This New "Nutcracker" Competition Wants Your Dance Studio to be Part of a Virtual Collaboration
Despite worldwide theater closures, the Universal Ballet Competition is keeping The Nutcracker tradition alive in 2020 with an online international competition. The event culminates in a streamed, full-length video of The Virtual Nutcracker consisting of winning entries on December 19. The competition is calling on studios, as well as dancers of all ages and levels, to submit videos by November 29 to be considered.
“Nutcracker is a tradition that is ingrained in our hearts,” says UBC co-founder Lissette Salgado-Lucas, a former dancer with Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Joffrey Ballet. “We danced it for so long as professionals, we can’t wait to pass it along to dancers through this competition.”
How It Works
UBC has divided various scenes and divertissements that make up The Nutcracker into categories. (Think Party Scene, Battle Scene, Snow Pas de Deux, etc.) Studios and conservatories, along with individual dancers, are asked to submit footage of these scenes from previous performances or in-studio recordings (though costuming and makeup is encouraged) to UBC through the company’s website. The entry fee for each submission is $45, with multiple-entry pricing available.
The competition will be livestreamed on December 12, featuring all submissions that make up Act I, and on December 13, featuring all submissions that make up Act II. “We thought it would be cool for parents and directors to see, say, 20 different versions of Mother Ginger for future inspiration,” says UBC co-founder David Lucas. “It’s a fun way to promote the different studios who are all facing challenges, embrace the season, and learn from one another.”
The jurors for the competition include: Pennsylvania Ballet assistant artistic director Samantha Dunster, Kansas City Ballet School director Grace Maduell Holmes, Royal Winnipeg Ballet associate director Tara Birtwhistle, Orlando Ballet School principal teacher Charmaine Hunter and international master teacher Duncan Cooper.
An online awards ceremony announcing each scene’s top three submissions (and their subsequent cast members) will be held on December 14. The first-place clips will then be strung together to create a final cohesive recording of The Virtual Nutcracker, which audiences can stream for free on UBC’s website on December 19.
“At this time, the arts have to show we are stronger than COVID-19,” Lucas says. “United as a community, we still go on. Dancers, studios and companies cannot survive without performances—let’s continue the Nutcracker tradition in a safe environment.”
