Capitol Ballet brings 'The Nutcracker' to Y-S

The holiday season invites families to honor many traditions.

For some families, that tradition includes seeing Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" ballet. But without a local ballet company, many have to make the drive to Sacramento or elsewhere to see a performance.

On Saturday, that will change with the Capitol Ballet Company performing "The Nutcracker" at the Yuba College Theatre in Linda.

"This should be a great performance," said Capitol Ballet artistic director Stuart Carroll. "We've done well (at Yuba College) and have gotten a really positive response."

Pyotr Iylich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" is a fairy tale ballet. It opens with a Christmas Eve Party. A young girl, Clara, receives a nutcracker toy dressed as a soldier from her godfather, Dr. Drosselmeyer. But her brother, Fritz, is jealous and breaks the nutcracker.

Later, while everyone is sleeping, Clara awakes to hear mice, who capture her. The nutcracker comes to life and he saves Clara. The nutcracker is then transformed into a prince, who takes Clara to his kingdom.

"We're performing the traditional version (of the ballet)," Carroll said. "That means we don't have some of the characters of the original E.T.A. Hoffmann story, and we've toned down some of the scarier aspects of the story.

"We tend to like the version that's a little more about the childhood innocence of the work, and is more in tune with the holiday season."

"The Nutcracker" was originally written by Tchaikovsky in the late 19th century, but has been performed routinely since then. The reason for this, Carroll said, is that "there's a little bit of something for everyone. It has a brilliant score with some beautiful music. ... A lot of the appeal is that it's a story ballet, which are the ones that can be a tradition."

Another reason for the longevity of "The Nutcracker" is the age range of roles. "There's a wide variety of characters in the piece, with a wide range of ages. You have children on stage, teenagers and a lot of adult roles," Carroll said.

"There's fantasy, there's excitement in the battle scene ... It has a little bit of everything."

"The Nutcracker"

Times: 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Yuba College Theatre, 2088 N. Beale Road, Linda

Tickets: $12 to $18. Call 741-6829