Singing the Snowflakes

Photo by Richard Termine

By David Hsieh

In a ballet as full of magical moments as The Nutcracker, the Waltz of the Snowflakes may just be the most magical. Our heroine (Marie or Clara, depending on the version) just helped fend off the Rat King in an act of desperation. Then the wooden Nutcracker turns into a handsome cavalier to take her to a magical snow kingdom full of winter wonder. This moment of transformation with a sense of wonder is conveyed through every element of the staging. The scene shifts from domestic interior where rodents lurk to a forest covered in pristine white. The atmosphere changes from a real world to an imagined one. The dance style changes from social (and mime) to classical ballet on point. The characters change from kids to adults. And Tchaikovsky’s music suddenly adds in a vocal part—the only one in the entire score.

In Context: The Hard Nut

Mark Morris Dance Group’s beloved retro-modern reimagining of The Nutcracker, The Hard Nut, comes back to BAM for the holidays, playfully preserving the warm spirit of an essential holiday tradition Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of related articles and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #BAMNextWave.

Forever Young

Mark Morris (Mr. Stahlbaum), Lauren Grant (Marie), and John Heginbotham (Mrs. Stahlbaum). Photo Susana Millman

Mark Morris Dance Group’s The Hard Nut returns to the Howard Gilman Opera House (Dec 14—23). We spoke with some dancers who have held longtime roles.

Holiday Party Tips from Mrs. Stahlbaum

Photo: Julieta Cervantes

Struggling to kindle that seasonal spark? Desperate to spice up your hum-drum holiday? Never fear, Mrs. Stahlbaum is here with enough flair and Christmas-tree flocking to transform any celebration. Study her stampede of tips, tricks, and treats, then see the party-master herself at work in Mark Morris Dance Group's The Hard Nut, coming to the Howard Gilman Opera House December 10—18!

In Context: The Hard Nut

Photo: Julieta Cervantes

Mark Morris Dance Group’s beloved reimagining of The Nutcracker—a lavish, gender-bent love letter that playfully preserves the warm spirit of an essential holiday tradition—returns to BAM for the holidays. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of related articles and videos. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought by posting in the comments below and on social media using #TheHardNut.

In Context: The Hard Nut

Mark Morris Dance Group’s The Hard Nut comes to BAM on December 12. Context is everything, so get even closer to the holiday production with this curated selection of articles and videos related to the show. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought below and by posting on social media using #TheHardNut.

Hard Nut Nuggets

L-R: Julie Worden, June Omura, Mark Morris, Lauren Grant. Photo: Susana Millman

Mark Morris Dance Group returns to BAM with The Hard Nut (December 12—20) choreographed by Mark Morris in 1991 to Tchaikovsky’s beloved Nutcracker, op. 71, with sets by Adrianne Lobel (after Charles Burns) and costumes by Martin Pakledinaz. Some members of the company shared anecdotes from the ballet’s history.

JUNE OMURA (MMDG company member 1988—2008; “Fritz” in The Hard Nut 1994—2015) Once, when the inimitable Peter Wing Healey was injured and the character of Mrs. Stahlbaum had not yet been thrillingly re-created by John Heginbotham, there were two memorable performances of The Hard Nut in Edinburgh when Mark Morris stepped into the role of my mom, uncomfortable high heels and all. Every character in the party scene has a different “track,” and Mark was already in it as a hilariously drunken party guest, so re-learning the scene from such a different perspective had to have been stressful, even for Mark. But after running through it a few times (I remember his directions to “Keep talking!” and “Tell me what to do!”), he was ready to go. I was naughty Fritz, and Mark was now my mother. Scary—for both of us!

2015 Next Wave Preview—Earning the Next

Edivaldo Ernesto in Continu. Photo: Sebastian Bolesch

By Susan Yung

After 32 jam-packed years, the Next Wave Festival moniker gets its share of scrutiny. It was new in 1983, so how could it remain that way? A strong retort exists in descriptors, connected by a neat wave icon, that run along the page margins in the 2015 festival brochure. William Kentridge’s Refuse the Hour is tagged opera〰dance〰music〰visual art. Helen Lawrence: theater〰live filmmaking... and so on. The Next Wave’s multitude of cross-discipline performances are, ostensibly, new hybrid genres. The Next Wave is known for showcasing surprising collaborations by accomplished artists, and that trend is only amplified this fall. Chances are you won’t have seen anything quite like the 32 shows being presented from September through December.

Cross-Dressing at BAM: A Brief Survey

By Louie Fleck

Reinhild Hoffman's Callas, performed by Tanztheater Bremen

The 1861 bylaws of the Brooklyn Academy of Music contain a little-known, and oddly undocumented, regulation. Without getting into confusing legal jargon, BAM is required to present, on a regular basis, men in women’s attire and women wearing outfits normally associated with men. Whatever our forward-thinking founding fathers had in mind, we have gladly complied. Here is a quick historical scan of cross-dressing at BAM.

Cross-dressing has long been essential to storytelling history. In numerous Greek, Norse, and Hindu myths, sexual identities are switched, either as punishment or as a way to avoid detection.

Males played the female parts in Shakespeare’s original productions. But within the plays are numerous instances of characters switching genders to achieve a questionable goal or complicate the plot. Speaking of the Bard, in 2011, Ed Hall’s company Propeller blew the roof off of the Harvey Theater with a wonderful, over-the-top production of The Comedy of Errors.