Nutcracker 2020

[AdventurerMom]

Anyone else going through Nutcracker with all the health and safety precautions this year?
We're far enough south that the studio is staging ours at the outdoors amphitheater in our suburb. Because of COVID, only staff members will be in backstage areas. It's going to be (another strange part of) a very strange year.

[mommamoni]

We are. Lots of changes. Half the cast. I think even only staff backstage or maybe just select volunteers. Definitely will look different but my daughter is so happy it wasn't cancelled like so many others in our area.

[AnastasiaBeav]

No - DD11's school is filming a small number of group dances but won't have a live performance. Come winter time I will be jealous of the Southern weather!

[DanceMumNYC]

No, our Nutcracker cancellation was announced in August. 😔

[Mom de deux]

We are working on options, possibly a filmed version. We'll know more in a couple of days. Our EAD has some meetings lined up. Regardless of what we do, it likely won't involve party/battle scene. There will definitely not be an indoor theater performance like we usually do. The only silver lining is that this mess has coincided with a long anticipated renovation of our usual theater venue, so we were going to have to find an alternative situation for this December anyway.

[emiface]

Our studio is creating a Nutcracker "film" this year. They've hired a local movie studio to film, and we're performing the divertissements in different iconic locations in our city (ie. local museums, sweet shops, national parks, historical landmarks). It's an abridged version of The Nutcracker with the whole thing being roughly an hour long, and is slightly reformatted to fit the narrative of the movie.

[DanceMumNYC]

For those whose studios are filming a version of the Nutcracker this year, may I ask how they plan to showcase the film? Will it be given to all families involved, or can anyone from the public purchase tickets for a special link to the film?  I'm interested in how this will work so that I can possibly make suggestions to our studio, even if for the future.

[AlabamaDanceMom]

Our Nutcracker will be filmed in early November, edited, and then live-streamed in mid-December. We’ll sell tickets to that per household. We thought about trying to have an outdoor showing for families and may still try to do that at a local park, but you just never know about the weather in mid-December. So, for now, it’s just going to be live-streamed. 

We hired a professional production company to film and conduct the live streamed event. 

[DanceMumNYC]

That's great! Thank you for sharing this experience.

[Ecourtney]

Our home studio is planning to do a 1-hr (no intermission) production in the regular (very large) theater at very reduced capacity but will do more performances. The cast is smaller, will be wearing masks (coordinated with costumes) and some choreography reworked to improve distancing. 
 

DD’s residential program will be staging an outdoor production with small audiences but a total of 16 performances over an eight-day period. It is also an abridged version with a smaller cast. I don’t think they will be wearing masks as they are outdoors but not positive about that. The same cast will perform all the shows on a given day to reduce the number of people on site and so there won’t be costume sharing without proper time to disinfect. 
 

Both studios have been operating in person since June with masks and distancing and neither one has had any problems and definitely no incidence of illness being transmitted at the studio. Both cities have gone through pretty significant COVID flare-ups during this time so I believe that is behind their confidence in moving forward with performance plans. It could all change if circumstances change and that has been stated as well - no guarantees. 

[MEWDancer]

No.  The professional company is filming something. We were told a small number of students would be in it somehow. One girl from my daughter’s class wasn’t in class the other day and the teacher said she was filming.  But based on how our roles are cast and her age/level I can’t imagine what part it would be.  The company did a filmed show in August and used a few kids as narrators.  I an guessing this will be similar, especially since the restrictions are really enforced, there is no way they would let maskless kids be near each other. (Or even masked kids, they have to maintain distance with masks at all times). It is disappointing, and hard to have no performances to look forward to, but at least we are mostly back in the studio.

[KitriDC]

My DD still hasn't seen the inside of a studio with a teacher since March. Both of the ballet schools she has trained with are still full virtual (one a small school the other company affiliated). Definitely no Nutcracker here. Very jealous of all of those dancers who are back in person and planning on a Covid modified Nutcracker. Fingers crossed 2021 allows us all to return to a more traditional Nutcracker experience!

[theguptas]

Our local studio has wrapped up filming.  We are hoping to have a “premiere” event closer to Christmas but that is not looking too promising.  One cast with about 50 kids.  All filmed outside in a tent in the artistic director’s backyard.  Her lawn ended up looking like we were filming Animal House instead of a classic ballet!  Masks required till actual filming.  Anyone partnering had to have a COVID negative test result prior.  Families that participated get a link to watch the final product.  Access to the link will be available for others to purchase.  The link will have limits on it so only the person who purchased it can watch it.  

[Mom de deux]

We film our Nutcracker this weekend at a resort in the region. Casting remained more or less the same as last year (which means my DDalmost10 is a Polichinelle for the 3rd year running, but at least she moved up to Party Girl from Party Boy) for ease of rehearsal. Party scene will be much abbreviated. We generally hire a professional for Snow King/Cavalier, but we eliminated the partnering. Instead Sugar Plum will only do her variation, no pas or coda, and DD16 in her second go-round as Snow Queen will do a solo during the snow pas music.

All dancers will be masked, even while we are filming the dancing, and we are taking lots of precautions. There will be a small live performance for families after filming wraps on the second day. I'm just so glad the dancers get to do something.

[AnastasiaBeav]

DD11's school is to film the Nutcracker Suite this weekend inside an (empty) theater however the state just announced our county is moving to a more restricted level the day before filming starts. The state is restricting gyms/sports activities to no more than 10 people in a group. I have no idea how the school will be able to move forward with some of the routines that range from 10-12 dancers. All of the groups are based on dancers' current levels so the kids are dancing with the same kids all week to minimize exposure and masks are required at all times. 

Obviously safety comes first so if they cancel the filming then that is what needs to happen.