Why Nutcracker Night?

The past year has not been an easy one. It has completely disrupted and turned upside down what we think of as "normal." If you had asked me a year ago about teaching a ballet class via Zoom, I would have told you that it wasn't possible. I would have said that hands on corrections and connections with each individual dancer were critical to training. I still think those things are important. But a week after we found ourselves closed down last March, I found myself teaching facebook live classes and learning the ropes of Zoom. Since then, I have taught outdoor classes, helped young dancers to learn to dance in their box and adjusted to spending hours dancing and teaching in a mask. It is now normal to me to have a teacher on Zoom and students in the studio or vice versa - or to teach a class with some students in the studio and some at home on Zoom. I have found myself editing virtual performances from clips sent to me by individual dancers. Dancers are resilient. We are creative. We find a way to get it done, because, at the end of the day, we need to dance.

When it became clear that a live performance of "The Nutcracker" wasn't going to happen this year, it could have been just one more thing to add to the long list of things that our dancers had missed out on. While we take this pandemic very seriously and understood the need for precautions, we also saw dancers fighting off depression and anxiety, desperately needing an outlet. Our goal became finding a way to give them not only a wonderful memory from this year, but a chance to grow as dancers and as people, while keeping everyone safe.

It has also always been part of the mission of Centralia Ballet Academy to make ballet as inclusive and accessible as possible. Over the years, we have strived to keep tuition low and reach out to those in rural communities. We have collaborated with athletes, magicians, martial artists, and actors. Our attitude has always been that ballet is for everyone - regardless of where you live, your race, ethnicity, sex or anything else. This was a new opportunity - a chance to reach audiences that may not be able to travel to theaters. Our December 20 free streaming of the film on YouTube also makes it feasible for those that couldn't afford tickets to a normal production.

Of course, we could not do this alone. We are so privileged to have an amazing community that embraced our vision and supported us in every way possible. As we unfold and share our story with you over the next few weeks, we look forward letting you know about the groups and individuals who made this possible.

~Nancy Gunter, Artistic Director