South Africa takes ‘Nutcracker’ to unfamiliar climes

It’s danced to Tchaikovsky’s famous melody, but it’s not your traditional Christmas Nutcracker: the Joburg Ballet has set it in the Kalahari desert among ancient Bushmen paintings. The winter theme has been replaced with sun, sand and baobab trees. The role of the Sugar Plum Fairy is instead played by a sangoma or traditional healer, and the famous “Russian Dance” is performed in overalls and gumboots. “The Nutcracker Reimagined” comes with the original music and story line of France’s famous ballet dancer and choreographer Marius Petipa — during Christmas night. And a little girl named Clara experiences a magical adventure. But with no snowflakes or tutus, Clara is led by a sangoma through the Kalahari Desert, where the cave paintings come to life. And a baobab is all there is for a Christmas tree.

The idea was to create a South African Nutcracker that would tell the normal story of The Nutcracker, but in a South African setting and in summer.

Joburg Ballet CEO Dirk Badenhorst, saying it was ridiculous to pretend it was winter as Christmas in the southern hemisphere comes in midsummer

The first production of The Nutcracker took place at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1892. “The Nutcracker Reimagined” was created in 2008 by the Joburg Ballet’s forerunner. It is on show again this year — from September 19 through 27. It is set in a magical world of South Africa’s sangomas, baobab trees, the gumboot dance - an invention of black miners — and would not be complete without koeksisters, a traditional local sweet treat. The choreography is based on classic and contemporary inspiration and is sometimes strikingly pictorial. But the 2014 version of the ballet adds circus performances, with some characters travelling to a magical world suspended from ropes.

We are trying to sustain the existing audience, but grow a very new South African audience, particularly a young and black and exciting audience.

Dirk Badenhorst

Arts