Brianne Bland The American Dance Institute's "The Nutcracker" explores the protagonist’s transformation into adulthood.

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Stephen Baranovics Maryland Youth Ballet’s 22nd production of “The Nutcracker” features some 90 performers and a separate production for young audiences called “The Mini-Nut.”
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Brianne Bland The American Dance Institute's "The Nutcracker" explores the protagonist transformation into adulthood.
• 
Stephen Baranovics Maryland Youth Ballet’s 22nd production of “The Nutcracker” features some 90 performers as well as a separate production for young audiences called “The Mini-Nut.”
• 
Christopher Piper The Puppet Co.’s “The Nutcracker” combines masked characters and puppets to tell Tchaikovsky’s story.
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Christopher Piper The Puppet Co.’s “The Nutcracker” combines masked characters and puppets to tell the story.

Brianne Bland The American Dance Institute's "The Nutcracker" explores the protagonist’s transformation into adulthood.

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For Runqiao Du, artistic director of American Dance Institute (ADI) in Rockville, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” is more than a lighthearted holiday tradition. The story of a young girl named Clara, who is taken on a journey by a toy her godfather made, came out of a dark time in the 19th century composer’s life.

“When Tchaikovsky wrote ‘The Nutcracker,’ he was very depressed,” Du says. “He was at a very low point of his life. You can hear the melody behind the story, behind the music, actually showing his view on the world. So many people just portray ‘Nutcracker’ as just a little fanfare story at holiday time, but I really wanted to capture the deeper meaning.”

When Du’s “Nutcracker” runs from Dec. 9 through 18, ADI will be in excellent company. Olney Ballet Theatre, Rockville Civic Ballet, Maryland Youth Ballet, Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and the Puppet Co. are all staging productions.

Du sees the story as the metaphor of a girl’s progression into adulthood. Because of its underlying theme, Du says the story is perfect for his young students. The some 60 to 70 performers in the show are a combination of members of Ballet ADI, the resident professional company, and ADI’s dance school students.

Du rechoreographed the first act last year, and made changes in the second act this year to complement the new silk costumes Du received for the China dance.

For Du, the importance of the story rests on the shoulders of the two dancers who perform the role of Clara.

“I put real, meaningful choreography behind each step according to that theory... from a hesitant [young girl], from just an ordinary person, but she has a big dream inside of her,” he says.

Du, who trained at the Shanghai Academy of Dance in the 1980s before moving on to a career with the Washington Ballet and eventually taking the ADI position earlier this year, says the piece is popular throughout the world, including his native China. From the perspective of a teacher, the production’s timing also serves as a culmination of months of training.

“It’s a great performance opportunity for the school because this in the middle of the year,” Du says. “In a college, it would be in the end of the first semester. So we want to put this performance in place so it gives students a chance to apply what they learn in the studio every day, to find a direct link to the curriculum they learned, how to present that in a performance form.”

Because “The Nutcracker” is a holiday favorite, students of Maryland Youth Ballet (MYB) will produce two separate shows. Last year marked the first time the company performed “The Mini-Nut,” a 50-minute version of the ballet.

MYB Principal Michelle Lees says the abbreviated piece, to be performed at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring, cuts to core of the piece, lasting long enough to keep a young audience’s attention.

Lees and fellow MYB teacher Harriet Williams helm the 90-person full-length production that will take the stage of Montgomery College’s Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center in Rockville. Because of the ensemble’s size, Lees says rehearsals were very demanding.

“We don’t allow anybody to miss. We make that clear from the very beginning,” Lees says. “In order to put this production together in seven or eight weeks, no one can miss rehearsals. They need to check their band schedules and their vacation and their SATS and if there’s a conflict, then they can opt out.”

This year marks the 22nd performance of the MYB show, and Lees says each year she must change the choreography to address the number of male performers.

“We’ve seen a steady increase in the number of boys, and they have stayed with the school and worked their way up, which is really quite nice,” she says.

The Puppet Co. at Glen Echo Park is also beyond two decades of “Nutcracker” performances. Co-founder Christopher Piper says the show features some 20 puppets and 15 masked characters. In addition to his puppetry skills, Piper also takes on the role of Clara’s godfather.

Piper says the mimed show emphasizes Clara’s story rather than dance. As a puppeteer, Piper’s challenge is to convey each plot point and emotion to the audience without using words. He says the show’s dreamlike quality can reach new heights when puppets are used.

“I like to think that we’re actually adding something to the genre, if you will, that by doing this with puppets, it’s something unique and it’s a curiosity,” Piper says. “But it’s also, I think, a very good way of telling the story because the characters can actually fly.”

Piper is the only longstanding member of this year’s cast. Because of the new cast, Piper rearranged the show so that puppeteers have more stage time.

“We were able to shift some parts around, make it a little bit easier on everyone,” Piper says. “We tend to spend an hour of rehearsal for every minute on stage, and that’s worked out almost to the minute of this.”

What he has kept are the masks, which are originals, created 24 years ago. Piper says that puppets from other Puppet Co. productions also participate in “The Nutcracker” in order to emphasize the show’s fairytale quality.

“Clara and The Nutcracker and the mice are all original puppets,” Piper says. “We even brought in the puppets from favorite shows like Mother Goose and the Giant from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk,’” who will make appearances.

From puppets to “The Mini-Nut” to the more traditional ballets, Montgomery County offers a range of performances of Tchaikovsky’s classic well worth cracking into.

tforhecz@gazette.net

The Rockville Civic Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” runs weekends Saturday to Dec. 11 at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre at Rockville Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. Tickets are $16 adults; $12 (12 years and younger); and $12 seniors (60 years and older). Call 240-314-8690 or visit www.rockvillemd.gov/arts.

The Metropolitan Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” runs from Friday through Dec. 11 at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. Tickets range from $17 to $22. Call 240-567-5301 or visit www.montgomerycollege.edu/pac.

The Maryland Youth Ballet presents “The Mini-Nut” at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center, 7995 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Shows start at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. Dec. 10 and 11. Tickets are $15, $10 for children, 12 and younger. Tickets must be purchased in advance from Maryland Youth Ballet with check or cash. Call 301-608-2232 or visit www.marylandyouthballet.org.

The Maryland Youth Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” runs from Dec. 16 to 26 at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center at Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. Tickets are $25, $20 for children, seniors and students in advance. and $30, $25 for children, seniors and students at the door. Call 240-567-5301 or visit www.montgomerycollege.edu/PAC.

The Puppet Co.’s “The Nutcracker” runs through Dec. 31 at the Puppet Co. Playhouse, Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Tickets are $10. Call 301-634-5380 or visit www.thepuppetco.org.

The Puppet Co.’s Tiny Tots show “Nutcracker Fantasy” starring Bob Brown runs through Dec. 31. Shows start at 10 a.m. Tickets are $5. Call 301-634-5380 or visit www.thepuppetco.org.

“The Nutcracker” runs from Dec. 9 to 18 at the American Dance Institute, 1570 East Jefferson St., Rockville. Tickets are $25, $15 seniors and students with ID. The Sugarplum Extravaganza with tea party and abbreviated and interactive performances takes place at 1 p.m. Dec. 11 and 18. Tickets are $40 for one child and one adult, $20 for each additional child. Call 1-855-263-2623 or visit www.americandance.org.

Olney Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” runs from Dec. 9 to 24 on the Olney Theater Center’s Historic Stage, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road. Tickets are $41, $18 for children. Call 301-924-3400 or visit olneytheatre.org.