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Members of The Bang Group always challenge what viewers expect from ballet performances. |
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David Parker, artistic director of The Bang Group, brings a cracked-up version of “The Nutcracker” to The Provincetown Theater with “Nut/Cracked.” |
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‘Nut/Cracked’ breaks the mold
The Bang Groups’ version of “The Nutcracker” is like no other
Ann Wood
Banner Staff
You will never see “The Nutcracker” the same way again.
That’s what David Parker, artistic director of The Bang Group, says its rendition of the traditional Christmas ballet gives audiences — a new vision. He calls the dance company’s show “Nut/Cracked” a contemporary American piece that is funny, irreverent and thoughtful all at once.
“It’s completely re-imagined,” Parker says of the show that blends the rhythmic motion of tap, silent film comedy, contemporary dance and vaudeville to reinvent the classic tale. “It’s like ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ The first half is in Kansas and the rest is in Oz,” he adds, meaning that the show may start off traditionally enough, but later moves in its own direction.
“Nut/Cracked” will show for three performances on Dec. 29 and 30 at the Provincetown Theater, 238 Bradford St. (See performance times and ticket prices at the end of the story.)
Written more than 100 years ago by Russian composer Pytor Tchaikovsky, “The Nutcracker” was commissioned by the choreographer Marius Petipa. He asked Tchaikovsky to compose a ballet score based on Alexandre Dumas’ adaptation of “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffman. (The choreography was ultimately finished by Petipa’s assistant Lev Ivonov, after he became ill.)
The story opens on Christmas Eve at the Stahlbaum house, when Clara is given a beautiful nutcracker by her godfather Drosselmeyer. Her brother Fritz becomes jealous and breaks the nutcracker, which the godfather repairs with a magic handkerchief. After everyone goes to bed for the night, Clara goes downstairs and sleeps under the tree to protect her nutcracker. When the clock strikes 12, the magic begins and the toys come to life.
“The Nutcracker” was first performed at the Mayinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1892 and in the U.S. by the San Francisco Ballet Company in 1944. Parker was commissioned to choreograph “Nut/Cracked” last year in Italy. It has since been performed at a dance festival in Concord, and half the show was performed in New York City last year.
“It was so enthusiastically responded to that they asked us to do the whole thing,” Parker says of the New York City run, which has “Nut/Cracked” opening Wednesday and running for 10 days there before moving on to Provincetown.
But those New York performances will be different. It’s got 21 dancers in its cast as opposed to the five company performers who will be in town in a couple weeks. Parker says that’s because 10 days worth of performances allowed the New York City-based dance company to work with local kid dancers and professional guest artists.
“It can be done with casts anywhere from five to infinity,” he says. “It’s very physically tiring but it’s fun.”
Parker, 45, says that since he choreographs himself, he’s sensitive to his own limitations. And, anyway, company dancers range from 15 to 46 years old.
“So there’s a wide age range,” he says. “Some things get better as you get older. If you do the right things you can keep it going for a longer time than people would expect.”
And Parker’s been dancing a long time.
“I started to dance when I was in high school and I started with tap and ballet and then I moved into modern dance when I was in college,” he says.
Parker left Bard College just a year shy of graduation because he simply couldn’t wait to dance professionally.
After performing in several tap, folk and contemporary dance companies in New York City, the Lynnfield native began to choreograph himself. One of his first dances, “Bang and Suck,” won a prize at the Fourth International Competition for Choreographers of Contemporary Dance in Groningen, The Netherlands, in 1994 and was a special citation of the Kurt Jooss Award jury in Essen, Germany in 2001.
He recently choreographed a production of “Dylan Dog” for the Verona Ballet in Italy with Jeffery Kazin in the title role; created an industrial piece for Stolichnaya vodka and has written three pieces with Sara Hook.
Parker was invited to create new work for the Anna Sokolow Players Project and serves on the faculty of the Alvin Ailey School in New York. He is a founding member of The Pink Ribbon Project/ Dancers in Motion Against Breast Cancer and serves on the board of directors of The Field.
The Bang Group became official through incorporation in 1995, Parker says, even though he had been choreographing individual dances since 1990.
“But the demand for the work started growing until I realized … I needed a stable infrastructure,” he says. “It’s better artistically [to have your own company] because you get people [with whom] you develop the movement language fluidly.”
Company members include performer and general manager Jeffrey Kazin, performer Amber Sloan, lighting designer Kathy Kaufmann and, The Bang Group website announces, a dog named Grace, who serves as the dance captain.
Parker says that with this dance company, he’s doing what he set out to do.
“Yes I am, which is amazing. This is exactly what I want to do and I’m able to do it. I just don’t want to stop,” he pauses. “There’s nothing like it.”
There’s also nothing like “Nut/Cracked,” he says.
“It’s definitely a unique experience. I also see it as a kind of Zen. It’s enjoyable but it makes you think. It makes you think and laugh at the same time. And no one who sees this ‘Nutcracker’ again will ever be able to see ‘The Nutcracker’ with the same eyes,” Parker says. “It’s very smartly put together. The implications are pretty far reaching. [It’s] complex and funny and ridiculous at the same time.”
A moment later he adds, “It’s very family friendly. It’s very Provincetown.”
“Nut/Cracked” will show at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29 (tickets are $30 for adults, $20 for seniors and youths); with a special children’s performance at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30 (tickets are $20 adults, $5 seniors and youths); and a final show at 7 p.m. Thursday (tickets are $50 and include a post-show reception) at The Provincetown Theater, 238 Bradford St., Provincetown. Tickets can be purchased by calling PtownTix at (508) 487-9793 or online at ptowntix.com.
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In the Arts
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Dec 16th, 2004