Inside the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District Performing Arts Center, a battle is raging as soldiers confront the forces of the Rat King—or at least pretend to.
Breaking the illusion, show director Illiana Cantu is just off stage calling out instructions to her army of mice, composed of LHM Fine Arts Academy second and third-graders, to mime scratching at the soldiers.
The battle is just one scene of many to run through as the cast goes through rehearsal Dec. 13 for their second annual joint production of the beloved Christmas ballet “The Nutcracker” opening Dec. 15.
The Russian ballet opened in 1892 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, scored by composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov.
The two-act fairy tale ballet follows the story of a gathering of family and friends on Christmas Eve in the home of our heroine Clara (Ashley Middler). During the celebration, Clara receives from the mysterious toymaker Herr Drosselmeyer (Christopher Esparza) a gift of a wooden nutcracker (Avery Jansen)—which comes to life.
This production is a joint company composed of the Harlingen Performing Arts Conservatory, LHM Fine Arts Academy and Gutierrez Middle School of Arts & Sciences, with almost 200 students of all different skill levels from pre-K to high school.
It might seem like it would be difficult to choreograph a ballet for that many levels of dancers. However, director Illiana Cantu says that since ‘The Nutcracker” is a production that invites each iteration to put their spin on things—it allows her the freedom to tailor it to her performers.
“I get to stylize the dance for the dancer, and I get to use my creative abilities and their artistry to really create something beautiful together,” Cantu said.
One of the dancers in the production, Lilly Lamon, dances one of the coveted principal roles —the Sugar Plum Fairy.
“It is a lot of rehearsal time. We have rehearsal from about 1 to 8 p.m. every single day. There is a lot of patience and time you put into learning and dancing it,” Lamon said of the role.
The choreography involves a lot of technical difficulties as the Sugar Plum Fairy dances with a partner and solo with lots of pointe work—meaning Lamon goes up on the tips of her toes to dance.
Lamon says she has five pairs of pointe shoes, which give her feet support, backstage that she alternates through the performance since the shoes wear out so quickly.
As part of the production, she dances with their guest star, Jason Williams of MOMIX company of New York City, who performs in the dual roles of Snow King and Cavalier.
As Cavalier, he partners for Lamon’s favorite part of her role, the pas de deux, performing a series of lifts and artful bends and turns together in the show’s climax.
Performer Maven Hardwich revels in the fun of playing the villain, the devious Rat King, and all the proverbial mustache twirling that comes with it.
“He is just such a bombastic character. It is very grand, with arms everywhere in these gestures, and there is an attitude to it,” Hardwich said of performing the role.
“The Nutcracker” opens Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the HCISD Performing Arts Center and runs through Dec. 18.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students. For more information, visit www.hcisdpa.org.
To see more, view Brownsville Herald photojournalist Denise Cathey’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: “The Nutcracker” rehearsal at Harlingen CISD Performing Arts Center
