IMPRESSIONS: Dorrance Dance’s "The Nutcracker Suite" at New York City Center

Co-created by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, Josette Wiggan

Choreography: Michelle Dorrance, Josette Wiggan, with solo improvisation by the dancers

Additional Choreography: Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Hannah Heller, Matthew “Megawatt” West, Joseph Wiggan

Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

Lighting Design: Kathy Kaufmann

Costume Design: Andrew Jordan

Sound Design: Christopher Marc

Scenic Design: Peiyi Wong

Dancers: Elizabeth Burke, Sydney Burtis, Warren Craft, Dormeshia, Michelle Dorrance, Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Jabu Graybeal, Asha Griffith, Sterling Harris, Hannah Heller, Luke Hickey, Rena Kinoshita, Addi Loving, Aaron Marcellus, Carson Murphy, Maddie Murphy, Claudia Rahardjanoto, Gregory Richardson, Leonardo Sandoval, Gisele Silva, Matthew “Megawatt” West, Josette Wiggan

Nov. 22-24, 2024

A short, clever, tap-driven version of the Christmastime ballet classic, Dorrance Dance: The Nutcracker Suite is a kid-friendly, one-act production that – including its star-studded, holiday-music-and-dance pre-show -- runs just a little over an hour.  Performed by Dorrance Dance, acclaimed tap artist Michelle Dorrance’s New York-based dance troupe -- along with some special guests -- the imaginative show premiered in 2019, and I was delighted to catch a revival of it last month at New York City Center. 

Dorrance Dance's The Nutcracker Suite; Photo: Christopher Duggan

Its introductory pre-Nutcracker segment, “An Ella’quent Holiday Swing,” transports us back to those old holiday-season television variety shows, with a charming host vocalist (here, the golden-voiced American Idol semi-finalist Aaron Marcellus) welcoming “visits” from his immensely talented friends (in this case, stars of today’s tap, jazz, and street dance scenes) who stop by his cozy “home” to offer snippets of spectacular entertainment.  A seamlessly staged stream of song-and-dance numbers, this uplifting warm-up scene (which premiered in 2021) treats us to jazzy renditions of seasonal favorites, including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” arranged by Marcellus and Gregory Richardson, after Ella Fitzgerald (hence, the scene’s title) and Frank DeVol. 

Dorrance Dance's The Nutcracker Suite; Photo: Benjamin Miller

While the Nutcracker portion of the show is danced to recorded music (that great 1960 jazz adaptation of the Tchaikovsky score, arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn), the holiday songs are delectably rendered by an energizing onstage combo – Richardson on bass, pianist Jerome Korman, and drummer Warren Craft.  Marcellus sings lead vocals throughout, and is joined by a rotating roster of tap and vernacular dancers – including Dorrance herself, plus surprise guest-tap-great Dormeshia -- who hand off the dancing duties with relay-race swiftness and dexterity. 

Then, after already impressing us with his soulful singing, as well as his hoofing (he joins a quartet dancing the “Shim Sham Shimmy” while maintaining lead vocal duties on “Let it Snow”), following the songs, Marcellus shows keen comedic chops in an amusing skit.  He exchanges tickling banter with an irritating delivery-person who hands him a big envelope.  It contains a paper from which Marcellus reads what sounds like the opening stanzas of the famous “Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem.  But we soon realize it’s an inventively-written adaptation, by Hannah Heller, summarizing the plot of the Nutcracker dance to follow.  “A Swingin’ Synopsis,” Heller’s text is full of wordplay incorporating jazz- and tap-dance terminology, well-known elements of the Nutcracker story, and the rhythms and rhymes of the iconic Clement Clarke Moore poem (originally titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas”).  

Dorrance Dance's The Nutcracker Suite; Photo: Christopher Duggan

Enchantingly read by the multi-talented Marcellus, the hip, alluding language of the synopsis sets us up for how sharply we need to attend to the show’s brainy conveyance of its streamlined Nutcracker narrative.  We are bombarded by so much wit and dazzle at the same time – the brilliant colors of Pejyi Wong’s stylish scenery, the intricate rhythms of the dance steps, riotous cultural references, the over-sized masks and headpieces of Andrew Jordan’s wonderfully cartoonish costumes, and the irresistible swing of the exhilarating music -- that one needs to stay on high-alert, thinking, looking and listening at lightning speed.   

Co-created by Dorrance, Heller, and Josette Wiggan, this Nutcracker keeps to the traditional storyline of the young girl, Clara, who falls asleep after her family’s Christmas party, and dreams of trekking through a snowstorm, escorted by her adored Nutcracker (who just vanquished a band of Rats), to emerge in a Land of Sweets, depicted via globally-flavored ethnic dance sequences.  A diverse cast of accomplished vernacular dancers manages to convey the details of the dramatic action through staged business and gestures, while tapping a mile a minute -- or sometimes Lindy Hopping, breaking, or doing what looks like Russian folk dancing.  One of my favorite passages of the work’s enlightening choreography (created by Dorrance and Wiggan, with solo improvisation by the dancers) occurs when the Moiseyev-like squat-kicks of an ensemble of “Volga” dancers are seen alongside b-boy maneuvers, illuminating a kinship between the two different styles of showy floorwork. 

Dorrance Dance's The Nutcracker Suite; Photo: Christopher Duggan

Equally fascinating is the way the slain Rat King’s cremated remains get “recycled” to form puddles of sand for a sequence of old-school sand dancing that segues into the blizzard scene, the sand dancers’ scraping sounds transforming into the footfalls of traipsing through snow.  And most affecting is an exquisitely “conversational” tap duet performed without musical accompaniment by the regal Sugar Rum Cherry (Wiggan) and Her Cavalier (Jabu Graybeal). 

While the stimulating display of American vernacular dance forms keeps us wide awake, by the end of her journey Clara appears to be sleeping.  It seems something was put into the hot chocolate she was served in Arabia – a hallucinatory drug, perhaps – but she ultimately awakens.  Yes, it’s a bit confusing, and I suspect I may have missed something there.     

Dorrance Dance's The Nutcracker Suite; Photo: Christopher Duggan

The plot wraps up quickly after that, and suddenly it’s time to go.  Because of the show’s brisk pacing and how jam-packed it is with “goodies” one really wants to savor or, at least, not miss, I came away wanting to go back and treat myself to the whole thing all over again.  Here’s hoping Dorrance’s Nutcracker becomes an annual New York holiday tradition!