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Like any large-scale, complex stage production, the new Ballet Quad Cities “The Nutcracker” truly takes a village to pull off.

Premiered on Dec. 2 in performances at Cedar Rapids’ Paramount Theatre (with live music by Orchestra Iowa), the professional ballet company includes a cast of 60 and over 100 costumes, BQC artistic director Courtney Lyon said this week.

It will be performed at Davenport’s Adler Theatre Saturday, Dec. 9th at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m.

The extremely disciplined cast includes about 40 student dancers, the most BQC has had in a decade, Lyon (who again choreographs the colorful 1892 Tchaikovsky fairy tale) said.

“They’ve come from McGregor, West Liberty, Muscatine and the Blue Grass area, so from all over,” she said. “It’s pretty cool. I think there’s like nine different dance schools represented, so it’s really a regional effort.”

“There’s something really special about that many people coming together and working hard to bring a product to this stage and ‘The Nutcracker’ is really about imagination and joy and innocence,” Lyon said, noting the company has had the partnership with Orchestra Iowa and Cedar Rapids shows since 2012.

“It’s really the product of a lot of different humans coming together, whether it’s the students or the professionals, the lighting designer, the costume designer — all of that coming together on stage, to give a product to the community,” she said.

“We have people drive in from hours away to come see the production every year and it just is really, really meaningful and I thank them for coming, but then they thank me for providing an experience and opportunity for their family to have a tradition,” Lyon added. “It’s not about any one person. This production really takes a village.”

Among the student dancers — from Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance, Davenport Junior Theatre, Family Museum, Jenny’s Dance Academy, Myrna Rae’s Studio of Dance, Tina’s Dance Studio, Turning Pointe, and West Liberty Dance Center – is 11-year-old Nelie Stollenwerk of McGregor, Iowa.

Since October, she has come over two and a half hours with her mom Jenny, to rehearse three times a week for her first “Nutcracker,” a beloved, dreamlike Christmas classic.

Nelie (who has been studying ballet since she was 6) first saw the BQC “Nutcracker” in Cedar Rapids in 2021 and was floored.

“It was amazing,” the 6th-grader said Tuesday. “Wouldn’t it be so awesome to be in ‘The Nutcracker?’ And two years later, here I am.”

Nelie and her mom carpool into the Quad Cities with another dancer friend from McGregor, 130 miles away.

“I enjoy the professionalism of the company and the teachers are so nice,” she said. “All of the dancers are amazing. I love the artistry of it. It combines physical fitness and you have to be graceful. It’s something I’ve always loved to do.”

Of her BQC debut (Nelie plays an angel at the start of Act II and is in the finale) last weekend, she said: “It went great. It’s so much fun to perform on stage, and have the live orchestra.”

A few differences this year

This year’s “Nutcracker” is different in that the roles of Clara and Sugar Plum Fairy are danced by different women – Madeline Kreszenz and Eleanor Ambler, respectively – whereas last year, they were both danced by former company member Claire Cordano.

This time, you see Clara a “bit more of the perspective of the joy and wonder through children’s eyes, the magic of the holiday and the magic of the imagination,” Lyon said.

The party scene at the beginning also adds a wind-up mouse (played by Jillian Van Cura), holding a big piece of cheese. “It’s really fun for me and then it kind of ties in the story later on in the battle scene and all that,” Lyon said. “It’s little bit of comedy added in.”

Overall, she doesn’t want the ballet to stay the same forever, “but every year I look at it and I just try to make it a little cleaner and tighter,” the choreographer said. 

In the story, Christmas Eve and joy and excitement fill the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum. The couple and their children Clara and Fritz greet their friends. Among the guests is Clara’s Godfather, the magical toymaker Dr. Drosselmeyer who provides entertainment. He brings gifts for the young children and gives a Nutcracker doll to Clara; she is fascinated by it. The party comes to an end, the guests depart and the family retires to bed.

Lyon is thrilled BQC veteran guest dancer Domingo Rubio (from Mexico City) is back as Drosselmeyer.

“It’s a really, really cool relationship we have with him,” she said, noting he feels like he’s coming home. “He gets pretty emotional about it as well and he’s this artist — he’s just a really genuine, generous artist of international fame. So we sometimes expect that someone would walk in with that persona and they would be not someone that you can relate to or not someone that you could really feel comfortable around.

“But I just am very appreciative because he goes out of his way to really support the community cast, the students, those young students, he makes them feel comfortable because he interacts with them on stage,” Lyon said.

“I watch him imparting all his wisdom to them. And then he also does the same thing with the professional dancers because he’s had a tremendous amount of experience that he can offer to them,” she said. “He’ll give them a tricks of the trade, correct their partnering stance or their grips or their timing. And he’s so musical when I watch him. He’s that final piece of the puzzle we put him in with the community cast and the whole thing just comes together. It’s so beautiful.”

Board president on stage

Ballet Quad Cities board president Dan Gleason of Rock Island has a newfound appreciation for the art form’s magic, as he gets to be on stage for his first BQC production, as a party guest.

“I know how important it is to the Quad Cities, how unique it is to have a good professional company here,” he said Tuesday of BQC. Gleason (who’s the special events and fundraising manager for Rock Island Parks & Recreation) performed in high school and college theater, and was asked to be part of “The Nutcracker” community cast.

He plays an older veteran in the party scene and husband to BQC veteran dancer Madeleine Rhode, who’s literally kept him on his toes.

“Not knowing exactly what all went into it, as someone who’s not a professional dancer, it gives you a whole new respect for the wear and tear on the dancers’ bodies, their ability to take a character and bring it to life,” Gleason said.

On the board for 18 months, he and his husband hosted a benefit event at their home last month which raised $6,000 for BQC pointe shoes. Gleason said he’s greatly impressed by the time, skill and dedication it takes to put “The Nutcracker” together.

“How much effort that’s put into this to have a production that looks effortless, it is amazing to me,” he said.

He also gets to watch some scenes from the wings, and is dazzled by the snow scene, which is “one of the most magical scenes you could imagine,” Gleason said.

Only 20% of BQC annual revenue comes from ticket sales. It is a nonprofit organization that takes hundreds of interactive programs into area schools and libraries.

Over 2,000 students are taking part in a “Nutcracker” outreach this year before they see the live performance at the Adler Theatre Friday, Dec. 8. The professional dancers have relocated from all over the country to dance with BQC.

Ballet Quad Cities will host an “Afterglow” event after the Dec. 9 evening show, where you can meet the dancers and musicians at Stompbox Brewery, 210 E. River Drive, Davenport. For tickets and more information on the company, click HERE.

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