<\/p>\nHadriel Diniz performed the role of the Cavalier in Ballet West\u2019s \u201cThe Nutcracker.\u201d Diniz often dances the role as a guest artist in several performances during the holidays. After this weekend\u2019s performance with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, he will reprise the role in San Diego next weekend at the San Elijo Dance & Music Academy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Photo by Beau Pearson <\/span> After several failed attempts to revive the ballet in the first half of the 20th century, George Balanchine choreographed his own version for the New York City Ballet in 1954. It debuted in February and wasn\u2019t associated with the holidays. But since the first act of the ballet takes place at a Christmas party, the play began to be performed at the holidays and \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d became a beloved yuletide tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d is the Super Bowl of ballet, that is, if they played the Super Bowl every night for several weeks. According to a 2021 article from Reuters, for many ballet companies, the holiday staple attracts almost as many audience members as the rest of the year\u2019s shows combined, accounting for a significant portion of annual ticket revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is quite simply the engine that propels most ballet companies. The New York City Ballet, one of the top ballet companies in the world, makes roughly 45% of its annual ticket sales from its roughly five-week run of \u201cThe Nutcracker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another reason \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d is such a popular tradition is that the play includes a large cast of children and young dancers who get to play a part in the winter spectacle. This pulls families into the tradition and provides many dancers with their first experience in ballet. The cast of this weekend\u2019s production includes students from the ASFB school and Folkl\u00f3rico program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Aspen Santa Fe Ballet\u2019s \u2018Nutcracker,\u2019 acclaimed artists from around the country dance side by side with our students, creating a distinctive blend of professional artistry and community spirit,\u2019 Artistic Director Tom Mossbrucker said. \u201cThe result is a joyous, spirited, and fast-paced holiday tradition that delights audiences year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily Adams and Hadriel Diniz of Ballet West will play the lead roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier. The two dancers appeared in Aspen Santa Fe\u2019s Gala performance in July 2024 along with a group of dancers from Ballet West.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adams grew up in Pennsylvania and performed in the Nutcracker as a child, playing the role of Clara when she was 12 years old. She joined Ballet West when she was 18 and has been dancing with the Salt Lake City-based company for 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love dancing with Ballet West,\u201d Adams said\u00a0 in\u00a0an interview. \u201cIt is a great balance of new contemporary repertoire with classical ballet. It\u2019s a medium-sized company with a great culture. Salt Lake is a very livable city and I have enjoyed a nice balanced life here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n <\/p>\nClara holds her Nutcracker in Aspen Santa Fe Ballet\u2019s 2022 production of \u201cThe Nutracker.\u201d ASFB\u2019s production blends classical ballet with international dance traditions, including a Chinese ribbon dance, flamenco and Mexican folkl\u00f3rico.<\/p>\n
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Courtesy photo<\/span> Adams and Diniz have danced together\u00a0for years, having performed the principal roles in productions like \u201cSleeping Beauty\u201d and \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d and they have done \u201cThe Nutracker\u201d together many times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adams likes that the Clara role in \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d is technically challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I have performed the Clara role many times it\u2019s very technically challenging and that\u2019s one of the things I love about it. It really pushes you as a dancer and that keeps it fresh every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diniz has been with Ballet West for 10 years. He grew up in Brazil and moved to the States at 16 to dance with the San Francisco Ballet. He danced there for three years before moving to Salt Lake City to dance with Ballet West.<\/p>\n
Diniz said that Adams is his main dance partner at Ballet West. \u201cEmily and I dance very well together,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve become very good friends and we are very connected as dancers and pretty much agree on everything together. That makes it much easier.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diniz often performs the role of Cavalier as a guest artist in several performances during the holidays. Next weekend, he will reprise the role in San Diego at the San Elijo Dance & Music Academy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diniz said he hopes \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d leaves audiences uplifted and energized.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to leave with a warm heart and more love towards the arts,\u201d Diniz said. \u201cThe Nutcracker is a wonderful holiday celebration and I hope people walk away feeling like they had a good time and that they feel like a new person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams said performing the Nutcracker takes her back to her own childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to see all the kids dancing and being inspired,\u201d she said. \u201cIt sparks their imagination. It\u2019s so magical and reminds me of myself performing it back when I was young. \u2018The Nutcracker\u2019 is such a family tradition for so many people. That\u2019s why the runs are so long with the big companies, so many people want to see it. Anytime you can go to a theater and be together with your family and escape into another world, it\u2019s a beautiful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aspendailynews.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aspen Santa Fe presents its annual production of \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d this weekend at Aspen District Theater. With its kaleidoscope of traditions, stunning costumes and Tchaikovsky\u2019s iconic score, \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d is an iconic holiday tradition.\u00a0 Photo by Sharen Bradford Every so often a piece of art will come along and be underappreciated only to go on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2186356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2186355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The-holidays-the-spectacle-The-Nutcracker-Arts-Entertainment.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2186355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2186357,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186355\/revisions\/2186357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2186356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2186355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2186355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2186355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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