BALLETNOVA PRESENTS “The Nutcracker”

Houston Ballet Principals Karina González as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Connor Walsh as the Nutcracker Prince in Stanton Welch’s The Nutcracker. Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2019), Courtesy of Houston Ballet.

BalletNova presents its annual production of The Nutcracker on November 21 – 24, 2024 at the Kenmore Middle School Theatre in Arlington, VA, featuring choreography by Matthew Powell, Constance Walsh, and Nancie Woods. Karina González and Connor Walsh, principal dancers with The Houston Ballet, will dance the leading roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier for the Saturday, November 23 performances at 1pm and 5pm.

Performance Schedule:

Thursday, November 21, 2024, 7:00 pm

Friday, November 22, 2024, 7:00 pm

Saturday, November 23, 2024, at 1:00 pm* and 5:00 pm*

Sunday, November 24, 2024, 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm

*Special guest artist performances

Location:

Kenmore Middle School Theatre

200 South Carlin Springs Road

Arlington, VA 22204

Ticket Information:

Ticket prices: $28 - $48

Info: www.balletnova.org

Email: [email protected]

This full-length ballet set to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s beloved score will be danced by BalletNova’s Conservatory Division dancers and additional guest artists Noah Strand, Jamison Foreman, and Austin St. John. This timeless tale follows Clara and her Nutcracker Prince through incredible adventures set into motion by Clara’s Godfather Drosselmeyer, featuring life-size mice, a beautiful Snow Queen, and a journey to the Land of Sweets, presided over by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

Additional Events:

• Petite Performances

BalletNova presents a series of “Petite Performances” at BalletNova’s own Fredgren Studio Theatre, located at 3443 Carlin Springs Road in Falls Church. These 45-minute-long performances are designed with younger theatre-goers in mind, introducing the story of The Nutcracker and showing highlights from Act II – The Land of Sweets. These performances are a wonderful introduction to ballet performances in a family-friendly atmosphere.

Schedule:

Saturday, December 7 at 1:00 and 3:00 pm
Sunday, December 8 at 1:00 and 3:00 pm
Saturday, December 14 at 1:00 and 3:00 pm

Tickets:

$15 Children (12 and under)

$25 Adults

General Admission Seating

Visit www.balletnova.org for tickets

• Behind the Scenes Educational Program

This interactive program is geared for children 12 years and under and is held at the theatre prior to the weekend matinees. Children are invited to watch dancers participate in class and onstage rehearsal while they learn about ballet “behind the scenes.” Program also includes learning about dance and theatre production, ballet terminology, a backstage tour, and an up-close look at performance costumes and pointe shoes. Girl Scouts can use this program towards earning their Nutcracker Patch.*

Schedule:

Saturday, Nov 23 at 11:15am

Sunday, Nov 24 at 11:15am

(A full-length Nutcracker performance follows each program but is not included in the program fee. Tickets for the performance must be purchased separately. Groups of 10 or more receive a 10% discount.)

Tickets:

$12 per child, one adult is free with purchase of child ticket

*BalletNova does not administer or present the Nutcracker Patch. Please see your Scout Leader for patch requirements.

Guest artist Karina González is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, and a silver medal winner of the New York International Ballet Competition in 2007. She trained at the Gustavo Franklin Ballet School in Caracas, Venezuela and has danced professionally with Ballet National of Caracas and Tulsa Ballet, where she reached the rank of principal in 2007. Ms. González joined Houston Ballet as a soloist in 2010 and was promoted to principal dancer in February 2013 following her performance of Nikiya in Stanton Welch’s La Bayadere.

She has danced principal roles by the world’s foremost choreographers, including Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, and The Sleeping Beauty; Andre Prokovsky’s The Great Gatsby; John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew (Kate); Ai-Gul Gaisina’s staging of Giselle; George Balanchine’s Western Symphony, Serenade, and Emeralds; Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations; Nacho Duato’s Por vos Muero, Remansos and Gnawa; Jiří Kylián's Forgotten Land, Petite Mort and Falling Angels; Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and The Brahms-Hayden Variations; Stanton Welch's Sylvia*, Romeo and Juliet*, Marie, Giselle, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Bruiser, Maninyas, Tu Tu, The Core, Indigo, Divergence, Clear and Tapestry*; Christopher Bruce's Rooster; William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Jerome Robbin's In the Night; Edwaard Liang's Murmuration*; James Kudelka's Passion*; Justin Peck's Reflections* and Jorma Elo's ONE/end/ONE*.

González has been a guest artist at the Gala International Colombia (2006) and at the New York International Ballet Competition's Gala (2009). Ms. González has also guested with Ballet Estable del Teatro Colon in Argentina, performing the role of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. In 2011, she participated in the Career Transition For Dancers' 26th Anniversary Jubilee in New York City, New York and The Festival de Danza Cordoba in Mexico. In the summer of 2012, Ms. González performed in the International Ballet Gala in Malaysia and was invited as a guest artist with Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard's up and coming company Ballet Next at the Joyce Theater in NYC.

Ms. González has been featured on the cover of Pointe Magazine's February/March 2008 issue, Dance Magazine's November 2011 edition and A+C Houston Magazine's November 2011 edition. González was name "Best dancer" 2013 by the Houston Press and was one of Pointe Magazine's favorite performances of the year. Also, González was featured in Kimberly Clark’s and Honda Civic's 2016 Television and Marketing campaign. In December 2016 González was recognized by The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at their annual Gala. In 2017, González was name one 30th Most Influential Women in Houston and 2018 was invited to participated at the International Ballet Festival of Havana. González was featured in Ed Sheeran’s music video “Put It All On Me.”

*Roles created on

Guest Artist Connor Walsh was born in Fairfax, Virginia, Connor Walsh began his training at the age of seven under the direction of his mother Constance Walsh. He has trained at The Kirov Academy of Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, and Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, where he was awarded the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation Scholarship and the Ben Stevenson Scholarship award. In 2004, he won the first annual gold award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) and was given the Award of Encouragement at the Shanghai International Ballet Competition.

In 2004, Walsh joined Houston Ballet’s company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was quickly promoted to soloist in 2006 and then to principal dancer in 2007.

Walsh has originated lead roles in Stanton Welch’s The Nutcracker (The Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), Giselle (Albrecht), Marie (Count Axel von Fersen), and La Bayadère (Solor).

He has danced major roles in numerous full-length ballets including John Cranko’s Onegin (Lensky) and The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio), Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon (Des Grieux) and Mayerling (Prince Rudolf), John Neumeier's A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theseus / Oberon, Puck) and The Little Mermaid (The Poet), Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal Gardée (Colas), Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow (Camille), Ben Stevenson’s Don Quixote (Basilio), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund), and Dracula (Fredrick), Sir David Bintley’s Aladdin (Aladdin) and The Tempest (Ferdinand), Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan (Merman), and Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake (Siegfried), Marie (Count Axel Fersen and King Louis XVI), Madame Butterfly (Pinkerton), La Sylphide (James), and Cinderella (The Prince and Dandini).

Walsh’s repertory also includes works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Justin Peck, Alexander Ekman, Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp, Hans Van Manen, Glen Tetley, Christopher Bruce, Antony Tudor, Nacho Duato and Serge Lifar, Melissa Barak. One act creations include Stanton Welch, Aszure Barton, Edwaard Liang, Mark Morris, James Kudelka, Nicolo Fonte, Melissa Hough, and Garrett Smith among others.

In recent years Walsh has expanded his reach into teaching, coaching and choreographing. In 2015, along with fellow Houston Ballet company members Oliver Halkowich and Melody Walsh, Walsh founded REACH - a choreographic project that raises money for arts education in schools. Following the success of REACH, Walsh and his colleagues were invited to create a world premiere, entitled What we keep, for Houston Ballet in spring of 2018. Walsh’s world premiere A Joyous Trilogy (in flight) created for Houston Ballet and set to music by Quinn Mason took the Wortham stage on June 2, 2022.

Walsh enjoys teaching, coaching, and choreographing as well as participating in many forms of dance. He is also a soccer fanatic as well as food enthusiast.

BalletNova Center for Dance, founded in 1981, is dedicated to educating and mentoring dancers in a positive, nurturing environment and preserving the traditions of classical ballet through quality dance productions and education. Formerly Arlington Center for Dance/The Center Dance Company, the organization moved to a beautiful six-studio 20,800 square foot state-of-the-art facility in 2008, and offers classes in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, and musical theatre for children, teens and adult dancers. The award-winning pre-professional ballet program is recognized as one of the best in the Metro Washington DC area. BalletNova also has an extensive Adult Dance Division with classes in Ballet, Contemporary, Tap, Jazz and Musical Theatre Dance. The Fredgren Studio Theatre, a 150-seat black box theatre designed for dance, opened in September 2014.

BalletNova is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization supported in part by the ARTSFAIRFAX, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.