This production of The Nutcracker draws (some) inspiration from the original text of “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by Prussian author E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Written in the Romantic/Gothic fantasy style, it is somewhat closer to a modern sensibility than the saccharine, culturally questionable French adaptation by Alexander Dumas many years later.

This version seeks to combine the charm of the second with a glimpse also into the disciplined, rather rigid life of Marie’s bourgeois family and the surreal world inhabited by her exceedingly odd godmother, Drosselmeier.

As the story unfolds, Drosselmeier becomes the conduit through which Marie is awakened into the fantastical landscapes of her own imagination, realms populated by familiar yet strangely transformed characters.

She and the Nutcracker then become an integral component of the action rather than mere observers. This allows for the second act to occur as a manifestation of Marie’s vivid imagination.

I used the following text by Jack Zipes in the introduction to Hoffmann’s book as a jumping-off point for this reimagined version of The Nutcracker:

“The question that Hoffmann asks in this tale is how to infiltrate a good and proper bourgeois home to free children’s imaginations so that they can recognize and fulfill their desires. In this regard, the title of Hoffmann’s fairy tale is misleading. The story is not about the nutcracker and the mouse king; rather, it is about the curious child Marie and the ambivalent, somewhat threatening figure of Drosselmeier, the mysterious artist and teacher. Hoffmann positions Marie as the learner, who grasps that she must use her imagination to see the world as it really is. Drosselmeier provides the spark for her imagination and tests her to see whether she will remain true to her inner desires and imagination before he will help her reconcile what she sees inside herself and around her. From the point of view of Marie’s parents and her brother, Fritz and sister, Louise, she is delirious and talks nonsense. But Drosselmeier sees Marie differently: he is struck by the way that she associates her visions and imaginings with the world around her and how she combines them to enrich her daily existence. Consequently, Drosselmeier does his best to assist her almost magically to uncover the potential objects and symbols to become alive and to animate her modus vivendi.”

The ballet takes place on Christmas Eve in the Austrian Embassy, residence of the Austrian ambassador Herr Stauhlbaum and his family. Marie, the protagonist of our story, is filled with glee as she anticipates what is likely to be a magical evening of celebration. Not even the antics of her mischievous brother Fritz, nor the looming presence of the intimidating butler, can diminish her joy. Louise, the eldest daughter, arrives home from her Parisian boarding school and is also thrilled by the excitement of the evening to come.

Dignitaries and emissaries invited from around the world all arrive to celebrate the holiday, bringing gifts to share that fascinate Marie. Christmas gifts are given to the children in attendance. Even Mother Ginger, the matron of the local orphanage, is invited to share in the festivities.

The final guest to arrive is Drosselmeier, the sister of Frau Stauhlbaum. She is a strange character who has been known to embarrass the Stauhlbaums with her impromtu displays of magical skill. Drosselmeier is a magician, in every sense of the word, and takes great joy in opening the minds of the children in attendance to all that is possible in the world of imagination. She takes great care of and interest in Marie, one who shares her love of imaginary play. She bestows a seemingly final gift to Marie in the form of a nutcracker. In this gift, Marie sees a world of possibility. He is a character with whom she could experience a whole new realm of stories.

Little does she know that, later that evening, Drosselmeier will make every imagined dream connected with this new toy come to life. A journey unfolds to a world of life-sized toys and soldiers. Her family butler, always a menacing presence, shows his true nature as the Mouse King, out to destroy her fantasy with his army of mice. There is a tremendous battle and the winners of the day, Marie and her nutcracker, journey through the Pine Forest to a land where familiar faces and memories from the party engage and entertain them in a world seemingly controlled by Drosselmeier and her magic.

As the story ends, Marie, still enchanted by her new toy, is left wondering where reality stopped, and imagination began.

Sasha Janes, Choreographer. Sasha Janes is associate professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He was born in Perth, Australia, and received his formal dance training from the Australian Ballet School. He has danced professionally with West Australian Ballet, Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, and Dayton Ballet, performing principal roles in works by Jiří Kylián, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Marius Petipa, Septime Webre, Anthony Tudor, Dwight Rhoden, Alonzo King, Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, and many others. At the invitation of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and associate artistic director Patricia McBride, Janes joined Charlotte Ballet in 2003. In 2006, he was commissioned to choreograph his first ballet, Lascia la Spina, Cogli la Rosa, and has since choreographed several ballets for Charlotte Ballet, including Carmen, Dangerous Liaisons, We Danced Through Life, Last Lost Chance, Shelter, At First Sight, Loss, The Four Seasons, The Red Dress, Utopia, Playground Teasers, The Seed and the Soil, Chaconne, Queen, Sketches from Grace, and Rhapsodic Dances, which was performed as part of the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America series in June 2013. The Washington Post called Janes “a choreographer to watch.” He was a participant in New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute and has been a guest choreographer for Richmond Ballet’s New Works Festival. He was a principal dancer with Charlotte Ballet for eight seasons before being named rehearsal director in 2007 then associate artistic director in 2012 and adding the title resident choreographer in 2013. In fall 2016, Janes premiered his ballet Saudade for the Jacobs School of Music, where he served as guest faculty. In spring 2017, he premiered his Wuthering Heights for Charlotte Ballet, inspired by Emily Bronte’s classic novel. In fall 2020, he premiered the first two movements of 19 at the Jacobs School.

Jonathan McPhee, Conductor. Jonathan McPhee is conductor emeritus of Boston Ballet having served as music director for the Boston Ballet Orchestra for 28 years. McPhee maintains an active guest conducting schedule in addition to his position as music director for Lexington Symphony. In recent seasons, McPhee has conducted many orchestras at home and abroad, including London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarasota Symphony, Germany’s Hamburg Philharmonic, Ukraine National Opera Orchestra, and Houston Ballet Orchestra. He has also conducted performances at the Dubai Opera House and most recently, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan. Some of the world’s most distinguished dance companies for which McPhee has served as conductor include The Royal Ballet (England), Martha Graham Dance Company, The Joffrey Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, The Australian Ballet, New York City Ballet, Den Norske Ballett in Norway, and The Royal Danish Ballet in Denmark. In addition to a broad repertoire in the field of dance, McPhee has conducted pops concerts, musical theater, and operetta. He has also conducted grand opera with Opera Boston, American Opera Center in New York, and Boston University Opera Institute. McPhee’s best-selling recording of The Nutcracker with the Boston Ballet Orchestra has achieved Classical Gold status. He has also recorded highlights from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with that orchestra and Michael Gandolfi’s Caution to the Wind on the CRI label. McPhee conducted the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Aarhus Orchestra for the films of Martha Graham’s works telecast by Dance in America, which included Samuel Barber’s Cave of the Heart, Gian Carlo Menotti’s Errand into the Maze, and Edgard Varèse’s Integrales, Offrandes, and Octandre. McPhee also produced the restoration and conducted the soundtrack for the film of Martha Graham dancing Frontier for Dance in America with London’s National Philharmonic.

Thaddeus Strassberger, Set Designer. Thaddeus Strassberger, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a citizen of the United States, Italy, and the Cherokee Nation. His work as a scenic designer, costume designer, stage director, and creative director has taken him around the world where he has created over 80 productions, including in Germany, Spain, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Great Britain, Canada, the United States, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. In 2005, he won the European Opera Prize, which helped launch his career abroad. He earned a degree in engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, and in 2001, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to complete the Corso di Specializzazione per Scenografi Realizzatori at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In 2024, he will return to direct and design a large-scale open-air Aida at Austria’s Oper im Steinbruch Sankt Margarethen, where, in 2021, he directed Turandot, which was seen by nearly 100,000 people in the historic quarry amphitheater in Burgenland near Vienna and was broadcast live on ORF television. He served as creative director for Riyadh Season Opening Parade Ceremonies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October 2021, which was attended by over 500,000 live spectators and broadcast on national television. His production of Satyagraha—the first production of a Philip Glass opera in Russia—won the 2014 Bravo Award for Best Production and was awarded two Golden Mask Awards. Also in Ekaterinburg, he staged Weinberg’s The Passenger, which was also seen at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and Martinů’s A Greek Passion in a new Russian translation. Visit www.tstrassberger.com for more information.

Driscoll Otto, Lighting Designer. Driscoll Otto recently designed projections for a new production of Turandot (Bari Italy), lighting for Encores! production of The Life, reimagined and directed by Billy Porter, lighting and projections for Chicago Opera Theatre’s production of Becoming Santa Claus, lighting and projections for Houston Grand Opera’s Marian’s Song, lighting for Turandot at Oper Im Steinbruch (Austria), projections for The Flying Dutchman (Florence and Bologna Italy), lighting and projections for Iolanta at Chicago Opera Theater. Otto’s design work is seen frequently in New York City and on regional theater and opera stages, including The Huntington Theatre Company, Utah Opera, The Old Globe Theatre, Opera Omaha, Opera Philadelphia, Dallas Theater Center, Drury Lane Theatre, The Dallas Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Hangar Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse, and Lyric Opera Kansas City, and productions of Legally Blonde and Rock of Ages for Norwegian Cruise Lines. Highlights to his resume include projection design for Santa Fe Opera’s production of The Golden Cockerel and The Metropolitan Opera’s production of La Donna Del Lago. He earned an M.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Visit www.DriscollOtto.com to view his work.

Greg Emetaz, Video Designer. Greg Emetaz is a filmmaker and video designer based in New York. His work has appeared in stage productions including Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones (The Metropolitan Opera), La Fanciulla del West (National Center for Performing Arts Beijing), La Clemenza di Tito (LA Opera), and Tristan und Isolde (Croatian National Theatre), as well as world premieres of Bel Canto (Chicago Lyric Opera), Dolores Claiborne (San Francisco Opera), Champion, An American Soldier, Shalimar, 27, and The Golden Ticket (Opera Theatre Saint Louis), and Enemies, a Love Story (Palm Beach Opera). His work for screen includes the feature film Camp Wedding (Nevermore Audience Award, Jim Thorpe Best Comedy), the short films Bowes Academy, Spell Claire, Get the F K Outta Paris!, and Death by Omelette (SNCF Prix Du Polar Finalist), and the webseries Do it Yourselfie (Friar’s Club special Jury Award, iTVfest Best Director award), codirected with Amanda DeSimone). Emetaz served as video director for the 2008-11 NEA Opera Honors as well as the 2011 and 2013 NEA Jazz Masters, and he created behind-the-scenes documentaries for Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and numerous productions at Opera Theatre St. Louis and New York City Opera. Visit MINORapocalypse.com for more information.

Linda Pisano, Costume Designer. Linda Pisano designs for many theater, dance, musical theater, ballet, and opera companies throughout the United States; her ballet designs have toured the U.K. and Canada. An award-winning designer, she was selected to represent the United States in costume design in the World Stage Design Exhibition in Taipei 2017. Her work has been twice selected for feature in the Quadrennial World Exhibition in Prague, and she is a three-time winner of the National Stage Expo for performance design and a four-time recipient of the Peggy Ezekiel Award for Excellence in Design. Her work was selected from top designers in the United States to be featured and published in the “Costumes of the Turn of the Century” exhibition with the Bakhrushin Museum in Moscow and the China Institute of Stage Design in Beijing. As professor of costume design at Indiana University, she also directs its Theatre and Drama study abroad program in London, is department chair, and produces IU’s Summer Theatre. She is co-author of the recent books Art of the Character: Highlights from the Glenn Close Costume Collection and The Art and Practice of Costume Design. Some of her favorite projects include The Daughter of the Regiment, Anne Frank, Salome (with Patricia Racette), To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, Sense and Sensibility, Chicago, Madama Butterfly, The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus, A Little Night Music, and the opera Akhnaten. She served two terms as an elected member of the board of directors for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829. She is currently designing the 2024 Sweeney Todd for the Jacobs School of Music.

Andrew Elliot, Hair and Makeup Designer. Andrew Elliot is a makeup artist, wig designer, stylist, and cellist. His design and music work can be seen and heard with IU Jacobs Opera and Ballet Theater, Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre, Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre, Actors Theatre of Indiana, Phoenix Theatre, Zach & Zack Productions, Summer Stock Stage, and more. His work as a makeup artist and stylist can be seen locally and nationally in various publications, commercials, billboards, industrials, and editorials. He spent 2020 recreating icons of film, fashion, and theater, which gained national attention, with features in The New York Times, NowThis News, The Indianapolis Star, and Indianapolis Monthly.

Christian Claessens, Ballet Master. Christian Claessens is lecturer in ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He began his ballet training at the Conservatoire de la Monaie. In 1978, he came to New York on scholarship to the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School. After graduating, he performed with the Kansas City Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. In 1984, he returned to Europe as a member of the Dutch National Ballet. As a soloist, Claessens toured internationally with Stars of the American Ballet, Stars of the New York City Ballet, Stars of the Hong Kong Ballet, and Kozlov and Friends. In 1991, he cofounded the Scarsdale Ballet Studio with Diana White. In 1999, he codirected the International Ballet Project with Valentina Kozlova and White, both of New York City Ballet. In 1998, he took over the directorship of the Purchase Youth Ballet. He was the director of La Leçon: Christian Claessens School of Ballet in Westchester, New York.

Robin Allen, Children’s Ballet Master. Robin Hoover Allen specializes in teaching creative movement classes for young children with a pre-ballet focus, and she also teaches elective courses in classical and contemporary ballet as an adjunct instructor with the ballet department. Allen is an alumna of IU holding a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Human Biology and a Master of Science in Ballet Performance.

Rebecca Janes, Children’s Ballet Master. Rebecca Janes is an adjunct faculty member at the IU Jacobs School of Music. After a professional career spanning 20 years, dancing principal roles by George Balanchine, Alonzo King, Dwight Rhoden, Nacho Duato, Marius Petipa, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Anthony Tudor, and Sasha Janes, she moved to Bloomington with her family. Before coming to Bloomington, Janes was part of the senior ballet faculty at Charlotte Ballet Academy. She has been teaching for nine years and is also on faculty at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.

Glenda Lucena, Children’s Ballet Master, Program Director. Glenda Lucena is a world-renowned professional ballet teacher and repetiteur. She brings her insight, excellence, and spirituality into every studio. She has served as ballet master at Miami City Ballet, taught consistently for the Chautauqua Institution, and served as both faculty and repetiteur for the Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.

Kyra Nichols, Ballet Master. Kyra Nichols is professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music, where she holds the Violette Verdy and Kathy Ziliak Anderson Chair in Ballet. Nichols began her early training with her mother, Sally Streets, a former member of New York City Ballet (NYCB). Nichols became an apprentice and then a member of the corps de ballet at NYCB in 1974 and was promoted to soloist in 1978. In 1979, George Balanchine promoted her to principal dancer, and she worked closely with both Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She performed numerous leading roles in the NYCB repertoire, including Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto Number 2, Stars and Stripes, Liebeslieder Walzer, and Davidsbündlertänze. She has worked with an extensive list of choreographers, including William Forsythe, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, Jacques D’Amboise, Robert La Fosse, and Robert Garland. Nichols retired from New York City Ballet in June 2007 after 33 years with the company, the longest-serving principal dancer in the company’s history. Immediately prior to joining the Jacobs School, she was ballet mistress at Pennsylvania Ballet.

Irina Ter-Grigoryan, Rehearsal Pianist. Irina Ter-Grigoryan received her degrees of piano performance, pedagogy, and accompaniment in the former Soviet Union. She served as a faculty member at the Baku State Conservatory and as an accompanist for the Azerbaijan State Theater Opera and Ballet. She was selected from a small pool of musicians to accompany international and regional competitions representing the Soviet Union. During her time in the United States, she has continued her work as an accompanist with the Temple Square Concert Series Recitals in Salt Lake City, Utah; University of Utah; and Ballet West Co.; and as a collaborative pianist at DePauw University. She currently holds the position of accompanist and music director with the IU Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.

Michael Vernon, Ballet Master. Michael Vernon is chair emeritus of the Ballet Department and professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He studied at the Royal Ballet School in London with Dame Ninette de Valois and Leonide Massine. He performed with The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera Ballet, and the London Festival Ballet before moving to New York in 1976 to join the Eglevsky Ballet as ballet master and resident choreographer under the directorship of Edward Villella. Vernon served as artistic director of the company from 1989 to 1996. He has choreographed for the Eglevsky Ballet, BalletMet, and North Carolina Dance Theatre, and Mikhail Baryshnikov commissioned him to choreograph the pas de deux In a Country Garden for American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Vernon’s solo S’Wonderful was danced by ABT principal Cynthia Harvey in the presence of President and Mrs. Reagan and shown nationwide on CBS television. Vernon served as the assistant choreographer on Ken Russell’s movie Valentino, starring Rudolph Nureyev and Leslie Caron. Vernon has taught at Steps on Broadway (New York City) since 1980 and been a company teacher for American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He has been involved with the Ballet Program of the Chautauqua Institution since 1996 and is the artistic advisor for the Ballet School of Stamford. He is permanent guest teacher at the Manhattan Youth Ballet and has a long association with Ballet Hawaii. For Indiana University, Vernon has choreographed Endless Night, Jeux, Spectre de la Rose, and Cathedral, and has staged and provided additional choreography for the full-length classics Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. He has choreographed for many IU Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater productions, such as Faust and the world premiere of Vincent.

Sarah Wroth, Ballet Master. Sarah Wroth is chair of the Ballet Department and associate professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. She began her training at the Frederick School of Classical Ballet in Frederick, Maryland. In 2003, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Education from the Jacobs School of Music. That same year, she joined Boston Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet. With the company, Wroth performed principal roles in works by William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Marius Petipa, Jerome Robbins, Helen Pickett, and Mikko Nissinen, and soloist roles in ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, and August Bournonville. She has performed with Boston Ballet internationally in Spain, England, South Korea, and Finland. In 2009, she was awarded the E. Virginia Williams Inspiration Award for her unwavering dedication to ballet and the Boston Ballet Company. Wroth earned a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University in 2015 and retired from Boston Ballet in May 2017.

Maddie Brown
Miguel Calero
Ruth Connelly
Sophia Davis
Joey DeCola
Zoe Gallagher
Natalia Garcia
Jayda Hazelett
Christina Henares
Aram Hengen
Sophia Long
Sarah MacGregor
Michaela Martin Mason
Amanda Norcross
Tierney Solmo
Maddie Tyler
Gabriel Weiner
Zoë van Beever

Christopher Balbuena
Fletcher Barr
Margaret Broadhurst
Elizabeth Burnett
Indiana Coté
Ashlyn DuPree
Kelly Gleason
Annaliesa Gowe
Grace Jaramillo
Brigitte Kossuth
Christina Lewis
Audrey Osburn
Jessica Ousterhout
Lucy Sheppard
Allison Smith
Carson Van Popering

Lauren Batterbee
Eva Bendesky
Claire Bowers
Stanley Cannon
Trey Ferdyn
Bryan Gregory
Ethan Houck
Maya Jackson
Mary Elizabeth Manville
Gates Northrup
Catherine Payson
Josh Randall
Elias Simpson
Lillian Smith
Ella Sperry
Emily Vlasnik

Kaito Aihara
Luke Alcaraz
Ava Beller
Brianna Fuller
Arnon Gafni-Kane
Emily Hain
Sejal Janaswamy
Kale Jette
Emily Jorgensen
Ava Juleen
Ava Maskin
Lola Mayo
Madeline Muth
Elly O’Connell
Julia Outmesguine
Hannah Reiff
Mia Vinick
Sarah Wilkinson
Rebekah WolfsonKilayko
Sarah Yoak
Jared Zeltner