Courtesy photo.
Dorrance Dance’s high energy Nutcracker trades pointe shoes for tap shoes to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s extraordinary interpretation of the classic Tchaikovsky score
SUMMARY
- UCSB Arts & Lectures presents the West Coast Premiere of Dorrance Dance’s The Nutcracker Suite
- Thu, Dec 5 | 7:30 p.m. | The Arlington Theatre
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- Tchaikovsky’s classic score as interpreted by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
- Co-creators: Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller and Josette Wiggan
- Arrive early between 5-7 PM to get in the holiday spirit with light installations, hot cider and festive performances from the Santa Barbara Revels and UCSB Jazz Ensemble in front of the Arlington, part of Downtown Santa Barbara’s 1st Thursday Art Walk.
- Spread holiday cheer to someone in need. A&L is partnering with the United Way of Santa Barbara County for United Way’s 2024 Holiday Gift Drive. Bring a new, unwrapped toy or gift card ($25 suggested amount) to donate at the event!
- Related event: Community Dance Class with Michelle Dorrance Sunday, December 8 at 1 p.m. at Carrillo Ballroom, 100 E. Carrillo St. FREE (registration recommended)
- $52 – $107 General Public / $22.50 UCSB students (Current student ID required)
- Tickets & Info: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu or (805) 893-3535; or The Arlington Theatre, (805) 963-9580
“With each performance of Dorrance Dance, tap expands.” The New York Times
“The orchestrations are playful, surprising, imaginative. Ms. Dorrance and her collaborators have responded in kind.” The New York Times
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Dorrance Dance’s The Nutcracker Suite on Thursday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. at The Arlington Theatre. Tap and jazz take on Tchaikovsky in Dorrance Dance’s vibrant version of this beloved holiday classic. The renowned tap company boogies, slides, struts and dives through the magical story of a young girl and her fantastical Christmas adventure. Taking their cue from Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s extraordinary reinterpretation of The Nutcracker Suite, Michelle Dorrance and co-choreographers Hannah Heller and Josette Wiggan transform the Sugar Plum Fairy into a slinky Sugar Rum Cherry, while the “March of the Toy Soldiers” becomes a swinging “Peanut Brittle Brigade,” featuring live music.
Arrive early between 5-7 PM to get in the holiday spirit with light installations, hot cider and festive performances from the Santa Barbara Revels and UCSB Jazz Ensemble in front of the Arlington, part of Downtown Santa Barbara’s 1st Thursday Art Walk.
Spread holiday cheer to someone in need. A&L is partnering with the United Way of Santa Barbara County for United Way’s 2024 Holiday Gift Drive. Bring a new, unwrapped toy or gift card ($25 suggested amount) to donate at the event!
Original Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn by arrangement with G. Schirmer, INC. publisher and copyright owner.
Co-creators: Michelle Dorrance, Hannah Heller and Josette Wiggan
Choreography: Michelle Dorrance and Josette Wiggan with solo improvisation by the dancers
Additional Choreography: Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Hannah Heller, Matthew “Megawatt” West and Josette Wiggan
Related event: Community Dance Class with Michelle Dorrance on Sunday, December 8 at 1 p.m. at Carrillo Ballroom, 100 E. Carrillo St. FREE (registration recommended)
Dorrance Dance. The Nutcracker Suite
ABOUT DORRANCE DANCE
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. Led by Michelle Dorrance, the company supports dancers and musicians who embody and push the dynamic range that tap dance has to offer. The company’s mission is to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level, and to share the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form through performance and education.
Founded in 2011 by artistic director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow, Michelle Dorrance, the company has received countless accolades and rave reviews. Dorrance Dance has performed for packed houses at venues including Danspace Project, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Kennedy Center, Vail Dance Festival, Carolina Performing Arts at UNC Chapel Hill and Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, among many others, including international venues in Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, England, Hong Kong and Singapore.
ABOUT THE ARTISTIC TEAM
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. Dorrance 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/Dancer) has a love for performing that was fostered by Paul and Arlene Kennedy in Los Angeles. A graduate of UCLA, Wiggan’s career highlights include the 2001 Spotlight Award winner in non-classical dance, the first 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, Wiggan is a part of Dorrance’s all woman quartet, Until the Real Comes Along and All Good Things Must Come to an End. In the summer of 2021, Wiggan 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 recently 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. She 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 the 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 (3LD), The World is Round (BAM), The Reception (HERE Arts Center) and Evelyn (Bushwick Starr). Heller’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.
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Dorrance Dance’s The Nutcracker Suite is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures.
Lead Sponsor: Jody & John Arnhold
Dance Series Sponsors: Margo Cohen-Feinberg, Barbara Stupay, and Sheila Wald
Presented in association with UCSB Department of Theater and Dance
Special thanks to the Santa Barbara Independent
Tickets are $52 – $107 / $22.50 UCSB students (Current student ID required)
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu; or The Arlington Theatre, (805) 963-9580
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges 2024-2025 Season Sponsor Sara Miller McCune.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2024-2025 season.