A Nuttier Nutcracker

By Molly Gilmore For the 10th anniversary of its The Nutcracker, Studio West Dance Theatre has added new treats and trimmings to its production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet about a young girl who receives a nutcracker for Christmas and dreams herself into a magical world of fairies and sweets. The production, opening Dec. 9, aims to …

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Ballet Confections

By Molly Gilmore In Ballet Northwest’s 34th-annual The Nutcracker, sugarplums will dance, as will candies, mice, snowflakes and toy soldiers. It’s Tchaikovsky’s classic, holiday tale with an extra dash of romance: Clara, the young girl who dreams of wintry fairylands, gets a duet with a prince. Giving Clara in her toe shoes and the Nutcracker …

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Ballet Northwest brings the Nutcracker back to the Washington Center

by Jennifer Crain for OLY ARTS Once again, the stage at the Washington Center will be filled with mice, soldiers and snowflakes in Ballet Northwest’s 34th annual production of The Nutcracker. Ken Johnson, co-artistic director of Ballet Northwest, says this is a landmark production year for the 48-year-old company. They redesigned the scenery for the …

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Studio West’s Nutcracker Brings Ballet to Life

by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS No holiday season is complete without settling into a soft, cozy theater seat to watch Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker ballet. Studio West Dance Academy knows just how important the dance is to building holiday cheer, and it’s doing its part to bring The Nutcracker to life once again this winter …

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Embellishing Ballet: The Nutcracker’s Dazzling Costumes

by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS The ways in which The Nutcracker delivers beauty, grace and whimsy to audiences isn’t limited to just dancing (as mesmerizing as every pirouette and twirling leg can be). The intricate sets, sweeping music and, of course, jaw-dropping costumes all add to our ballet experience. Studio West Dance Academy’s The …

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Studio West Dance Academy’s Decade of Dance

by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS Nine years ago, Studio West Dance Academy had two studios, four instructors and one office administrator. Flash forward to this, the company’s 10th season, and to say it’s grown is an understatement. SWDA now has five studios, 15 instructors and six office administrators. Not only that, it now serves …

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Ballet Northwest's Swan Lake

A Season of Diversity at Ballet Northwest

by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS There isn’t a ballet dancer or aficionado in the South Sound who’s unfamiliar with Ballet Northwest, one of Olympia’s premier, longest-standing ballet companies. That fact is built on Ballet Northwest’s reputation for holding performances with all the beauty and grace for which ballet is known. This August, the dance …

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Monica Russell in The Nutcracker

Nutcracker, Nutcracker

by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS As the 124th anniversary of its first production approaches, The Nutcracker might be more popular than ever. There’s an entire website (NutcrackerBallet.com), in fact, devoted to listing productions of the holiday ballet about a little girl who gets a nutcracker for Christmas and finds herself transported to magical lands …

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Jill Carter's preparation for The Nutcracker

Jill Carter’s Land of the Sweets

READ COMPLETE JILL CARTER INTERVIEW HERE >> PRINT ARTICLE BELOW >> by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS When the curtain first rose on Jill Carter’s original set design for Land of the Sweets 20 years ago, there was a gasp from the audience, followed by a round of applause. The audience cheered for the scenic design …

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Jill Carter’s Land of Sweets (Complete Interview)

READ PRINT ARTICLE HERE >> COMPLETE INTERVIEW BELOW >> by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Here’s a holiday story: Once upon a time, a talented, young woman began a ballet class but fell in love with the scenery instead of the dancing. That was merely the beginning of her story. Jill Carter was fortunate to …

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