Calvin Royal III and Cassandra Trenary perform in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“The Nutcracker” begins its 12-performance annual run at the
Segerstrom Center
this weekend.
The American Ballet Theatre’s version of the holiday perennial in
Costa Mesa
remains the gold standard of the many regional performances of “The Nutcracker” seen in Southern California between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Beyond the company’s national-caliber cast, the costumes, lighting and design, expressive narrative, and pinpoint choreography, from the company’s artist-in-residence Alexei Ratmansky, blends impeccable first-act miming and second-act dance.
This year is the seventh time the venue has presented this production, which was created in 2010.
First set to a score by the famed Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892, the ballet zoomed in popularity in the U.S. in the late 1950s after choreographer George Balanchine’s version became a seasonal sell-out in New York.
The show is more significant than just seasonal fun: It is also the most important dance performed in the U.S. each year from the standpoint of financially supporting the art form.
Dancers in The Snow scene during the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Clara played by Katrina Carney with her nutcracker in American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Calvin Royal III and Cassandra Trenary perform in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Nutcracker and mice during The Battle scene of the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Katrina Carney as Clara and Carson Triplett as The Nutcracker Boy during the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Clara, right, played by Katrina Carney, in a scene of the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mother Ginger played by Connor Holloway in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Katrina Carney as Clara and Carson Triplett as The Nutcracker Boy during the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mice at The Party of the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cassandra Trenary and Calvin Royal III, perform in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mother Ginger played by Connor Holloway in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cassandra Trenary dances in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cast members perform in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Joao Menegussi, second from right, during the Arabian dance scene in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Russians dance scene in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Joao Menegussi is carried during a scene in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anabel Katsnelson and El Wince Magbitang during the Chinese scene in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Russians dance in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cassandra Trenary and Calvin Royal III, perform in the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The cast during The Battle scene of the American Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal of, The Nutcracker, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Friday, December 9, 2022. The show begins its 12-performance run at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts this weekend and goes through December 18th. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Revenues from ticket sales to local productions invariably underwrite a sizable part of the budgetary support for regional companies to exist as well as acting as a gateway to introducing younger people to both seeing and participating in ballet.
ABT’s performances here are supplemented by rotating ensembles drawn from 40 local dance students who attend the center’s ABT William J. Gillespie School.
This engagement also marks ABT’s final performances with Kevin McKenzie as artistic director as he is retiring after 30 years at the helm. McKenzie, 68, was a principal dancer after joining the company in 1979 and performing until 1991.
Another former ABT principal dancer, Susan Jaffe, is taking over the top spot running the company following these performances.
“The Nutcracker”
What
: American Ballet Theatre’s production of the Tchaikovsky ballet with live accompaniment by the Pacific Symphony.
When
: Through Sunday, Dec. 18; 7 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturdays; 12:30 and 5:30 p.m., Sundays
Where
: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
