nutcracker’ story. This year, we are doing ‘The Nutcracker in a Flash’ by John Biscello, [a parody] that includes characters from other stories such as Charlie Brown, Jack Frost, Ghost of Christmas Past, and other colorful characters,” said Anaheim High School drama teacher Sharon King.
This production focuses on the traditional and contemporary ballet portions of the performance, but adds another spin through incorporating other styles of dancing.
“I like to do a fusion of different styles to create texture and visual complexity,” Anaheim High School’s dance teacher Oscar Gonzalez said.
Their creative combinations are also freshly made every production. “Every year I create new choreography. The dancers serve as my guides and allow me to get as creative as we want,” Gonzalez said.
However, behind the scenes, there are many processes involved that lead up to the production: Costumes, sets, props, actors, music, and more are just a few of the aspects that are taken into account.
“I first put out the lists of all the dances from ‘The Nutcracker’, and the dancers pick which ones they want. And whatever music they want, we learn for them,” Miner said.
Since there are limited rehearsals, performers practice on their own time. “‘The Nutcracker’ rehearsals are normally all during class, but we all have our own sectionals, which are group practices either before or after school in our instrument groups.” said Oxford’s symphony orchestra concertmaster Cameron Oates.
“Costumes are decided on the excerpt we do and the feel of the choreography. This year we will be doing a mix of burgundy knee length dresses, ballet skirts and darker tones,” Gonzalez said.
The team also overcame some obstacles during production. “Due to the fact that there are dance groups performing during this play, space is quite limited. There aren’t any permanent props since we don’t want them to trip over any,” said Anaheim High School student and production student director Ekene Nezrem.
Since everyone is at their respective schools with little time to meet to perfect the parts, the timing per part is very important. “The most important thing is tempo, how fast it goes. We all make sure we are using the same metronome marking. Then we meet that afternoon to practice with the dancers,” Miner said.
This long-awaited tradition spotlighting the actors and dancers topped with the orchestra, will definitely be one to not miss during the Christmas and holiday season.
