One of my happiest holiday childhood memories revolves around chestnuts. As a little boy, growing up in London in the late 1960s, I would look forward, with great anticipation, to the arrival of roast chestnuts. These decidedly December-flavored treats never seemed to be available during the rest of the year and I, therefore, have always associated the tasty nut with Christmas.

My favorite childhood haunt was the British Museum, sitting in all its Greco-Roman splendor on Great Russell Street. Londoners call it “The B.M.,” and its paved forecourt always seemed dizzyingly awash with visiting students and scholars, meeting, laughing, hugging, comparing notes, and poring over guides and floor plans to the museum’s astonishing collection of artistic and archaeological treasures. Around the middle of December, each year, the throngs of budding intellectuals were quietly joined by a solitary, hardworking and — in my mind at least — somewhat melancholy old man hunched, slightly, over an incandescent steel barrel. He was the Chestnut Man. I took him to be a World War II veteran dressed, as he was, in a faded military jacket, with a grey, flat cap, and palm-sized woolen gloves that exposed his fingertips. I found the Chestnut Man fascinating and — aged perhaps six, and clutching my mother’s hand — I would trade him two shillings for a small, white paper bag filled with chestnuts, hot to the touch and freshly plucked from his roasting barrel.

Not to be confused with the horse chestnut — an unpalatable nut common in the United Kingdom and used by school boys in the strange game called “conkers” — the edible or “sweet” chestnut is actually produced by a beech tree of the family Fagaceae. When properly roasted, and once the hard, reddish brown shell has been removed, the sweet chestnut is a heavenly snack: pale yellow in color, with a meaty consistency and a taste similar to macadamia nuts.

And so, each December when Ballet Tucson’s award-winning production of the ever-popular Nutcracker opens with an alluring and solitary dancer, The Chestnut Lady, elegantly serving her wares, it cannot fail to strike a chord of memory and delight in my heart.

Nutcracker was first performed in St. Petersbug, Russia in 1892, based on a story by the German author E.T.A. Hoffman, and choreographed by Lev Ivanov and Franco-Russian ballet dancer Marius Petipa. It was first performed outside Russia in 1919 (Budapest), and in the Twentieth Century went on to enjoy tremendous worldwide popularity, especially in the United States.

Kendra Clyde as Clara in Ballet Tucson’s “Nutcracker.” Photo by Ed Flores

The decidedly cosmopolitan origins of Nutcracker are well reflected by the international flavor of Ballet Tucson’s company: long-time principal male dancer Daniel Precup is of Romanian origin; Kyle Peterson was born in the United Kingdom; Akari Manabe joins the company from Kobe, Japan; while Canadian dancer Kate Kaupas’ home town is Calgary. And Kate’s success story with Ballet Tucson is particularly noteworthy. She joined the company three years ago as an apprentice; in her second year she won the Kim Terry Memorial Scholarship for excellence in dance; and is, this year, a featured soloist as the Dew Drop Fairy. Perhaps one out of every class of young dance students will be fortunate enough to land a job as a professional company dancer, and perhaps one in twenty of those will experience the thrill of performing onstage as a featured soloist, so the Friday premiere of Nutcracker will be a big night for Ms. Kaupas.

“Performing with Ballet Tucson is one of the most inspiring experiences of my professional dance career,” Kaupas said. “I feel very privileged to be cast in such an important role and I look forward to bringing Dew Drop Fairy to life this weekend at Centennial Hall.”

Kate Kaupas performs as the Dew Drop Fairy this weekend in Ballet Tucson’s “Nutcracker.” Photo by Geoff Notkin

And it’s not just the dreams of professional dancers that will manifest themselves this weekend. Ballet Tucson is committed to sharing the uplifting experience of Nutcracker throughout our community. “We give 1,000 free Nutcracker tickets to underserved children and their families, and to social service agencies in our community,” said Operations Manager Cynthia Hansen. “The Board of Directors goes out and raises money to support this program. We travel to Tucson’s most needy schools to teach dance with our ‘Put Your Best Foot Forward with Ballet Tucson’ educational outreach. In addition Assistant Artisitic Director Chieko Imada and her team of Ballet Tucson dancers teach five classes per week to elementary students in some of Tucson’s most impoverished areas.”

As I have said in this column before, it is one thing to talk about supporting the arts and another to actually do it. Ballet Tucson brings excellent classical and contemporary ballet to Tucson, while reaching out to underprivileged communities to foster an appreciation of the arts at a grassroots level. That is more than supporting the arts; it is building an artistic community from the ground up. And, perhaps most important of all, Founder and Artistic Director Mary Beth Cabana’s Ballet Arts School is training the next generation of professional dancers. Her students have gone on to win scholarships and/or perform professionally with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), The Kirov Academy and many other world-class companies. That is quite a remarkable accomplishment for a school in our small city. You have to start somewhere, and many of Ms. Cabana’s youngest students will be appearing in this weekend’s Nutcracker, some of them in their first-ever public performance.

Operations Manager, Cynthia Hansen, says it perfectly: “We believe the arts have the power to transform lives and we do our part by introducing children to the discipline and wonderful world of dance.”

Jenna Johnson as Sugar Plum Fairy and Stuart Lauer as Her Cavalier. Photo by Ed Flores

So, if the Chestnut Lady, the feisty Mouse King, the Fairies, the Snow Queen, and the Snowflakes are still not quite enough excitement for you, bear in mind that this production of Nutcracker may just introduce some of the great dancers of tomorrow. One of the mice children making his or her debut this weekend could be soloing at American Ballet Theater ten years from now. That is the stuff of Christmas dreams.

A few days ago, and to my considerable amazement, I discovered a small stash of fresh, sweet chestnuts at the supermarket.”What are these?” the lady at checkout asked, wrinking her nose and holding them up close, then peering, quizzically, at their dark and streamlined shapes. Unroasted, and still cased in tough, sanguine shells, the pretty chestnuts looked nearly identical to the ones a little boy used to wolf down during cold winter evenings on Great Russell Street.

I’ll be roasting them tomorrow afternoon, so if you see happen to see a TucsonCitizen.com blogger and dance enthusiast outside Centennial Hall this weekend, with a smile on a face and a little white bag of chestnuts in his hands, that’ll be me.

Ballet Tucson performs Nutcracker this weekend at Centennial Hall. Show times are Friday, December 21 at 7:30 pm; Saturday, December 22 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm; Sunday, December 23 at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Ticket prices range from $17 to $56 and are available through the Centennial Hall Ticket Office.

Text © by Geoffrey Notkin. Photographs © Ed Flores and Geoffrey Notkin, as noted above.
All rights reserved. No reproduction without written permission.

At 12:25 pm on a Sunday afternoon the foyer of the Ballet Tucson rehearsal studio is buzzing. About fifty supporters, dancers, and aspiring ballet students chat enthusiastically about the upcoming performances scheduled for March and April. Thomas Gilliam, the managing director, pours wine into tall glasses; I slowly walk the hallways admiring framed posters—mementos of dance seasons long gone.

As I sipped my Chardonnay, Ballet Tucson’s President of the Board of Directors, Cynthia Hansen, stood up to deliver a warm welcome, followed by a sobering message: “It’s a difficult time to maintain operations for a non profit. The Tucson Pima Arts Council funding budget has been cut, meaning funds that were allocated to Ballet Tucson will not be forthcoming.” (David Hoyt Johnson, the Deputy Director of TPAC told me that our city manager has recommended a 60% cut in arts awards for next year; more on that matter in a future column). The deficit has to be made up somehow, and Ms. Hansen thanked some of Ballet Tucson’s sponsors, including Long Realty and McDonalds, and notably a significant advertising package donated by Clear Channel Communications.

An uncertain economy and dwindling grants paint an unpleasantly familiar picture in our home city: Artists, performers and educators are struggling to continue doing what they love most. But Ballet Tucson remains determined and courageously optimistic. Next year will be their 25th anniversary season and as Ms. Hansen noted: “Public and private funding is shrinking, but despite these challenges Ballet Tucson is forging ahead. Now more than ever, our partnerships within the community will continue to be creative and innovative.”

Ballet Tucson's full company in "Joplin." Photograph by Tim Fuller.

To survive in challenging economic times, theatre, dance, and arts groups need to be innovative, and survival often requires a small army of unpaid volunteers together with resourceful staff members who are willing to wear multiple hats. The foyer in which we were sitting, “Our humble little home,” as Mr. Gilliam described it, “is also our costume shop. We have three incredible volunteer seamstresses.” And as an example he told how June Mullin doubles as office manager and also designs and builds masks used in performance by the dancers.

My parents were ballet enthusiasts and—growing up in London—I several times had the good fortune to see the Royal Ballet Company in action. But I have to admit that my own knowledge of the most graceful of the performing arts is little more than that of a novice. However, I happen to have a personal interest in Ballet Tucson: My friend Libby Egleson is in her first season with the company and—eager to learn about her work as she has learned about mine—I had the happy opportunity to represent TucsonCitizen.com at an invitation-only open rehearsal and lunch. Held annually, the event serves as a thank you to Ballet Tucson’s sponsors and subscribers.

That particular Sunday, the company was focused on rehearsing for their annual Dance & Dessert performance. While Ballet Tucson also performs classical crowd pleasers such as “The Nutcracker” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the Dance & Dessert presentation is something special. “It is the one time in the year when we get to showcase the versatility of our Ballet Tucson dancers,” notes Founding Artistic Director Mary Beth Cabana.

As the spectators divided into two groups, June came up to me, winked discreetly and whispered: “You want to be in Studio B,” as that was where Libby and her colleagues would be rehearsing “Ritmos de la Noche” (Rhythms of the Night), a modern ballet in three movements, under the direction of Mary Beth. “This is piece we haven’t done in five or six years,” she explained to our small group of guests. “And we’re going to attempt to do a run through but might do a little stopping and starting.”

“Ritmos” opens with a vibrant and exciting flamenco piece, but becomes an eclectic musical journey including breathy, heartfelt Andes-inspired melodies, Middle Eastern themes, and a percussive, energetic piece by pop singer Shakira. It’s a bold and exciting mix, and a long way from “Swan Lake.”

I am a nuts and bolts person. I am fascinated by the mechanics of performance: set design, lighting, the fine tuning of choreography, even the duties of guitar techs. As I sat on a folding chair, a few feet from Mary Beth—elegant, energetic, focused, and dressed in her black Ballet Tucson sweats—I was intrigued to witness a small part of the process that a dance movement undergoes in its evolution from a digital recording on a compact disc, and an idea in a director’s mind, to a flowing live performance.

“It’s supposed to look effortless,” Libby told me later. From a seat in a darkened theatre, some distance from the stage, the performance is expected to appear effortless. But when you are perched on a folding chair in a brightly-lit rehearsal space, ten feet from the dancers, you see the hard breathing and perspiration, feel the concentration and hear the sound of contact. Up close, it’s a little shocking to discover just how forcefully dancers’ feet—and sometimes hands and knees—connect with that hard wood floor.

Meredith Dulaney and Peter Lisanti in Ballet Tucson's "Hibiki." Photograph by Tim Fuller.

Mary Beth strikes me as a hands-on artistic director, completely involved with every aspect of the production. She is ready to jump up at any moment and interact with her company to demonstrate the throwing of a shawl, or a precise flip or turn, or to point out specifics of timing and placement: “What happens in this section is the adrenaline gets going, and it’s really important that you don’t rush.” And in reference to the motion of the flamenco dancers’ skirts: “Think of the bullfighter with his cape.”

And while Mary Beth worked with the principle dancers in “Ritmos de la Noche,” their understudies, positioned around the edges of the dance floor, practiced the same parts.

After a short break, I moved to Studio A, where husband-and-wife dance team and Artistic Associates Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner were quietly immersed in setting “Dark Elegies”—a 1937 piece by legendary choreographer Anthony Tudor. Inspired by Gusav Mahler’s “Isset to Kindertotenlieder” (Songs on the Death of Children), a composition that was, itself, inspired by a Friedrich Ruckert poem, “Dark Elegies” it is a complex, moody and highly unusual piece. Amanda explained the premise to me: “It is about a community who lost all their childeren; they were swept out to sea. The parents support each other through their grief. They move forward with hope, but only together. A loss that great can never be overcome, but can only be dealt with through support.” “Dark Elegies” is the fourth Anthony Tudor piece that Ballet Tucson has performed and the company’s strong association with the famous choreographer is a result of John and Amanda’s long professional relationship with him.

In rehearsal, the somber nature of “Dark Elegies” contrasts with John and Amanda’s gentle and encouraging staging. This couple are not only visiting artistic associates, but also highly accomplished ballet dancers in their own right. Mary Beth Cabana and John Gardner went to art school in Illinois together, and Amanda and John originally came to Ballet Tucson as performers, gradually making the transition to teachers. When Mary Beth founded Ballet Tucson, John was performing with the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Mary Beth asked if John and Amanda would be willing to come out to Tucson to perform, and to teach, and the couple have worked with Ballet Tucson ever since.

Amanda reflects: “There aren’t that many husband and wife teams in ballet, for whatever reason. But we can be much more efficient as a team. We can go much faster and we can bring different sensibilities to each piece. It allows us to come at our work from different angles and be much more thorough. In rehearsal one person can’t see everything, no matter how hard you try. It’s really helpful to have two pairs of eyes, and to have someone who is a different gender too. We can be a lot more specific than if it’s just one of us.”

A few days after the open rehearsal, I received another not-to-be-missed invitation, from another husband-and-wife team: Dinner at the house of Ballet Tucson dancers Jenna Johnson and Daniel Precup. Tall, poised, and worldly, they are as elegant a couple as I have ever met. Daniel’s charming Old-World Romanian manners reminded me of my childhood travels in Europe, and the plum brandy we were served as an aperitif was as strong and warming as a winter bonfire.

And so, after half a lifetime spent in the performing arts—in my case as a rock ‘n’ roll bassplayer and singer, and later as a television host—I find myself becoming acquainted with a fascinating circle of talented and passionate performers from a world almost entirely new to me. Ballet Tucson is both a family and a labor of love, and also an unusual opportunity to watch romantic partners following their muse together. Commenting on the working relationship with her husband, Amanda McKerrow told me, with more than a little joy in her voice: “I love what I do but I love it a lot more becuase I do it with him.”

Ballet Tucson’s Dance & Dessert will take place on March 12, 13 and 14 at the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre at 1737 East University Boulevard on the U of A campus. Enjoy an “electic program” plus “gourmet desserts from may of Tucson’s favorite restaurants.”

Tickets can be purchased directly from Ballet Tucson. Call (520) 903-1445 for more information, or visit the Ballet Tucson website.