Ogunquit Performing Arts

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 1608
Ogunquit, ME 03907

Performance Venue

The S. Judson Dunaway Center
23 School St.
Ogunquit ME 

SEASON TICKETS

ON SALE NOW

STAY INFORMED

Join our Email List

In case of bad weather, the cancellation of a film or live performance will be listed on the website no later than 11 am on the day of the event.

Ogunquit Performing Arts

Performance Venue

The S. Judson Dunaway Center
23 School St.
Ogunquit ME 03907

In case of bad weather, the cancellation of a film or live performance will be listed on the website no later than 11 am on the day of the event.

MENU

Portland Ballet: The Victorian Nutcracker

Demonstration and Excerpts from "The Victorian Nutcracker" by the Portland Ballet, 3:00 pm.
Victorian Nutcracker

As a holiday treat, dancers from the Portland Ballet will perform excerpts from their production of Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet. This representation of about a dozen dancers, will appear in full costume in selections from the Ballet’s complete production of “The Victorian Nutcracker”, (which opens in the Portland area the following week.)

The dancers will also provide an up-close demonstration of their dance classes and barre work with commentary, as a part of their presentation.   CHILDREN ARE WELCOME, and may be invited from the audience to chat with the dancers and try out a few dance steps.

OPA is delighted to welcome Portland Ballet back to Ogunquit!

Following the presentations of his ballets “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty”, Tchaikovsky was commissioned by the Direction of the Imperial Opera to compose a double-bill program featuring both an opera and a ballet. Alexandre Dumas Père’s adaptation of the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann was set to music by Tchaikovsky and originally choreographed by Marius Petipa.

In the spring of 1891, while on his way from Moscow to New York – where he was to conduct at the grand opening of Carnegie Hall – Tchaikovsky became acquainted with a new instrument that enchanted him with its “divinely beautiful tone.” Inventd by a noted French instrument maker, Victor Mustel, it had been patented as the “celesta” after its heavenly timbre. Tchaikovsky arranged to have one sent to Russia in secret, for he was afraid other composers “will get hold of it and use its unusual effects before me. I expect this new insrument will produce a colossal sensation.”

The first concert presentation of “The Nutcracker” in 1892 was a great success, although the ballet itself took considerably longer to take hold. Over the years, however, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the music of the celesta to which she danced, has ensured “The Nutcracker” as the favorite Christmas presentation of ballet companies around the world.

Steeped in tradition, Portland Ballet’s annual production of “The Victorian Nutcracker” recreates the interiors of  Victoria Mansion and interprets Tchaikovsky’s score through the stories of Portland’s nineteenth-century families. This audience favorite is unique among Nutcracker performances across the nation and continues to be a mainstay of Portland’s winter arts season, presented December 12 and 13 at Westbrook Performing Arts Center, and December 16 at Merrill Auditorium.

FMI: www.portlandballet.org

A reception with refreshments will follow the performance.

TICKETS are $5 per person at the door.   No advance sales.