carolina performing arts, memorial auditorium
the nutcracker suite

Holiday traditions have a way of bringing people together. The best ones feel familiar and fresh at the same time.

Dorrance Dance's The Nutcracker Suite is set to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's extraordinary 1960 reinterpretation of the Tchaikovsky score. Part seasonal concert, part tap ballet, the production transforms the Sugar Plum Fairy into a slinky Sugar Rum Cherry, turns the "March of the Toy Soldiers" into a swinging brass "Peanut Brittle Brigade," and gives the original ballet's pageant of national dances a fresh 21st-century twist. 

Drawing on the rich traditions of tap dance to tell the story of one of the most beloved works in the holiday canon, The Nutcracker Suite is filled with rhythm, virtuosity, humor, and heart. The result is a performance that celebrates the joy of tradition while reminding us that the stories we return to year after year still evolve.