ON STAGE
What: The Nutcracker
When: Thursday, Dec. 10, 5 p.m., until Sunday, Dec. 13, 10 p.m.
Tickets: $25 from
Dance Victoria has been staging variations of The Nutcracker for several years, with great results. But few instalments can match the uniqueness of the one that starts tonight.
The local company hit a high-water mark last year by bringing in Edmonton鈥檚 Ukrainian Shumka Dancers, sa国际传媒鈥檚 only professional Ukrainian dance company. The Shumka Dancers are back again this week for several performances of The Nutcracker, albeit none that will put anyone on stage at Dance Victoria鈥檚 traditional home, the Royal Theatre.
It鈥檚 2020, after all 鈥� so performances of Tchaikovsky鈥檚 Christmas classic running Thursday through Sunday will be offered virtually.
鈥淲e had it live last year at the Royal Theatre and people went nuts,鈥� said producer Stephen White of Dance Victoria, who arranged to use a live performance video of the Shumka Dancers doing The Nutcracker once COVID-19 hit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really great production, very exuberant. And here鈥檚 a whole lot of additional features, in addition to the actual film presentation.鈥�
The Edmonton troupe will be joined by dancers from Kyiv Ballet at the National Opera of Ukraine and Edmonton鈥檚 Shumka School of Dance for the high-definition online performances, which viewers will access through a secure website.
Included in the $25 asking price is a special 鈥渧irtual package鈥� that includes everything from downloadable crafts and colouring pages for both children and adults to a Nutcracker video animated by local storyteller Jim Leard.
A cocktail video demonstration by Cascadia Liquor, discount coupons by some of the event sponsors, and downloadable program notes are also being offered.
This was White鈥檚 way of adding some local flavour to the event, which last year featured both the Victoria Symphony and Victoria鈥檚 Veselka Dance (this year鈥檚 Dance Victoria season, being a virtual one, made those collaborators an impossibility.) Dance Victoria is partnering with Victoria Women鈥檚 Transition House and other family service agencies through their Nutcracker Kids program, which matches each $65 donation with tickets for families at these agencies.
Which makes sense: Children and families have always played a big role in The Nutcracker, both on and off stage.
鈥淲hen we were thinking about our virtual season, our focus was going to be on retaining our current, loyal ticket buyers and subscribers, it wasn鈥檛 going to be about acquiring new viewers,鈥� White said.
鈥淲here we really feel competent is when we offer a live performance experience at the Royal Theatre. But just through word of mouth, we picked up these subscribers from places that we鈥檝e never seen before.鈥�
A virtual season is not one White was prepared for, but he has come to accept it. For performances this week, schools in Victoria (脡cole Willows Elementary) and Burnaby (Armstrong Elementary) are showing the video presentation to their respective schools on Friday. White said he likes the element of exposure an online audience brings.
The first instalment of Dance Victoria鈥檚 four-part virtual season, by France鈥檚 Compagnie Herv茅 Koubi, fared much better than anticipated in November, in terms of the number of tickets sold. More than 1,000 people watched the performance online. That is significantly less than what multiple Nutcracker performances at the Royal Theatre would have drawn, but White does not feel the virtual version will suffer by comparison.
鈥淥ne of the things that really pleased us when we first thought about doing a virtual season was that this actually has some application when we go back to the theatre and we鈥檙e doing live performances. It opens up the doors to a larger audience.鈥�
When the calendar turns to 2021, Dance Victoria鈥檚 virtual season will continue with Brazilian dance company Grupo Corpo (Feb. 25-28) and South Korea鈥檚 Bereishit Dance Company (April 8-11). Will online be the future of dance productions, which are typically expensive to mount? White doesn鈥檛 think so. But he鈥檚 hedging his bets for his 2021 season until more information becomes available.
鈥淲e鈥檒l offer performances at the Royal Theatre but we鈥檒l also offers streaming performances for people that are not comfortable coming back to the theatre.
鈥淎nd we鈥檙e doing this based on the information that the majority of Canadians will be vaccinated by the end of September.
鈥淲ithin those plans, we鈥檒l have to build a certain amount of flexibility if it turns out November isn鈥檛 going to happen at all.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have to roll with the punches a little bit more.鈥�
