TCB Nutcracker
The Texarkana Community Ballet will present four performances of the beloved Nutcracker Ballet on December 3, 4, and 5 at the historic Perot Theatre in downtown Texarkana. This marks the 30th Anniversary of productions of the Nutcracker by Texarkana Community Ballet.
Set to the familiar music of Peter I. Tchaikovsky, with choreography by TCB member teachers and directors, and with new costumes and scenery, the 2021 Nutcracker continues the holiday tradition of Texarkana Community Ballet presentations of classical ballets.
Company auditions were held in August, with 225 dancers ages 8-18 cast in the performance. Each season, TCB brings a professional dancer or teacher to Texarkana to audition students and to cast the ballet. Dancers are selected on four levels of advancement.
The following dancers were chosen for soloist and featured dancer roles:
Sugar Plum Fairy: Olivia Grace George
Nutcracker Prince: Will Porterfield
Clara: Rylee McDuffie
Fritz: Layne Byers
Dew Drop Fairy: Eleanor Hornok
Snow Queen: Norah Jordan
Ballerina Doll: Lauren Friday
Harlequin Doll: Helen Clark Hays
Mother Ginger: Paige Chambers
Reed Flutes: Summer Barrick
Michael Skotnik will again perform as Herr Drosselmeyer, the mysterious dollmaker who gifts Clara with her nutcracker, setting the stage for her magical journey.
Richard and Vicki Hornok will reprise their roles as the Mayor and his wife.
The Nutcracker is a fantasy of childhood, a young girl’s dream of magic, based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s “Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” The girl, Clara, is thrilled with the party hosted by her parents on Christmas Eve and with the gift she receives, then finds herself transported in her dreams through battles between terrifying rats and transformed toy soldiers, through a forest filled with elegant dancing trees and snowflakes, and into a kingdom where her favorite sweets and her beloved Nutcracker perform variations and a pas de deux for her pleasure.
Texarkana Community Ballet is a cooperative effort of the following dance schools: Judith McCarty School of Dancing, All Stars Dance Center, Lana LaVoice Grounds School of Dance, Tammie Duncan School of Dance, Patti Smith’s Dancing Unlimited, Joni’s Gymnastics and Dance Centré, Texarkana Dance Academy, and Red Door Dance Academy.
Performances are Friday, December 3 at 7 pm; Saturday, December 4 at 2 pm and 7 pm; and Sunday, December 5 at 2 pm.
Ticket prices are $15, $13, $11. Tickets can be purchased at the Perot Theatre Box Office 221 Main Street Texarkana, at (903) 792-4992, and at www.perottheatre.org.