[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Tap shoes kick pointe shoes aside in this American version of the holiday classic, The Nutcracker Suite, on December 12 at The Soraya!
On December 12, Michelle Dorrance returns to The Soraya (following her 2023 debut in Turn it Out with Tiler Peck) with Dorrance Dance: The Nutcracker Suite. The performance, co-created by Dorrance with Josette Wiggan and Hannah Heller, caught attention in the news following its White House invitation by First Lady Jill Biden. The jazzy new vision of the classic holiday tradition is set to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of the Tchaikovsky classic.
“It’s a unique telling of this classic story, living very much in a very traditional jazz and vernacular space and percussive, rooted in the tap dance space,” Michelle Dorrance said in an interview with Soraya Executive and Artistic Director Thor Steingraber. “It couldn’t be more of a literal dream to work with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s interpretation of Tchaikovsky…because it’s such an unbelievably swingin’ version…there’s horn, a funky baseline, a swingin’ feel.”
Co-creator Josette Wiggan, in the same interview, echoed Dorrance’s sentiments, saying the whimsical and fun show pays homage to their elders but also bridges the gaps between the jazz and tap worlds in a way that “creates a fun space for kids to imagine and adults to reimage a (more traditional) Nutcracker they may have seen growing up.”
Tickets:
https://thesoraya.org/whats-on/en/dorrance-dance-the-nutcracker-suite/
$48 – $118
Ticket Office: 818-677-3000
When:
Thursday, December 12 | 8PM
Where:
Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya)
18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330
About Dorrance Dance
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City celebrating its 10th Anniversary! Led by Michelle Dorrance, the company supports dancers and musicians who embody and push the dynamic range that tap dance has to offer. The company’s mission is to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level, and to share the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form through performance and education. The company’s inaugural performance garnered a Bessie Award for “blasting open our notions of tap” and the company continues its passionate commitment to expanding the audience of tap dance, an original American art form.
Founded in 2011 by artistic director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow, Michelle Dorrance, the company has received countless accolades, rave reviews and performed for packed houses at venues including The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Lincoln Center Out of Doors (New York, NY), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Becket, MA), The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), Vail Dance Festival (Vail, CO), Carolina Performing Arts (Chapel Hill, NC), Cal Performances (Berkeley, CA), Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC), among many others colleges and universities across the US, and including international venues in Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, England, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
About the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya)
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for The Performing Arts (The Soraya) is an award-winning, state-of-the-art 1,700-seat theatre designed and built by HGA Architects and Engineers and opened in January 2011 as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC). Through a transformative gift by Younes and Soraya Nazarian, the venue was renamed The Soraya in 2017. Vibrant
programming has served to establish The Soraya as the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley and its 1.8 million residents and as one of the top arts and culture venues in Southern California. Since its inaugural season, The Soraya has presented over 500 artists and companies across the genres of music, dance, theater, and film and is a highly in-demand location for filming and rental events.
The Soraya’s 2024-25 Season boldly advances the expansive sound of orchestras both traditional and contemporary; the freestyle vibe of jazz; an array of dance luminaries, and a cultural bounty drawn from the musical well of global voices. The Soraya continues its vigorous commitment to innovating, excelling, and amplifying access by offering a wide variety of performances that reflect Los Angeles’ many distinctive communities and featuring new and original work and artists from the local region as well as nationally and around the world.
Located on the vibrant campus of California State University Northridge (CSUN), The Soraya and the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication share an integral link that enhances student access and opportunities in the arts and performing arts. A $5 million contribution from record producer and former California Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb was pivotal in ensuring the completion and opening of The Soraya in 2011. For his founding support and in acknowledgment of the integral relationship between the Mike Curb College and The Soraya, Mike Curb is recognized as one of The Soraya’s Cornerstone Benefactors. This partnership fosters academic and artistic excellence, elevating the talents and the future growth of CSUN’s students through master classes, student tickets, concerts of student ensembles, and students appearing alongside renowned artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Aida Cuevas, and Martha Graham Dance Company.