HOLIDAY FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY!
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The Nutcracker
RETURNS TO THE
DETROIT OPERA HOUSE

DETROIT, Michigan, November 7, 2008...The Nutcracker returns home to the Detroit Opera House this holiday season as The Joffrey Ballet presents six performances, December 4-7, 2008. A Detroit family tradition, The Joffrey Ballet production of The Nutcracker features ornate sets and costumes, live accompaniment from the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, and a veritable feast of festive activities for kids and families!

Patrons who attend the Saturday and Sunday matinee performances of The Nutcracker will enjoy a number of free family-friendly activities, including live reindeer, face painting, photos with Santa and The Nutcracker, and a “Sugar Plum Parade” after the show where audience members can meet the dancers on the Detroit Opera House stage after the show. A buffet lunch will also be available for $10.

The Nutcracker ballet, based on the E. T. A. Hoffmann book The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1818), features stunning choreography by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, as well as more than 50 of the finest dancers in the world, and more than 80 local children. This production of The Nutcracker, premiered by the Joffrey Ballet in 1987, is set in America on Christmas Eve, 1850. The ballet also features puppets by Kermit Love, perhaps best known for his work with Muppet creator Jim Henson.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s enchanting score will be performed by the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, under the baton of Dr. Leslie B. Dunner. Dr. Dunner, now the music director and principal conductor for the Joffrey Ballet, may be familiar to Detroit audiences, having spent 11 seasons with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to more than 80 young local dancers, the production will also feature local choirs performing holiday music in the grand lobby of the Detroit Opera House before the show and during intermission. The Michigan Opera Theatre Children’s Chorus will be performing during intermission for the Saturday and Sunday matinee performances.

The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier ballet companies in the world today having performed in over 400 U. S. cities and in all 50 states. The Joffrey Ballet was the first American company to tour the former Soviet Union, and the first dance company to perform at the White House. Together, founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino created a uniquely American company of dancers for whom they choreographed original and socially relevant ballets. They were the first to commission ballets by modern dance and contemporary choreographers such as Alvin Ailey, Laura Dean, William Forsythe and Twyla Tharp. One of the most recognized names in dance, The Joffrey Ballet is known around the world for its repertoire of historical ballets as well as ground-breaking contemporary works.

Tickets for the Detroit Opera House’s presentation of the Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker range in price from $28-$75; tickets for the Friday, December 5th 11 a.m. performance are $35 for adults, $10 each for student groups of 10 or more, and $25 each for senior groups of ten or more. Tickets are available at the Detroit Opera House ticket office (1526 Broadway, Detroit, 48226), by phone at (313) 237-SING (7464) or online at www.MichiganOpera.org. Tickets are also available at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at (248) 645-6666 or online at www.TicketMaster.com.

Contact

Rebekah Johnson
(313) 237-3403
rjohnson@motopera.org

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