Troupe marks 25 years of beloved holiday production

The Richmond Ballet is more than ready for its silver anniversary production of "The Nutcracker."

This year, the company already has four performances under its tutu belt, having collaborated with the Virginia Ballet Theatre to present the seasonal tradition at Norfolk's Chrysler Hall during the past weekend.

Because of changes in management and time restraints, VBT's Managing Director Keith Martin asked Richmond Ballet to head up the production so that audiences could continue to see it in the Hampton Roads area.

Using her 2003 revised choreography for the production, Stoner Winslett, Richmond Ballet artistic director, led her troupe along with dancers from the VBT and young cast members from 18 Norfolk-area schools and 16 dance academies for the event.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Richmond Ballet mounts the first of 12 Richmond productions for this season at the Landmark Theater.

"There is no production in the ballet repertory that comes close to 'The Nutcracker' in scope," Winslett said. "It is a ballet, a theater piece, a magic show, a parade of national dances, and a symphony and choral concert combined."

Winslett has nurtured the Christmas-season fantasy through 25 years since the Richmond Ballet became a professional company, as well as a number of years before that.

Part of that professional process involved Winslett creating a newly choreographed version of the piece in 2003 to make it even more appealing to children.

"'The Nutcracker' is a great favorite with families who make the show a part of their annual holiday tradition," Winslett said. "Children love it, but sometimes the smaller ones lose interest during the second act when the more serious dancing is occurring. The latest production is designed with lots of surprises and some new animal friends."

Many hundreds have danced in the annual production, and many thousands have seen the dancers under the guise of butterflies, a 59-foot dragon, a Russian bear, a wolf, lambs and mice . . . not to mention some characters who look, interestingly enough, like nutcrackers.

Using the famous score written by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the Richmond Symphony and Chorus will carry much of the background work, which might be an unfair term to use since the dancers depend a great deal on the music to bring the story to life.