EXPERIENCE THIS “DREAM-LIKE” NUTCRACKER
LIKE NEVER BEFORE!
ARRIVE AS A GUEST AT THE BALLET’S FAMOUS PARTY SCENE
WITNESS A SNOW BALLET IN A WORLD FAMOUS GARDEN
VISIT THE LAND OF SWEETS
FOR A BRAND NEW, CLASSICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE BALLET’S SECOND ACT IN THE ROUND!
CREATED AND DIRECTED BY TROY SCHUMACHER
CREATIVE DIRECTION BY ELIZABETH MAYHEW, THE DUTCHY
FEATURING COTUMES FROM OSCAR de la RENTA, TODD SNYDER, and HAYDEE MORALES
DECOR ELEMENTS FROM BALSAM HILL AND SCHUMACHER FABRICS
COVID-19 SAFETY
The Nutcracker at Wethersfield provided a safe and full holiday experience that otherwise could not take place during the pandemic.
All dancers quarantined for 4 weeks prior to any events and lived and worked in a quarantine pod.
Timed invitations, limited to 7-8 groups of 2-6 people per show, ensured the house and garden remained at 25% capacity, making social distancing possible and potential COVID-19 exposure limited. Everyone was masked inside the ventilated house at all times during the first act and the rest of the ballet took place in a mix of outdoor and tented locations.
A group of medical professionals consulted on Covid-19 safety protocols to ensure audience and performer safety. Additional audience and performer safety guidelines were released prior to the performances.
ABOUT WETHERSFIELD
The Wethersfield Estate, an acclaimed historical site situated in beautiful Dutchess County in New York’s Hudson Valley, encompasses a neo-Georgian manor house, formal garden, and carriage house museum. The Estate was the homeproperty of Chauncey Stillman, grandson of James Stillman, Chairman of the National Bank, now known as CitiBank. The Wethersfield Foundation, which maintains and manages the Estate, focuses on access to the arts, culture and land conservation. The Wethersfield Foundation is pleased to partner with the BalletCollective to make The Nutcracker at Wethersfield possible
A portion of donations will go to support Wethersfield and its mission as a community resource.
ABOUT BALLETCOLLECTIVE
Produced and created by BalletCollective, who this summer successfully created and premiered the first full ballet with live performances in New York since the start of the pandemic. The Nutcracker at Wethersfield will feature approximately 20-25 dancers from New York City Ballet, available this year to perform, due to the classic Lincoln Center production being canceled due to the pandemic.
Founded in 2010 by Troy Schumacher, BalletCollective (BC) creates and performs forward-thinking works that reflect the world we live in. BC commissions emerging, established and acclaimed choreographers, composers, writers and visual artists to collaborate on ballet based works. BC exclusively performs commissioned, collaborative work.
BC's process fosters interdisciplinary inspiration and innovation. BC connects choreographers with composers; together they choose a non-performative artist. The trio exchanges ideas in their work and the season's curatorial concept. The visual artist or writer develops a work of source art for the composer and choreographer to utilize as inspiration for the piece and as a tool to ground the artistic conversation. The source art does not necessarily become part of the final work, but it could not exist without it. With each new collective there are new challenges, experiments, and ultimately new forms of expression that expand the definition of ballet for artists and audiences alike.
BC has commissioned and performed 15 works with over 50 choreographers, composers, musicians, artists, designers, and dancers, including Karen Russell, James Ramsey, Ken Liu, Julianna Barwick, David Salle, Dafy Hagai, Judd Greenstein, and Cynthia Zarin. BC has recently presented at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center, Joyce Theater, NYU Skirball Center, Guggenheim Works & Process, Fire Island Dance Festival, Savannah Music Festival, and made its international debut at the Guggenheim Bilbao in August 2018.