‘The Nutcracker’ Comes To Life with a Magical Twist by MoCo Arts

(Keene, NH) – Gingerbread, Marzipan, Snowflakes, Rats, and Soldiers and more come to life on stage in MoCo Arts’ The Nutcracker. Performances are Friday, December 16 at 7:00pm, Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 & 7:00pm, and Sunday, December 18 at 2:00pm at the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College. The MoCo Arts School of Dance puts a magical twist on this holiday classic with students 2nd – 12th grade telling the story through many genres of dance — ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and hip hop.

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It’s a festive Christmas Eve at the home of the Stahlbaum family. Two young children, Fritz and Clara, are preparing for the party when Clara’s godfather, Uncle Drosselmeyer, arrives to the party and gives Clara a special gift, a Nutcracker. That night when the clock strikes midnight the Nutcracker comes alive and takes Clara on a fantastic journey to the Kingdom of Sweets where she meets the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, danced by world-renowned Boston Ballet Principal Dancer Kathleen Breen Combes and Yury Yanowsky.

“Our MoCo version of The Nutcracker is a really special production,” says Sam Induni, a sophomore at Keene High School dancing the lead role of the Nutcracker. “I feel honored to be dancing as the Nutcracker this year. The biggest challenges for me have been learning the lifts with Tessa (Clara) and dancing with the Nutcracker’s head on.”

The MoCo Arts School of Dance offers a variety of classes for children grades 2nd through 12th, with many levels of each discipline available. Kids younger than 2nd grade are invited to join MoCo’s Creative Dance program, a fun introduction to different styles of dance. Classes focus on the technical development of each student, learning the fundamentals of each discipline. MoCo welcomes all students where they are in their movement and creative arts journey – beginners through advanced.

Tickets to The Nutcracker are $18-$24 and are on sale now. To purchase tickets please visit the Redfern Arts Center Box Office Monday – Friday, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, or call (603) 358-2168. For more information about The Nutcracker or to purchase your tickets online, visit www.moco.org. The Nutcracker is sponsored in part by Connection.

MoCo Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, multi-arts educational organization located in downtown Keene offering dance and theatre classes and multi-arts vacation and summer camps for children ages 18 months to 18+ years. As part of the educational process, MoCo Arts provides professional performance experience for students and family-friendly performances for audiences of all ages throughout the year. Funding for MoCo Arts is provided in part by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation – Monadnock Region, the Ruth and James Ewing Fund for the Monadnock Region, the John and Maude Corser Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information please visit MoCo Arts, 76 Railroad Street, Keene, NH 03431 or www.moco.org

Photo caption: “Sam Induni (Nutcracker), Tessa Minahan (Clara), and Carly Newbold (Clara, Understudy) at a recent rehearsal for The Nutcracker.”

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