FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Kimberly Giannelli | Amber Henrie 
In The Lights PR 
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Amber@inthelights.net 
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THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE BROOKLYN FOR THE HOLIDAYS 

Brooklyn Ballet in Association with the Brooklyn Museum Presents The Brooklyn Nutcracker 

NEW YORK, October 18, 2016 — Brooklyn Ballet, a unique and interdisciplinary dance company rooted in the classical idiom, presents the premiere of The Brooklyn Nutcracker, December 7-9 and 11 at the Brooklyn Museum. A re-imagined holiday classic, The Brooklyn Nutcracker fuses ballet, hip-hop and a myriad of world dance genres to create a new tradition for today’s audience. The Brooklyn Nutcracker transforms familiar Nutcracker characters and scenes to represent the diverse traditions and vibrant culture of melting pot Brooklyn. 

Brooklyn Ballet’s collaborations with tech-based artists and designers create a multi-sensory experience, experimenting with ground-breaking technology of light and motion-responsive costumes, and a digital set which transports us from old Dutch Brooklyn to the iconic Flatbush Avenue. The production is fresh and full of virtuosity–a moving Christmas card to the borough. 

Amidst the traditional narrative—a Victorian-style holiday party for Clara and friends, Snow Scene, and Waltz of the Flowers—Brooklyn Ballet’s version of the enchanting classical Nutcracker uses Brooklyn’s cultural traditions and diversity as its backdrop. Clara’s mysterious uncle Drosselmeyer is portrayed by hip-hop pop and locker Michael “Big Mike” Fields, and each snowflake is donned in LED wired tutus that illuminate with the sweep of Tchaikovsky’s rich score. The Brooklyn Nutcracker creates a holiday keepsake with this reconceived classic, choreographed by Lynn Parkerson and a host of prestigious collaborators. Brooklyn Ballet welcomes back Ingrid Silva and Dylan Santos, courtesy of Dance Theatre of Harlem as Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, and introduces world artist Nakotah LaRance, 6-time World Hoop Dance Champion. LaRance, from the OhKay Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico, performs his sensational mix of traditional hoop and hip-hop dance to open the second act. The Brooklyn Nutcracker features over 50 dancers: Brooklyn Ballet’s professional dancers, African-based modern dancers, Middle Eastern belly-dancers, Brooklyn’s top pop and lock, gliding and flex’n dancers, as well as Brooklyn Ballet School’s own students. 

“The Brooklyn Nutcracker was born in 2010 on a Brooklyn street corner, a dance collaboration between a petite ballerina and a large hip-hop dancer. Passersby were mesmerized so I knew 

we were on to something,” explains artistic director Lynn Parkerson. “Bringing the longer work onto a bigger stage this year provides our local Brooklyn youth and multi-genre dancers an opportunity to participate in this universal tradition and engages our community on a broader scale, inviting audiences of all ages to enjoy this Brooklyn-ized holiday classic.” 

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE 

Wednesday, December 7 at 8:00 p.m.* 

Thursday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. 

Friday, December 9 at 7:30 p.m. 

Sunday, December 11 at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. 

*All Opening Night tickets include champagne toast at intermission. Dinner and performance tickets include pre-performance dinner at The Norm, Brooklyn Museum’s newly opened restaurant, beginning at 6:00 p.m. 

TICKETS and VENUE INFORMATION 

Tickets are now on sale. Opening night prices are tiered at $255 (dinner + performance), $75, $55, $40. All other performances are priced at $90, $60, $40 and $25. Tickets are available for purchase https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/965544 or (718)-246-0146. The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway in the Prospect Park area of Brooklyn and is accessible by the 2 and 3 trains to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum. 

REPERTORY DETAILS 

The Brooklyn Nutcracker 

Concept/Choreography: Lynn Parkerson 

Music: Pytor IIyich Tchaikovsky 

Art Director/Set Design: Avram Finkelstein 

Costume Design: Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, Leila Ligougne, Sylvia Nolan, YMX by Yellowman 

Technologist: Nicholas Vermeer, NYC Resistor 

Lighting Design: Ben Bauer 

Projection Design: Shawn Boyle 

Collaborating Choreographers: Thomas Baird, Michael “Big Mike” Fields, Claudia Jeschke, Sira Melikian, Sydnie Mosley 

Length: 90 minutes 

A re-imagined holiday classic, The Brooklyn Nutcracker fuses ballet, hip-hop and a myriad of world dance genres to create a new tradition for today’s audience. The Brooklyn Nutcracker transforms familiar Nutcracker characters and scenes to represent the diverse traditions and vibrant culture of melting pot Brooklyn. Starting from the point of view of old Dutch Brooklyn and leading to the iconic Flatbush Avenue, the production is fresh and full of virtuosity—in essence, a moving Christmas card to the borough Brooklyn Ballet call’s home. 

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ABOUT BROOKLYN BALLET 

Founded in 2002 by Artistic Director Lynn Parkerson, Brooklyn Ballet brings a contemporary vision to the treasured art form of ballet, with repertory and programs that revitalize and re-imagine the classical form. The first-of-its-kind in Brooklyn in more than 40 years, the 

organization is committed to artistic accomplishment, education and community engagement. In 2011, Brooklyn Ballet opened the doors to its first permanent home at The Schermerhorn, a residential development in downtown Brooklyn. Built and managed by Common Ground and The Actors Fund, The Schermerhorn provides supportive housing for artists of all disciplines. The ground level space provides Brooklyn Ballet with a storefront dance studio, access to a 99-seat black box theatre, dressing rooms, and administrative space. As a community dance institution, the Brooklyn Ballet School offers youth and adult ballet classes allowing dancers to learn and develop their skills alongside professionals of all backgrounds. The school’s Elevate and Brooklyn Ballet in the Houses programs offers talented children scholarships to the school and and opportunity to participate in the rigors of ballet training. 

ABOUT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM 

Founded in 1823 as the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library Association, the Brooklyn Museum contains one of the nation's most comprehensive and wide-ranging collections enhanced by a distinguished record of exhibitions, scholarship, and service to the public. The Museum’s vast holdings span 5,000 years of human creativity from cultures in every corner of the globe. Collection highlights include the ancient Egyptian holdings, renowned for its objects of highest world-class quality, and the arts of the Americas collection, which is unrivaled in its diverse range from pre-Columbian relics, Spanish colonial painting, and Native American art and artifacts to 19th- and early 20th-century American painting, sculpture, and decorative objects. The Museum is also home to the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, which is dedicated to the study and exhibition of feminist art and is the only curatorial center of its kind. The Brooklyn Museum is both a leading cultural institution and a community museum dedicated to serving a wide-ranging audience. Located in the heart of Brooklyn, the Museum welcomes and celebrates the diversity of its home borough and city. Few, if any, museums in the country attract an audience as varied with respect to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational background, and age as the audience of the Brooklyn Museum. 

Brooklyn Ballet’s programs are made possible in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, Council Member Alan Maisel, Council Member Stephen Levin, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, New York State Council on the Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Sills Family Foundation, Sprint, The Howard Gilman Foundation, Corcoran Cares, TD Bank, The John N. Blackman Foundation, The Curtis W. McGraw Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, STV Group, Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation, Park Avenue Charitable Fund, and Stop & Stor Charitable Fund.