Executive & Artistic Director
Thor Steingraber
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DORRANCE DANCE: THE NUTCRACKER SUITE
Artistic Director | Michelle Dorrance
The Nutcracker Suite Co-Creators
Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, and Josette Wiggan
Performers
Craig Brockman, Sydney Burtis, Warren Craft, Michelle Dorrance, Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Jabu Graybeal, Asha Griffith, Sterling Harris, Hannah Heller, Luke Hickey, Rena Kinoshita, Addi Loving, Aaron Marcellus, Carson Murphy, Maddie Murphy, Claudia Rahardjanoto, Gregory Richardson, Leonardo Sandoval, Gisele Silva, Veronica Simpson, Melinda Sullivan, Matthew “Megawatt” West, Josette Wiggan
Thur Dec 12 | 8:00 pm
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An Interview With The Co-Creators
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Program
AN ELLA’QUENT HOLIDAY SWING (2021)
Music Direction & Arrangements by Aaron Marcellus and Gregory Richardson after Ella Fitzgerald and Frank DeVol
Vocal Arrangements by Aaron Marcellus
Lighting Design by Kathy Kaufmann
Costume Styling by An Ella’quent Holiday Swing performers
Sound Design by Christopher Marc
Lead Vocals | Aaron Marcellus
Drums | Warren Craft
Piano | Craig Brockman
Bass | Gregory Richardson
Backing Vocals | Michelle Dorrance, Addi Loving, Melinda Sullivan, and Claudia Rahardjanoto
Featured Dancers | Members of the Cast and Special Guest, Melinda Sullivan
Music “Brighten The Corner Where You Are” written by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel and Ina Daley Ogden
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, Sony ATV
“Good Morning Blues” by Count Basie, Eddie Durham and James Rushing
"Sleigh Ride” written by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish, Woodbury Music Company and Sony ATV Music Publishing, copyright owners
“Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” written by Johnny Marks, St. Nicholas Music, Inc.
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne
“Jingle Bells” written by Frank Devol and James Pierpont
THE NUTCRACKER SUITE
... or, a rhythmaturgical evocation of the super-leviathonic enchantments of Duke and Billy’s supreme adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece that tells a tale of a misunderstood girl who kills a king and meets a queen and don’t forget oooo-gong-chi-gong-sh’-gon’make-it- daddy, and that it ain’t so bad after all (2019)
Co-Created by Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller, and Josette Wiggan
Choreography by Michelle Dorrance and Josette Wiggan with solo improvisation by the dancers
Additional Choreography by Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Hannah Heller, Matthew “Megawatt” West, and Joseph Wiggan
Choreographic Advisor | Risa Steinberg
Original Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arr. Ellington/Strayhorn by arrangement with G Schirmer, INC. publisher and copyright owner. Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment, all rights reserved.
Lighting Design by Kathy Kaufmann
Costume Design by Andrew Jordan
Sound Design by Christopher Marc
Scenic Design by Peiyi Wong
CAST
Clara | Gisele Silva
Her Mother | Josette Wiggan
Her Father| Jabu Graybeal
Her Brother, Fritz | Luke Hickey
Her Godfather, Drosselmeyer (Drossy) | Warren Craft
Party Guests | Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Asha Griffith, Aaron Marcellus, Carson Murphy, Maddie Murphy, Claudia Rahardjanoto, Matthew “Megawatt” West
“Mechanical” Dolls | Maddie Murphy, Matthew “Megawatt” West
The Nutcracker | Veronica Simpson
Rat King | Hannah Heller
Rat Deputy | Leonardo Sandoval
The Rats | Sydney Burtis, Sterling Harris, Rena Kinoshita, Addi Loving, Aaron Marcellus, Maddie Murphy, Gregory Richardson
The Snow Passage | Jabu Graybeal, Asha Griffith, Sterling Harris, Luke Hickey, Rena Kinoshita, Addi Loving, Claudia Rahardjanoto, and Leonardo Sandoval
Sugar Rum Cherry | Josette Wiggan
Her Cavalier | Jabu Graybeal
Sugar Rum Blossoms | Addi Loving, Carson Murphy, Maddie Murphy
Mother Ginger | Claudia Rahardjanoto
Stepperi of the Volga | Company
Danseurs of the Floreadores | Company
Alchemist | Matthew “Megawatt” West
Swing| Sydney Burtis
Understudy | Michelle Dorrance
The Nutcracker Suite was commissioned and created, in part, with the support of The Joyce Theater Foundation’s Artist Residency Center, made possible by lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The Nutcracker Suite...was co-commissioned by Global Arts Live, with support from Eric Klotch and Catherine Owens, Global Arts Live is a not for profit presenting organization located in Cambridge, MA; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, Director Seth Soloway; and University of Connecticut, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts.
PRODUCTION TEAM & ADDITIONAL DESIGN
Production Manager | Christopher Marc
Company Manager | Sally Race
Lighting Supervisor | Devin Koenig
Production Wardrobe Supervisor | Amy Page
Touring Wardrobe Supervisor | Hannah Dowdy
Audio Engineer | Henry Mayr
Project Manager | Hannah Heller
Nutcracker Assistant Dance Co-Captains | Addi Loving and Veronica Simpson
Nutcracker Rehearsal Assistants | Sydney Burtis, Emiko Nakagawa, and Veronica Simpson
Assistant Scenic Design by Maya Topping Weed
Additional Scenic Design & Build by Ariel Lauryn
Additional Rat Puppet Fabrication by Amelia Lang
Mother Ginger Design and Build by Carolyn Mraz
The Soraya’s Student Ticket Fund
Introducing a young person to the experience of live performance is transformative — opening hearts and minds, while also building the audience of the future. Your critical micro-investments, in $50 increments, will make an impact far greater than you might imagine.
As we embark upon the third year, the student ticket fund needs an infusion of new donations to keep pace with the demand. With a single donation, you can double the impact, investing in a young person as well as the future of the performing arts.
The Soraya is a welcoming place, and we lead in the effort to build audiences as varied and vibrant as our communities. We are immensely grateful for your support in making that vision a reality.
Program Note
One of the clear signs of a classic is evidenced by subsequent generations of artists revisiting and reimagining the original source, sometimes tweaking and sometimes making wholesale change. Purists will cry heresy. However, this iterative process is invaluable, both in preserving the original and introducing it to new generations. This has been true since the beginning of time. If you think for a moment that Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare’s original, then you will be sorely disappointed to learn otherwise.
Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn not only brought Tchaikovsky’s score for The Nutcracker into the 20th century, but also adapted it to have a uniquely American sound, using the vernacular of jazz. Josette Wiggan, Hannah Heller, Michelle Dorrance and the company took this as their point of departure in marrying the score with another American art form – tap dance.
All of America sat up and took notice last year when the piece debuted at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, even making a brief stop at The White House. I couldn’t be prouder than having Michelle Dorrance back to The Soraya again, this time with her witty and sparkling production, to share the holiday season with us.
Gratefully,
Thor Steingraber
Executive and Artistic Director,
Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts
Jazz at Naz
The annual Jazz at Naz festival has been recognized as one of the best winter jazz festivals on the West Coast as well as the jazz epicenter in Los Angeles. Jazz at Naz has showcased major debuts for emerging artists, such as two-time Grammy Award-winner Samara Joy, and created a home for the world’s jazz legends, such as John Pizzarelli, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, and Charles Lloyd. The festival has also turned the spotlight on influential crossover artists, such as Bobby and Taylor McFerrin, Diana Krall, Jon Batiste, Gregory Porter, Herb Alpert, and Lani Hall.
Returning after their sold-out debut last season, Pacific Jazz Orchestra opens the Jazz at Naz festival’s fourth season headlined by Eva Noblezada, a Grammy Award-winning and two-time Tony-nominated Broadway and West End star.
This season, The Soraya also welcomes saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, as well as the return of Christian McBride to the onstage, intimate Jazz Club for two nights each.
Fresh from a monthlong celebration of the music of the great Duke Ellington, Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran returns to The Soraya for the fourth time to continue the festivities honoring the Duke’s enduring legacy and his 125th birthday. In addition to entertaining from the piano, Moran will lead CSUN’s award-winning Jazz “A” big band to join him in furthering The Soraya’s ongoing commitment to music and arts education.
Also presented in the Great Hall during the Jazz at Naz festival will be Kurt Elling Celebrates Weather Report with Yellowjackets, and Chucho Valdés who brings Irakere back to life honoring its 50th anniversary with special guest Arturo Sandoval in a return engagement.
About Dorrance Dance
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. Founded in 2011 by Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance, the company is made up of truly unique dancers and musicians who are rooted in improvisation with an investment in choreographic exploration, musical composition, live performance, and education. The company is passionately committed to engaging new audiences on a musical and emotional level, and sharing the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form throughout the country and the world.
Dorrance Dance has received numerous accolades, rave reviews, and has propelled tap dance through doors that were once closed to the art form. The company has been presented by Danspace Project, The Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, New York City Center, Sadler’s Wells London, the Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Works and Process at the Guggenheim, Spoleto Festival USA, Vail International Dance Festival, The Bolshoi’s DanceInversion International Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Lincoln Center Out Of Doors, Singapore International Festival Of Arts, Seattle Theater Group, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, National Arts Centre Ottawa, American Dance Festival, Colours Festival Stuttgart, Maison de la Danse Lyons, Fira Tàrrega, Danse Danse Montréal, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, Carolina Performing Arts, Cal Performances at Berkeley, Boston’s Crash Arts, Fire Island Dance Festival, Kuopio Dance Festival Finland, The Tilles Center, Stockholm Tap Festival, and many others.
www.DorranceDance.com | Instagram: @dorrancedance | Facebook: facebook.com/dorrancedance/
As seen in tonight's performance, Dorrance Dance is deeply committed to creating new works and employment opportunities for tap dancers. Please join our mailing list for updates.
Dorrance Dance is generously supported by The Evelyn Sharp Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, New Music USA, The O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, One World Fund, and The Shubert Foundation.
Rehearsal and development for this performance was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. These performances are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council. Dorrance Dance is a recipient of a U.S. Small Business Administration Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, made possible by the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Charles D. Schumer.
Artist Bios
Michelle Dorrance (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Dancer) is a New York City-based artist. Mentored by Gene Medler (North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble), she was fortunate to study under many of the last master hoofers. Career highlights include: STOMP, Derick Grant’s Imagine Tap!, Jason Samuels Smith’s Charlie’s Angels/Chasing the Bird, Ayodele Casel’s Diary of a Tap Dancer, Mable Lee’s Dancing Ladies, and playing the bass for Darwin Deez. Company work includes: Savion Glover’s Ti Dii, Manhattan Tap, Barbara Duffy and Co., JazzTap Ensemble, and Rumba Tap. Solo work ranges from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to commissions for the Martha Graham Dance Company, Vail Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre, and New York City Center. Michelle made her Broadway choreographic debut with James Lapine’s Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theater in 2021. A 2018 Doris Duke Artist, 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, and 2015 MacArthur Fellow, Dorrance is humbled to have been acknowledged and supported by United States Artists, The Joyce Theater, the Alpert Awards, Jacob’s Pillow, Princess Grace Foundation-USA, The Field, American Tap Dance Foundation, and the Bessie Awards. Dorrance holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University and an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of North Carolina. She is a Capezio athlete and was recently named an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells.
Josette Wiggan (Co-Creator/Choreographer/Dancer) has a love for performing that was fostered by Paul and Arlene Kennedy in Los Angeles. A graduate of UCLA, Josette’s career highlights include, the 2001 Spotlight Award winner in non-classical dance, the 1st National Broadway Tour of 42nd Street, movies Idlewild and Princess and the Frog and studying with Germaine Acogny at L’ecole les Sables in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal. Alongside her brother, she was a part of two original casts of Cirque du Soleil’s Banana Shpeel and Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour from 2009-2013. The duo has also been seen in Tireless, a curated show by Michelle Dorrance that had its debut at Jacob’s Pillow in 2017. In addition, Josette is a part of Dorrance’s all woman quartet, Until the Real Comes Along and All Good Things Must Come to an End and currently co-created along with Michelle Dorrance and Hannah Heller, a new work entitled, …The Nutcracker Suite… in 2019. In the summer of 2021, Josette created her first evening length work, Praise: The Inevitable Fruit of Gratitude, in collaboration with grammy nominated, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold at Jacob’s Pillow and most currently, has developed On Solid Ground: A Celebration of Black Joy and Freedom In Our America, featuring improvisation by the dancers and musicians of Josette Wiggans Presents… Josette is a sought after educator, choreographer and performer and has dedicated her life to the perpetuation of African American Vernacular Jazz Dance. She is also on faculty at USC's Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, teaching Vernacular Jazz and Tap Dance.
Hannah Heller (Co-Creator/Dancer) is a filmmaker, actor, writer, and dancer. She was a founding member of Savion Glover’s Ti Dii and has appeared with Dorrance Dance, Jane Comfort and Co., and Grand Lady Dance House. Select New York theater credits include Elements of Oz (Skirball), The World is Round (BAM), The Reception (HERE Arts Center), and Evelyn (Bushwich Starr). Hannah’s award winning short film Ursula continues to play at festivals across the world.
Aaron Marcellus (Musical Direction/Lead Vocals, "An Ella’quent Holiday Swing") Hailing from Atlanta, Marcellus is a versatile artist with a career spanning 25 years. He has captivated global audiences as a singer, songwriter, composer, musician, dancer and actor. Marcellus gained recognition through American Idol and performed on a world tour sponsored by the US Armed Forces, entertaining thousands in multiple countries. He has also appeared in Chapstick commercials, Universal Pictures’ Dear Evan Hansen and NBC’s Next Caller. As a member of Stomp Off-Broadway and a supporting lead in National Black Theater’s Dreaming Zenzile, he continues to showcase his exceptional talents. Find him on Instagram at @theaaronmarcellus.
Designer Bios
Andrew Jordan (Costume Designer) is an artist and costume designer exploring the possible relationships between sculpture, installation, puppetry, and the moving form of the human body. He has designed for both stage and screen, including projects spanning opera, contemporary dance, experimental performance, film, and parade. He has worked primarily in NYC and LA, currently residing in Detroit. He received his BFA in Fine Arts, with a minor in Media Studies, from the Columbus College of Art and Design and his MFA in sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Kathy Kaufmann (Lighting Designer) is a two time Bessie recipient and New York City native. She is a resident designer at the Danspace Project at St. Marks Church and has toured extensively throughout the world. She has been lighting Dorrance Dance since 2012 and designs regularly for many companies including Music From The Sole, Joanna Kotze, Ephrat Asherie Dance, The Bang Group, EIko & Koma, Rebecca Stenn, Mariana Valencia and Mina Nishamura.
Christopher Marc (Production Manager/Sound Designer) is a NYC-based sound designer and production manager from Minneapolis, MN. He has designed and engineered sound for Michelle Dorrance, Music From the Sole, Variety Life Productions, Lincoln Center Restart Stages, Luke Hickey and Michael Jellick, as well as regional and Off-Broadway productions with the Kennedy Center, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, IJB Productions, Aquila Theatre and Mills Entertainment. Marc also designs/builds custom floors for percussive dance and is owner/operator of @CMarcAudio.
Peiyi Wong (Scenic Designer) is a Bessie Award-winning scenographer and interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She designs sets, installations, and costumes for live performance. Recent credits – sets: The Whitney Album (Soho Rep), Weightless (WP Theater), A Delicate Balance (Transport Group | NAATCO), The Vicksburg Project (Mabou Mines), SPEECH (Lightning Rod Special), Song About Trains (Working Theater | RadEv), Memoirs of a…Unicorn (NYLA, 2018 Bessie Outstanding Design), HOUSECONCERT (Object Collection), Charleses (The Tank, Hewes nomination), set + costume: A Hunger Artist (Sinking Ship), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (Transport Group), MukhAgni (The Public UTR). Upcoming: Public Obscenities (Woolly Mammoth | TFANA), A Good Day To Me Not to You (Waterwell). In 2023 she was the recipient of the Edith Lutyens & Bel Geddes Design Enhancement Fund and NYSCA Support for Artists Grants. Faculty at Playwrights Horizons, NYU Tisch. MFA, CalArts.
DORRANCE DANCE STAFF & BOARD
Artistic Director | Michelle Dorrance
Interim Executive Director | Jenny Novac
General Manager | Hillary Kooistra
Production Manager/Sound Designer | Christopher Marc
Asst. Production Manager/Lighting Supervisor | Devin Koenig
Associate Producer | Gabby Benavides
Administrative Associate | Brooklyn Toli
Company Manager |Sally Race
Development Consultants | Megan Callaghan, Sofia Del Valle & Carrie O’Dell, Donorly
Dance Captain | Elizabeth Burke
Musical Director | Gregory Richardson
Lighting Designer | Kathy Kaufmann
Wardrobe Supervisor | Amy Page
Financial Administrator | Andrea Nellis & Evan Aanerud, Arts FMS
Artist Representative | Barbara Frum, outer/most
Dorrance Dance Board of Directors: Henri Benaim (Chair), Marc Steglitz (Treasurer), Deb Klowden Mann (Secretary,) Courtney Blackwell Burton, M’Liss Dorrance, Michelle Dorrance, Michael Feller, Quamid Francis, Joseph Gallo, Hilary Srere
An Interview With The Co-Creators of The Nutcracker Suite
You Belong Here
This is your opportunity to belong to something special. Our 2024-25 Members enjoy exclusive experiences, such as the Member Appreciation Night for all Members, special events and artist meet-and-greets (Silver Members and above), private pre-performance artist salons (Silver Members and above), our festive holiday party, the annual Director’s Dinner in 2025 (Platinum Members), and more — as well as priority access to your preferred seats, your very own Members Only Seating Section, and exclusive savings when you select five or more performances. Most importantly, Member benefits are valid all season.
Beyond the benefits, Members drive our mission to present the highest caliber artists who captivate, inspire, and transport our audiences. Here, Members are part of a growing community of arts lovers connected by the joy of shared human experience. Here, Members belong.
About Us
The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts is an award-winning, 1,700-seat theater that opened in 2011 and was designed by HGA Architects and Engineers. In 2017, a transformative gift by Younes and Soraya Nazarian dubbed the venue The Soraya (formerly the Valley Performing Arts Center). A vibrant performance program has served to establish The Soraya as the intellectual and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley and its 1.8 million residents, and further establish The Soraya as one of the top arts companies in Southern California.
The Soraya’s 2024-25 Season boldly advances the immersive sound of big orchestras; the free flow of jazz; an array of dance; and a cultural bounty drawn from the well of world traditions. The Soraya continues its vigorous commitment to innovating, excelling, and amplifying access by offering a wide variety of performances that reflect LA’s many distinctive communities and featuring new and original work from the Los Angeles region as well as artists from around the world.
Located on the vibrant campus of the California State University, Northridge, The Soraya and the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication share an integral link that enhances student opportunities in the arts and performing arts. This partnership fosters academic opportunity and artistic excellence, elevating the talents of CSUN’s students.
A $5 million contribution from record producer and former California Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb was pivotal in ensuring The Soraya was completed and opened in 2011. For his founding support and in acknowledgment of the integral relationship between the Mike Curb College and The Soraya, Curb is recognized as one of The Soraya’s Cornerstone Benefactors. The relationship between The Soraya and the Mike Curb College continues to grow, with robust offerings for students through master classes, student tickets, concerts of student ensembles, and students appearing alongside renowned artists, such as Wynton Marsalis, Aida Cuevas, and Martha Graham Dance Company.