Val Caniparoli, aka “Mr. Nutcracker,” on Creating 5 Different Productions of the Holiday Classic

Steve Sucato

December 18, 2024

One can safely say that Val Caniparoli has been one of the most prolific Nutcracker choreographers of this century. Since 2000, the San Francisco–based dancemaker, who is also a principal character artist with San Francisco Ballet, has created or co-created five new productions for five different ballet companies. Three are still performed annually.

A portrait of Val Caniparoli from the chest up. He wears a dark v-neck sweater and looks directly at the camera with a closed-mouth smile. — Val Caniparoli. Photo by Chris Hardy, courtesy Caniparoli.

With a choreographic oeuvre of more than 150 ballet, opera, and theater productions, Caniparoli’s string of Nutcrackers began with Cincinnati Ballet in 2001, then continued with Louisville Ballet in 2009, Grand Rapids Ballet in 2014, Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2018, and a co-creation for Tulsa Ballet with choreographer Ma Cong in 2021. (The productions in Louisville, Grand Rapids, and Tulsa are still running.)

Pointe caught up with Caniparoli to discuss how he became one of Nutcracker’s go-to choreographers, and what he loved about creating new productions of the holiday classic.

What is your history with The Nutcracker ballet before you began choreographing it?

I have performed in San Francisco Ballet’s various Nutcracker productions for 51 years. [He currently performs the role of Drosselmeyer in Helgi Tomasson’s version at SFB.] I grew up with Lew Christensen’s version. I thought it was genius. I loved his sense of humor and how he made the story and the characters come alive.

How did Christensen’s version influence your approach to choregraphing the ballet?

Your favorite Nutcracker is usually the one you started with or grew up with. In many ways, I have modeled a lot of my Nutcrackers on his, updating them here and there.

A group of dancers in animal costumes dance onstage during a performance of Nutcracker. A white bunny rabbit holding a rifle bows and salutes while a rat stands behind it, poking fun of it. Other rats stand in the background. — A scene from a 2007 performance of Caniparoli’s *Nutcracker* production for Cincinnati Ballet. Photo courtesy Cincinnati Ballet.

Why do you think artistic directors are drawn to your way of telling the Nutcracker story?

When I was hired to co-create Tulsa Ballet’s new production, I asked artistic director Marcello Angelini why he didn’t just have Ma [Cong] choreograph the entire thing. He told me, ‘You know the traditions of The Nutcracker in the United States.’ With Marcello being from Italy and Ma from China, he said, ‘We need that base of how a Nutcracker works in the U.S., and you are the one I want to set up the story.’ It rang with me that he said he trusted me, because not every Nutcracker works. You have to know your audience and their history with the ballet.

What are the challenges in creating a new Nutcracker?

I think it is one of the hardest ballets to do in the United States, especially because the expectations are so high. It cannot fail. A company’s existence relies on it. Not so much in Europe, because it isn’t performed annually, but here, audiences have to come back every year. You can’t do a weird psychological version of the ballet and expect people to bring their children. You can challenge adult audiences, but you have to make the production kid-friendly.

What else is important?

The ability to work with children is essential in many ways. So is coordinating with the design staff and scheduling rehearsals. There is a lot on your plate, and the buck stops with you no matter what.

Twelve ballerinas form a staggered line nstage and kneel on their left knee with their right leg extended in front of them, toes pointed. They hold their arms up in a V shape and wear white knee-length tutus, pink tights and pointe shoes. They dance in front of a backdrop depicting a snowy forest and stone bridge. — Grand Rapids Ballet company dancers, apprentices, and trainees perform the snow scene from Caiparoli’s *Nutcracker*. Photo by Ray Nard Imagemaker, courtesy GR Ballet.

Do you have a formula for making a memorable Nutcracker production?

I make sure I look at all the previous Nutcracker versions a company has done. I then add that to all I know and my aesthetics. Christensen’s version is always in the back of my head. I have specific approaches to things like the Snow corps, Flowers, and Drosselmeyer. I like to collaborate with the production designers from the very beginning, but sometimes other things come into play. For the first Nutcracker I created for Cincinnati Ballet, the company had already rented a production and wanted me to choreograph a new version based on those designs. Similarly, for Grand Rapids Ballet’s production, I was asked after the designs by Eugene Lee (Wicked) and Polar Express author/illustrator Chris Van Allsburg were made. They are great designs, but they proved difficult to choreograph around. Every production has come with its own challenges, and I love a good challenge.

With the Nutcracker story and Tchaikovsky’s music being the same, how did you go about making the choreography for each production different?

As I said, I have a formula, but that formula is made to be broken. With each production, I tried to put in the flavor of the community it was being made for. For the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s production, I incorporated inspiration from their national flower, the kōwhai. For Louisville Ballet, the Mother Ginger section had jockeys coming out of a carousel, referencing the Kentucky Derby. I also looked at the technical abilities of the dancers and choreographed accordingly.

A group of seven child dancers lunge on their left leg and lean their bodies downover their right leg, their arms open wide. They wear colorful jockey costumes and smile. — Madame’s Derby Jockeys in *The Brown Forman Nutcracker*. Photo by Kateryna Sellars, courtesy Louisville Ballet.

How much of Petipa’s original choreography do you incorporate?

Very little. There are hints of it, but I don’t have that in my DNA.

You keep up with your productions each year; have you had to make changes to them over time?

Yes. Now, tastes are different, especially in Act II and the national dances. In some of the productions still in use, I am going back in and rethinking and updating those national dances to meet modern expectations.

During a performance of Nutcracker, a male and female dancer do a grand jeté in croisé, going in different directions. The woman wears a pink dress and pointe shoes, while the man wears a red and white velvet jacket with gold lapels, white tights and black ballet boots. — Katherine Minor and Fabio Lo Giudice in Act II of Caiparoli’s *The Nutcracker* at the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2018. Photo by Stephen A’Court, courtesy RNZ ballet.

Would you like to do another new Nutcracker production?

Yes—with what I know now, being older and wiser, I would like to do a new one somewhere. I love thinking about how we can make it all-encompassing for today’s audiences.

What about The Nutcracker ballet keeps you coming back to it?

Making it more and more relatable to audiences, especially children. I take great pride in children loving my productions—when they laugh, cheer, applaud, and really react to what I have done. I really love it.