Academy puts a jazz spin on ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet

What do you get when you mix Tchaikovsky with Duke Ellington and youngsters? A dance performance like none other.

The International Dance Education Academy, 6700 W. Charleston Blvd., plans to perform "The Nutcracker Remix," a holiday showcase, at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at the Summerlin Library Performing Arts Center, 1771 Inner Circle Drive.

"Other companies do the traditional 'Nutcracker,' " said Carole Sampson, founder of the academy. "We're doing parts of it using Duke Ellington's arrangement. It's a little bit spicier, something different for the people of Las Vegas."

Instead of the grand pas de deux, the dance between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, a jazzy solo will feature a student dancer en pointe. Sampson also took poetic license with other aspects of the ballet.

"I have peanut brittle (characters) because the cooks make different candies," she said.

The holiday showcase will include pieces of "The Nutcracker" ballet injected with jazz segments. The ballet and modern dance parts do not juxtapose, said Sampson, but they do complement one another.

Alina Cooper, 17, has been dancing since she was 3. She'd never heard of Ellington making an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" until Sampson's introduction.

"Then I heard the music and was really surprised at the new beats, the new approach," she said.

Aaron Sampson said it was easy to have his mother as his dance instructor and that her choice of a jazz version of "The Nutcracker" was in keeping with her perspective that dance can be innovative and fun.

"The new jazz version, it's not so much about technique as it is 'feeling' the music," he said.

"The Nutcracker Remix" runs an hour and 45 minutes and includes about two dozen numbers. The first act is filled with tap, jazz and contemporary dance numbers set to holiday music such as "Jingle Bell Rock," "Carol of the Bells" and "Rock Around the Christmas Tree."

The second act brings on the Ellington charm with ballet dancing taking center stage.

A former Lido de Paris dancer, Sampson's career has taken her around the world. She is affiliated with the Royal Academy of Dance and the International Dance Teachers Association. She established IDEA's Youth Company in 2003.

The dance academy offers ballet, tap, jazz, ballroom, hip-hop, acting and musical theater instruction, as well as Pilates and stretch classes.

Tickets for "The Nutcracker Remix" are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 or younger. For tickets or more information, call 368-4332.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.