Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM DECEMBER 11-17, 2019 UCW 15 COVER STORY North Carolina State Ballet 'Nutcracker' celebrates 50 years by STEPHANIE CRIDER It's been 50 years since t he Nort h Carolina State Ballet graced t he stage to perform "The Nutcracker." Under t he direction of Charlotte Blume, t he production f lourished. Blume died in 2015, but her passion project continues to pull in crowds — bot h for auditions and at t he box off ice. This year's public performances are set for Dec. 14 and 15, in addition to t he shows per- formed exclusively for school students. Dina Lew is has been at t he helm since Blume's deat h, and she's worked hard to ensure Blume's memor y lives on and t hat her contributions to t he communit y and to her students are ack nowl- edged. "About midway t hrough a rehearsal, I asked how many people had studied under Charlotte Blume. It was 10," Lew is said. "There are 10 of her students remaining t hat had her — and t hree are seniors. She is still such a legend in t he studio, t hough. The younger girls are like, 'You k new her?' A nd t he older girls w ill tell t hem about her. She is def initely still t here." "She is still a big part of t he production — t his year more t han ever," Lew is said. "W hen people walk into t he show, t hey w ill see pictures of her f lank ing t he doors. W hen Charlotte was alive, she was an artist in ever y sense of t he word. She would draw t he posters and have t hem printed. She would draw out t he T-shirt designs; t hey were all hers. … A few weeks ago, when I was go- ing t hrough a stack of papers, it was labeled "art." It was all her old T-shirt designs. We brought t he tradition back t his year as a surprise to t he girls using a couple of Ms. Blume's original designs. We found her signature, and it w ill be on t he back of t he shirts t his year." W hile Blume was k now n for her passion for her dancers, she was also k now n for demanding excellence and commitment from her students. "She had a way of pulling t he excellence out of t he children," said Lew is. "She k new what t hey were capable of, and she would push t hem to be t heir best and do t heir best. She would say t hat no one is ever perfect in dance. There is always somet hing to work on." W hile t here have been many surprises and lots of hard work in carr y ing on Blume's commit- ment to 'The Nutcracker,' Lew is said t here have been some mov ing and wonderful surprises, too. In addition to t he stack of hand-draw n original T-shirt art work, Lew is has come across hand- draw n posters t hat Blume designed for prev ious "Nutcracker" productions. A nd t here was also t he original paper work t hat The Charlotte Blume School of Dance signed w it h t he N.C. State Bal- let when Blume's students f irst performed t he ballet. "I found her original paper work from t he ballet company," said Lew is. "A ll t hese years we have had t he numbers w rong. A ll t his time, we didn't k now how long t his has been going. W hen I found it, I called her son to conf irm it. I also reached out to t he Crow n, and we are t he longest performing production at t he Crow n Theatre — it is us!" This year, t he audience can expect some fun changes. "We have done a lot of new t hings," Lew is said. "There are new backdrops, and almost t he entire f irst act — except one group — is all brand new costumes. I wanted to put t he statement out t here how proud were are of t he anniversar y and producing t he show for t his many years." There are some big changes in t he Russian scene in t he second act as well. "The Russian tutus were created for us by Phillip Martin- Nelsen, principal dancer of t he all-male pointe group "Les Ballets Trockadero de Monet Carlo" of New York," Lew is said. "We were ver y honored when he agreed to create and make t hem for us. … He does a lot of t heir costumes. We FaceTimed him and he had a sketch back to us in just a few minutes." This year, Ella Lew is is Sugar Plum, danc- ing w it h Adam Chav is. Nick Fok ine is ballet royalt y — his great-grandparents Michael and Vera Fok ine choreographed 'Giselle.' He helped at some of our rehearsals. He also performs w it h Carolina ballet. He helped us a lot. We are excited to put t hat on stage." Lew is mentioned some ot her fun changes, too. "We just don't have ballerinas on stage for t he Russian stint. There w ill be some g y mnas- tics on stage, too. I t hink t he audience w ill love it. A nd for Snow … we have a Snow K ing and a Snow Queen. That is also new t his year." It takes 11 mont hs to produce "The Nut- cracker." The planning starts short ly after t he holidays. Rehearsals start in April and, except for t wo weeks in July, run right up to t he perfor- mances. It's hard work. It's a lot of dedication. It's ex hausting, but so wort h it, Lew is said. It brings somet hing special to t he communit y and t he performers are passionate about it. "This year we have a cast of 86. … As people came in, we saw t he line for auditions was w rapped all t he way around t he f ire station. It is really cool. I t hought wow, if Charlotte could have been here to see t his." Nort h Carolina State Ballet's "The Nutcrack- er" w ill be at t he Crow n Dec. 14 and 15 w it h performances at 3 p.m. Tickets cost bet ween $10 and $25. Children 5 and under are free. Visit http://w w w.crow ncomplex nc.com for tickets and information. A Christmas classic, "The Nutcracker" takes the stage at the Crown Dec. 14-15. STEPHANIE CRIDER, Associate Pub- lisher. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200.