'Timeless' Nutcracker coming to Orillia Opera House later this month

NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA OPERA HOUSE
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With the Christmas season coming up fast there are so many beloved traditions to look forward to! A favourite of many has always been listening to Tchaikovsky’s unmistakable tunes with family. We all know the charming story of a young girl’s magical journey into the fantastical world of her toy nutcracker, but we have never seen it performed the way Ballet Jorgen does it!

In collaboration with Kleinburg’s world-renowned McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and with well over 100 costumes in richly coloured fabrics, The Nutcracker, A Canadian Tradition is a true visual treat.

The 20th-century landscapes make up the stunning 30-foot backdrops, including Franklin Carmichael’s Church and Houses at Bisset (1931), Tom Thomson’s Snow in the Woods (1916) and L.L. FitzGerald’s Trees and Wildflowers (1922). In this beautiful Canadian work, audiences are taken on Klara’s familiar, magical dream-journey as she arrives in Canada and experiences winter landscapes filled with snowflakes, lumberjacks, Mounties and creatures of the woods

In preparation for the Orillia performance, Ballet Jorgen has teamed up with local dance schools to feature our own local dancers as part of the production! Through Ballet Jorgen’s Youth Program, young dancers get the opportunity to perform with a professional dance company. 

They interact with professional dancers and gain invaluable performance experience from the excitement of the audition process, through rehearsals with professional dancers and artistic staff to the onstage performance in a professional ballet.

It’s the timeless story told like it never has been told before, and perhaps kids of all ages, seeing the familiar Canadian scenes, animals and characters, will find themselves more easily enraptured by the beauty and fantasy of the dance. After all, the magic on stage reflects the magic of Christmas in our homes, our streets, our forests, and our hearts.

Ballet Jorgen’s The Nutcracker, A Canadian Tradition will be performed Saturday, Nov. 27, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Orillia Opera House.

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