Photo courtesy of Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts: “The Nutcracker”
By Angeline D’Balentine
The Interlochen Center for the Arts recently presented The Nutcracker Ballet. It is a ballet popular during Christmas holidays in the United States and often shown across the country. It was first performed in Russia in 1892 and scored by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Marius Petipa. It was an adaption of E.T.A Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
Interlochen presents the Nutcracker for the Christmas holidays every two years. This year, Cameron Basden directed it. Basden, who holds over 30 years of experience in ballet, was delighted to present this production to the public.
“It is such a pleasure to be a part of the Interlochen family.” Said Basden. “Working with these aspiring dancers and collaborating with the live Orchestra, watching the collective come together is a great pleasure.”
The ballet was a cast of International students from around the world who are attending at the Arts Academy, which is for middle and high school levels (6th – 12th, sometimes 13th allowed). There were students in the ballet that were from America like Hawaii, but also from Japan and New Zealand.
Interlochen Arts Academy “The Nutcracker” – 2011 Behind the Scenes Video:
Photo courtesy of Interlochen Center for the Arts
The campus is comprised of five sections: the Arts Camp, the Arts Academy, the Collage of Creative Arts (18+), their public radio, and the Concerts/Events. The campus has several stages for outside musicians and/or shows to present to the locals and travelers of the region. A recent Mat Kearney concert was presented on the Corson stage.
Basden served as Ballet Master and Co-Associate Director for the Joffrey Ballet from 1993-2008. It was then she relocated from Chicago to Interlochen (a few miles outside of Traverse City, Michigan) to become their Director of Dance. She was trained in Dallas, Texas, by Krassovsha and has staged repertoire for Boston Ballet, Ballet Met Columbus and Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow. She was the only one to gain rights to stage Massine’s “Les Presages.” She also oversaw some of the filming and staging of dancers in the movie “Save the Last Dance” and played her self in the Neve Cambell and James Franco film, “The Company.” Some of her influences are Nathalie Krassovska and Igor Youskevitch along with Olga Spessitseva.
Upon touching on the name of Olga Spessitseva, Basden shared with me the story of her visits with Spessitseva when the iconic dancer use to live in upper New York. This was during the time when the Joffrey Company was located in New York before it has moved to Chicago. Basden would travel to northern New York to sit with Spessitseva and listen to the dancer’s stories of ballet throughout Russia, Paris, London, and America until the dancer’s retirement in 1960.
Interlochen has a motto they go by that can be found on the back of the Kresge Auditorium stage: Dedicated to the Promotion of World Friendship through the Universal Language of the Art.
The Interlochen production of the 2011 Nutcracker was a hit and every night was a sold out show. To learn more about the Interlochen Center of the Arts shows and exhibits visit their site: http://presents.interlochen.org/events
