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Kevin Hockenberry will dance the role of the Nutcracker Prince. (courtesy of jeff geise)
Like many people, “The Nutcracker” ballet has become synonymous with Christmas for professional dancer Kevin Hockenberry.
Hockenberry, who plays the Nutcracker Prince in the upcoming Ballet Repertory Theatre of New Mexico production, remembers being mesmerized by Tchaikovsky’s score and the transformation of the Nutcracker into a prince.
“I first saw the ballet as a little boy,” he says. “The Nutcracker Prince was always a role I wanted to perform every time I saw it.”
As the Nutcracker is liberated from an evil spell that’s reduced him to a toy, Hockenberry says his focus is to flow from the mechanical motion of the doll to the fluid motion of a man.
It’s the second year that Hockenberry will perform as the Nutcracker with the Ballet Repertory Theatre Company at the KiMo Theatre. He has danced professionally in Austin, Nashville, Tenn., Las Vegas, Nev., and currently in the San Francisco area, he says.
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If you go WHAT: “The Nutcracker” performed by Ballet Repertory Theatre of New Mexico WHEN: Dec. 8-9, 15-16, 22-24. 7 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 16; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 22; 2 p.m. Dec. 23 and 1 p.m. Dec. 24. Christmas Eve performance follows the Nutcracker Tea. WHERE: KiMo Theatre, 423 W. Central HOW MUCH: $17-$32. $5 discount for seniors and $10 discounts for children 12 and younger. Reserved seating. Tickets available at the KiMo Theatre box office, Hold My Ticket at 505-886-1251 or visit www.kimotickets.com |
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Katherine Giese, director of the nonprofit ballet company, says working with Hockenberry and company member Erika Ray, who dances the lead role of Clara, has helped her move the ballet from an exposition of dances to a cohesive story told in the movements of ballet.
“These dancers bring us new and different aspects of ‘The Nutcracker,’” she says.
Giese says she has “re-imagined the traditional story by having the young child character of Clara mature into a young adult falling in love. The challenge was taking Clara from the first act at the Stahlbaum’s Christmas Eve party into her dream of the second act, so she isn’t just watching the show. We see the story through Clara’s eyes.”
The company has been performing “The Nutcracker” for almost 20 years and Giese has been choreographing it for the past 10 years or so, she says. Each year she creates a new version of the ballet to highlight the talents of her cast. “I enjoy getting to change things.”
For example, in the Land of Sweets, Clara and the Nutcracker are the lead dancers in the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, instead of having another ballerina lead the dance, she says.
Also in keeping the main characters in the storyline, in the Land of Snow, Giese has choreographed a pas de trois for Clara, the Nutcracker Prince and the godfather Drosselmeyer, who had presented the Nutcracker to Clara as a gift in hopes she could break the evil spell that held the prince captive.
“Erika Ray’s technique and grace on stage is very impressive. That’s why I cast her in the very demanding role of Clara,” Giese says.
The intimacy of the KiMo Theatre also makes the ballet more accessible to the audience, she says. “The dancers come through the audience during the performance to draw the audience into the story.”
“We want to make it enjoyable for the audience and the dancers,” she says.
