On pointe: Christmastime favorite The Royal Ballet’s HD broadcast of The Nutcracker follows Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker doll as they battle the Mouse King, journey through the Kingdom of Sweets, and dance with a delightful array of characters. Tchaikovsky’s beloved music accompanies Peter Wright’s production of the Russian classic.
Thursday 12/30. $11–15, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
The unlikely pairing of beer and ballet—under an outdoor tent, no less—drew a standing-room-only crowd last Saturday at Champion Brewing Company, beside the railroad tracks downtown. Attendees, including plenty of kids, were treated to a pas de deux from The Nutcracker by member of the Charlottesville Ballet. The event, which kicked off the ballet’s 2019-20 season, is the brainchild of Champion’s taproom manager Sean Chandler, whose daughter Maeze is a budding ballerina. (She will appear in the troupe’s performance of The Nutcracker, December 19-22, at Piedmont Virginia Community College.) “Connecting with the arts and creating a community space have always been priorities for me,” says Champion founder and owner Hunter Smith. Let’s all raise a frothy glass to delightfully unconventional events like this one.
Charlottesville Ballet’s The Nutcracker is a skillfully choreographed, engaging take on tradition for all ages. The story begins when Clara receives a wooden nutcracker as a holiday gift, and it comes to life along with other toys that accompany her on a journey through an enchanted land filled with dancing dolls and evil mice, guided by Tchaikovsky’s euphoric, familiar score.
After a fancy Christmas Eve party, Clara falls asleep with a nutcracker in her arms. As she dreams, visions of the Sugar Plum Fairy, a Nutcracker Prince, a Mouse King, Arabian dancers and Mother Ginger with her Polichinelles dance en pointe in her head. Charlottesville Ballet presents a 90-minute version of The Nutcracker, choreographed to Tchaikovsky’s score, that perfectly captures the magic and dreamy anticipation of the holiday season.
Through December 22. $20-75, times vary. V. Earl Dickinson Building at PVCC, 501 College Dr. 227-7592.