'The Nutcracker'

As the curtain closes down on Act I, Jaya Dhand, a Jacobs School of Ballet junior, waits in the wings for her entrance.

Dancers shuffle backstage and behind the curtains before they open for Act II. The faint sound of children lining up can be heard just before the angels glide on stage for the opening of the second act.

When Clara enters the Land of the Sweets, she is greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier into their land. Clara tells them of her journey and the battle between the prince and Mouse King. The couple then rewards her with a series of dances.

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The IU Jacobs School of Music’s ballet department will perform “The Nutcracker” on Friday through Sunday. The show has not changed much over the years, Michael Vernon, Professor of Music and 2021 Nutcracker choreographer, said.

This is the last weekend to see Vernon's choreography for "The Nutcracker." He has choreographed the show since 2007. Next year, Sasha Janes, an Associate Professor of Music in the ballet department, will choreograph “The Nutcracker.”

The Sugar Plum Fairy, portrayed by Dhand, is a lead female role in the Nutcracker.

“I think that the Sugar Plum Fairy is like the quintessential ballerina role,” Dhand said. “If you ask anybody, they know who the Sugar Plum Fairy is. That is a really special part.”

In the 2019 production, Dhand was an understudy for the Sugar Plum Fairy, which is what she described as an opportunity many freshmen do not receive. Having already rehearsed the role that year, she said it feels like she is revisiting it now.

Dhand, 22, is the oldest in the third-year class. After her senior year of high school, she was accepted into the ballet program at IU. However, she decided to take two gap years to complete a traineeship at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.

Dhand decided to take those gap years after a conversation with the ballet department chair Sarah Wroth. Dhand said Wroth encouraged her to complete the program, and that the ballet program would be happy to have her whenever she decided to attend IU.

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“The Nutcracker” is a seasonal ballet with the storyline revolving around the holiday season. Unlike the school’s fall ballet, “A Leap Forward,” “The Nutcracker” is a story ballet as opposed to a ballet with separate pieces.

VVernon said the IU production of “The Nutcracker” is of a professional level and caters to audiences from both Bloomington and around the state. A reason why the show is so common for ballet companies to put on is because the music and story are so well known, he said.

Vernon said another reason the show is popular is because of the amount of children the show has. The show has about 30 children cast in various roles. All of the children in the production are from the Jacobs Academy’s Ballet Pre-College Program. The Ballet Pre-College program is an after-school program put on through the Jacobs School of Ballet for dancers up to 18 years old.

Throughout Act II of “The Nutcracker,” the Sugar Plum Fairy is accompanied by her male counterpart, the Cavalier. The Cavalier is a role many male dancers aspire to have in this production, IU ballet senior Jack Grohmann said.

Grohmann started ballet when he was 13 years old, later than some of his colleagues.

In most professional ballet companies, dancers will keep the same dancing partners so they can become familiar with one another. Vernon said dancers rotate their partnerships at IU for teaching purposes. He said this methodology helps dancers become familiar with different body types, styles of dancing and personality types.

Dhand and Grohmann have danced together in class, but this is their first time performing together in lead roles. The pair originally met in 2016 at the Boston Ballet School summer program.

The same costumes and sets that will be used this weekend have been used since 1998, Wroth said. While everyone may know what the costumes are going to look like, Grohmann said it is still special to know he will get to be the one wearing it.

“The Cavalier costume is something that I know what it is and what it looks like,” Grohmann said. “But to see it next to my name and putting that on for me was really cool just because it's something that I feel like I've been waiting for.”

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Wroth said people come to see “The Nutcracker” year after year because it brings the audience back to their childhood. It is easily accessible and since people understand the story, she said, it helps eliminate some of the intimidation of going to the ballet. .

The show incorporates several student groups to pull off the production. During the Land of Snow scene, a choral ensemble performs on stage and a student orchestra performs the music, Wroth said.

Every role in the show has multiple casts, with some having more than others depending on the role, Vernon said. Having multiple casts provides dancers with more opportunities to dance principal roles and also allow for the use of understudies, if needed.

Having multiple dancers portray the same role also allows for a slightly different variation of the part should an audience member want to come multiple times in the same year.

“As different as we are as people, the interpretations of different roles can be different,” Wroth said.

Last year, IU did not put on “The Nutcracker” due to the pandemic. Vernon said not having it last year makes this year even more special.

“In a way, absence makes the heart grow fonder,” Vernon said. “After not having done it for a year, people are putting even more heart and soul into it.”