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Nutcracker
Each year during the winter holiday season, Brighton Ballet Theater performs "A Winter Fairy Tale," a full-length ballet based on Peter Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker," at the 1,200-seat Millennium Theater in Brighton Beach. This production of the "Nutcracker," with original choreography from Edouard Kouchnarev, is seen by thousands of people each year and features six professional dancers from Brighton Ballet Theater Company and more than 100 children dancers from BBT/School of Russian Ballet. In addition, a number of guest dancers from India, Nigeria and China traditionally participate in the production, making the performance truly a celebration of the diversity and artistic talent in the Brooklyn community.
In addition to featuring professional dancers from some of the leading dance theaters in the former Soviet Union, "A Winter Fairy Tale" highlights the achievements of BBT's young dancers, some of them as young as age four. BBT places a major emphasis on creating live stage performance opportunities for its children, and this season-ending spectacular provides a unique opportunity for children to dance alongside professional dancers. "A Winter Fairy Tale" is a ballet especially tailored to kids and young audiences, performed only by BBT students.
For the past several years, BBT has been chosen by the Brooklyn Center for Performing Arts and "Millennium Theater" to perform annually in Brooklyn for thousands of New York City students. In 2003, for example, thirty excited students from BBT/School of Russian Ballet had the opportunity to appear in the International Ballet Theatre's production of "The Nutcracker" at the Brooklyn Center for Performing Arts at Brooklyn College. International Ballet Theatre is a touring company, directed by Vladimir Shumeikin, which welcomes the participation of local dance students from the cities in which the troupe performs.
The production of "A Winter Fairy Tale" is funded in part by public funds from the New York State Council of the Arts, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In 2001, the performance of "A Winter Fairy Tale" was dedicated to the victims and heroes of September 11, with a portion of the proceeds donated to those families that lost loved ones at Ground Zero.
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