The Nutcracker enchants once again in Marion County

For almost 40 years, thousands of Marion County residents were wowed by “The Nutcracker” performed at the Ocala Civic Theatre by members of Marion Ballet Theatre, formerly the resident ballet company of the Benson Academy of Dance. While the group is no longer active, the tradition lives on.

On Saturday, C. Anderson, the artistic director and founder of the Lake Marion Ballet Dance Company, will take us once again on Tchaikovsky’s enchanting dance odyssey. The production, staged at the College of Central Florida’s Charles R. Dassance Fine Arts Center, is a collaboration with Elevations Academy of Dance.

The tradition of presenting “The Nutcracker” at Christmas time is relatively recent, said Miles Hoffman, the violist of the American Chamber Players and author of “The NPR Classical Music Companion.”

Based on a story by E.T.A.Hoffman, “The Nutcracker” transports audiences to a lavish fantasyland of treats and graceful enchantments that provide a graceful contrast to the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

“The very first performance, which was in St. Petersburg in Russia in 1892, did take place around Christmas,” Hoffman explained during an NPR interview. “But the ballet itself wasn’t terribly successful. Everybody liked the first act with the big Christmas tree and the children and the toy soldiers and the battle with the Mouse King. But there’s really hardly any drama in the second act. It’s just essentially a series of colorful dances and many people just didn’t find the story terribly convincing.”

The first complete performance outside Russia didn’t see a stage until 1934 in London. A decade later, the San Francisco Ballet performed “The Nutcracker” on Christmas Eve of 1944.

“But it wasn’t until the 1960s that performances of the complete “Nutcracker” ballet really took off as an annual Christmas tradition around the country,” Hoffman said.

According to letters by the ballet’s famed composer, the holiday favorite was not Tchaikovsky’s best effort.

Using only the upper registers of the orchestra, which means no cello, bass or brass, the ballet fairy-tale begins with a young girl, Clara, who is gifted a toy nutcracker by her eccentric uncle. The toy becomes a prince and defeats a rat battalion before escorting Clara to a snow kingdom.

In act two, the most familiar swells can be heard, those sonorous flutes we’ve come to know and love. Clara is now in the Candyland of Sweet Things, where the Sugar Plum Fairy reigns and oversees flying cooks and living confections. The queen calls for a suite of dances to commemorate the Nutcracker’s victory over the Mouse King — with a bit of help from Clara’s slipper.

Each dance signifies a holiday indulgence: from the sultry, chocolatey sway of the Spanish Dance to the enchanting Arabian Dance and the acrobatics tea, the flute of the Chinese Dance, the leaping Russian candy-cane dancer to the Mirlitons marzipan flute trio. Let’s not forget the Polichinelles (clowns) performed by young children dancing with Mother Ginger.

In a story by yourclassical.org, we learn that Tchaikovsky uses one of his signature techniques to change the mood with an extended harp cadenza before the Waltz of the Flowers. The story culminates with a grand finale spotlighting the Sugar Plum Fairy with the Nutcracker Prince.

And what makes the “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” so magical and memorable is that twinkly sound that’s reminiscent of a music box, explained Hoffman. It comes from an instrument called the celesta, which had been invented in Paris in 1886 by Auguste Mustel. Celesta, a derivative of the word celestial, means heavenly. When Tchaikovsky visited Paris in 1891, he heard the instrument played and was so captivated by the celesta’s sound that he decided to use it for his ballet.

The College of Central Florida is at 3001 SW College Road. Performances of “The Nutcracker” will take place at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. For tickets, visit elevationsacademydance.com/upcoming-shows.html.