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Houston Ballet\u2019s The Nutcracker (Photos by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox)<\/p>\n Houston Ballet\u2019s The Nutcracker (Photos by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a trick to watching Houston Ballet\u2019s Christmas extravaganza, The Nutcracker. The first half of the show is all glitter and spectacle. It\u2019s aimed at the kids in the audience, wowing them with lots of \u201cDid you see that?\u201d moments. <\/p>\n
The second half, when most of the younger audience members have fallen asleep in their seats, is aimed at the adults in the audience. There are endless pirouettes, impressive leaps, and a huge array of international characters. <\/p>\n
Choreographed by Stanton Welch, Houston Ballet\u2019s co-artistic director, this production of The Nutcracker is in its ninth year. Set to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the classical ballet follows Clara, a young girl at a huge holiday party where she\u2019s given an exquisite nutcracker that comes to life and takes her to the Land of Sweets on a magical adventure. <\/p>\n
The role of Clara will be performed by various members of the company, including Gretel Batista. The 32-year-old corps de ballet member, now in her seventh season with the Houston Ballet, identifies with the \u201cplus\u201d segment of the LGBTQ+ community. \u201cI\u2019m a unicorn,\u201d she laughs. <\/p>\n
Dancing in The Nutcracker is a rite of passage for ballet dancers. Starting at age five or six, they are angels or mice with the singular task of bourr\u00e9eing across the stage (taking quick, teeny, tiny steps) or cheering on the Rat King.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slightly older children dance in the party scene in the first act as guests. They continue there until they are perhaps selected to play the role of Clara or the Prince, as well as the guests in the second act. <\/p>\n
\u201cI remember when I first got to be a Sugarplum; it was a dream come true for me,\u201d says Batista. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a little girl, you\u2019re on the side of the stage. You dream of the day when it will be you dancing Clara.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students at the Houston Ballet Academy are cast in the production as young as six years old. \u201cThey\u2019re very serious,\u201d Batista says. \u201cThey\u2019re so excited and nervous to be around the company members. They\u2019re so disciplined and so serious about their roles. They\u2019re little professionals already. They have to audition. I think it\u2019s amazing for them to go through an audition process at such a young age.\u201d <\/p>\n
This season, Batista plays some ten characters. Along with Clara, she\u2019s the grandmother, a snow flurry, and both a Chinese and a Spanish dancer, among others.<\/p>\n
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Houston Ballet\u2019s corps de ballet member Gretel Batista as Clara in Stanton Welch\u2019s production of The Nutcracker.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we do so many shows, it keeps it fresh,\u201d says Batista. \u201cAnd it\u2019s fun to do different roles. Every performance, there are kids in the audience who are seeing The Nutcracker for the first time. They\u2019ve never seen it before, and we want it to be magical for them. By doing different roles over the run of the show, we keep it fresh and fun\u2014for both the audience and dancers.\u201d <\/p>\n
As the student dancers age and increase in skill, they rise up the ranks in the cast. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting to see the growth from year to year,\u201d says Batista. \u201cWhen the casting comes out, you go to the board to see what role you have, and each year, it\u2019s different. You grow into your new roles. Each role becomes special because you were looking up to it for so many years before you got to dance it. All your energy goes into that role, making it the best you can.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Nutcracker season is intense for the entire Houston Ballet family. Backstage craftspeople\u2014from wig makers to costume designers and makeup artists, musicians to lighting and set crews, and dozens of dancers\u2014are all involved. \u201cIt\u2019s exhausting; it\u2019s like a marathon,\u201d says Batista. \u201cWhen you count the full rehearsals and performances, it\u2019s more than 40 shows. With rehearsals, it\u2019s a two-month process. So yes, it\u2019s lots of fun, but it\u2019s a lot of work, too!\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if she has any special holiday traditions to celebrate Christmas, Batista laughs and says, \u201cI rest! Christmas is the only day off that we have during The Nutcracker season, so I rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT: <\/b>Houston Ballet\u2019s The Nutcracker
WHEN: <\/b>November 28\u2013December 28, 2025; there will be a special LGBTQ Out at the Ballet reception before the performance on Friday, December 12.
WHERE: <\/b>Wortham Theater Center
INFO: <\/b>Visit houstonballet.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston Ballet\u2019s The Nutcracker (Photos by Lawrence Elizabeth Knox) There\u2019s a trick to watching Houston Ballet\u2019s Christmas extravaganza,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":364465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-364464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115513980101501171","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}