'Magic' Nutcracker starts its annual Royal Winnipeg Ballet run Thursday night
Annual performance of the holiday classic runs Dec. 21 to 30 at Centennial Concert Hall
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet's run of the Christmas classic The Nutcracker is pirouetting into the holiday season starting Thursday night.
The RWB's show is a Canadian take on the more than century-old ballet, featuring Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's famous score. It tells the story of Clara — a little girl who, in the RWB's version, lives in a Winnipeg home in 1913 and is transported into a magical world by a Christmas gift.
The RWB performs the show every year, but artistic director André Lewis says the spell it casts never gets old.
"The magic is kept by the dancers, ultimately," Lewis said. "Yes, of course, we take care of the sets, the costumes, the props, the lighting, and all of those things that are important. But ultimately, it's the dancers that bring it to life."
The show features several Canadian touches, he said, including a hockey game, a Hudson's Bay blanket, mounted police officers and more. In years gone by it has featured some Winnipeg athletes in walk-on roles.
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Even those who have seen the show in years past, Lewis said, haven't necessarily seen it all before.
"Each performance is different. You can come and see eight shows and you'll see eight different ways of interpretation from an artist," he said.
"You can't say, 'Well, I've seen this Nutcracker once, so I've seen it all.' You haven't. You haven't even touched a little bit."
The show will run at the Centennial Concert Hall from Dec. 21 to Dec. 30. Tickets are available online. You can also call the RWB Box Office at 204-956-2792.
The ballet issued a news release Thursday, though, warning about fraudulent websites and online ads advertising tickets to the show, and cautioning patrons to buy through the RWB itself.
"These websites are a scam and frequently charge significantly more for tickets," the release said.