Tickets on sale for ‘Nutcracker’ ballet

A cursed nutcracker, the sugar plum fairy, and an evil mouse king will help transform the Townshend Theatre into a magical yuletide world with the performance of Ballet Jorgen’s “Nutcracker” next month.
Ballet Jorgen, a dance troupe that tours the country and leads the way in producing new ballets in Canada, will present one of the world’s most well-known ballets here Saturday, Nov. 16.
There will be two performances of the work, based on Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite.” The public can attend the matinee show at 1:30 p.m., with tickets available at the Fort Frances Public Library for $20 each.
The evening performance is sold out to tour de Fort passport-holders only.
“I know the ‘Nutcracker’ is something people will be talking about for years. It will be a lifelong memory,” tour de Fort spokesman Rod Newman said Monday.
The “Nutcracker” tells the tale of a little girl named Clara, who enters a magical world of dancing dolls and battles with an evil mouse king one Christmas after her uncle gives her a special nutcracker.
“This is a ballet for children. It is a ballet that will introduce children to ballet,” Newman said.
Ballet Jorgen has been travelling across North America with its production of this holiday tale since 1995 and Newman said tour de Fort is honoured to have the troupe stop here.
“We’re really looking forward to being able to offer this to people here since the ‘Nutcracker’ ballet has never been [performed] in Fort Frances or International Falls before.
“You used to have to go to the city to see it,” Newman remarked.
“People can go twice,” he added. “They can go with their children or grandchildren in the afternoon and they can go again with their husband that evening [if they are passport holders].”
Perhaps the greatest reason Newman is pleased to bring this ballet to Fort Frances is that it offers families a chance to share in a holiday tradition experienced in larger communities around the world.
“I’ve seen it on a number of occasions with my children when we were in England living over there. It was almost an annual tradition I would take the kids at Christmas,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing it, though it won’t be with my kids this time,” he added.