NEAD’s ‘The Nutcracker’ Set for Dec. 13 to 15 [Q&A]

New Canaan’s New England Academy of Dance is preparing to put on its popular holiday performances of “The Nutcracker,” Dec. 13 to 15 at New Canaan High School.

As part of our periodic series profiling local nonprofit organizations (see past installments here and here), we put some questions to Jennifer Kurtz, chair of the ballet school’s nonprofit arm, New England Dance Theater.

Here’s our exchange.

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New Canaanite: The calendar has turned to December, and for several decades in New Canaan what that means, among other things, is that the New England Academy of Dance is putting on “The Nutcracker” (to run Dec. 13 to 15 at New Canaan High School, tickets here). Many of us, including me, remember Doris Driver from our childhoods. Before we talk about NEAD’s nonprofit arm, the New England Dance Theater, please give our readers some background on the local ballet school and its signature holiday production.

Jennifer Kurtz: The story grew from a passion for the arts and a vision for young dancers to have local accessibility to dance, specifically ballet. The company, NEAD, and the nonprofit, NEDT, were both founded by the former Broadway dancer, esteemed ballerina, and arts visionary Doris Driver. More than five decades ago, Ms. Driver initiated the idea of teaching ballet classes and welcomed her first 14 students in 1968. Since then, the Academy has grown to more than 500 young dancers each semester in the fall and spring. The roster represents mostly New Canaan families and families from neighboring towns like Darien, Wilton, Stamford, Norwalk, Pound Ridge, Bedford, and Ridgefield. The Academy primarily teaches students ages 2-18, with some adult classes. Sadly, Ms. Driver died in 2010 at New Canaan’s Waveny Care Center at the age of 87. Her legacy lives on.

In 2003, the ownership of the New Canaan-based ballet school and nonprofit organization was transferred from Ms. Driver’s estate to today’s directors: Frances Ortiz, Ginna Ortiz, and Ted Thomas, all of whom have professional dance and choreography experience of more than 70 years combined. Together, their time, energy, knowledge, and dedication have built a curriculum offering 18 different level classes that build upon the foundation of classical ballet fundamentals, focusing on proper body alignment, technique, terminology, and musicality. NEAD has grown to become one of the foremost dance institutions in Fairfield County and Westchester.

Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Driver also founded the company’s first-ever Nutcracker ballet performance in 1985. For the last 39 years, this two-act ballet event has been a long-standing tradition amongst community members in New Canaan. In the last several years, however, the production has catapulted to a new level that some say rivals NYC Broadway productions. The familiar and lyrical score of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky has drawn in audience members near and far to share the magic of this beautiful holiday story. Most impressive is that for the last six consecutive years (with the exception of the pandemic year in 2020), the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has performed live with our dancers. Under the Musical Director and Conductor Jonathan Yates, the collaboration has been an incredible force for New Canaan, recognizing the NSO’s excellent reputation and deep-rooted foundation established more than 80 years ago in 1939.

Today’s production boasts over 150 students from the Academy. It features dazzling stage sets, beautiful costumes, and smaller fundraiser-community events building up to the big December weekend. It offers four two-hour-long performances and one one-hour abbreviated child-friendly and interactive performance. We are one of the only regional ballet schools in the country to perform a Nutcracker of this magnitude with live musical accompaniment. It is such a treat for our dancers and our audience! This year’s performances will take place on the weekend of December 13-15, and tickets are still available online. Next year, in 2025, we will celebrate 40 years of this production here in New Canaan, and believe me, it will be a celebration like no other.

What is the relationship between NEAD and NEDT? What does NEDT do—for example, when it comes to the annual performances of “The Nutcracker”?

NEDT was founded in 1990 by Ms. Driver as the non-profit entity of the Dance Academy establishing its own mission statement, bylaws, governing board, volunteers, and fundraising efforts. NEDT’s mission remains steadfast today with 12 Board members who govern and instill the organization’s goals and objectives through community leaders and volunteers. The mission remains to support local New Canaan citizens and other community members from surrounding bordering towns, and Fairfield County within budgetary means. The mission is three-fold:

1. to provide high-quality ballet performances, 
2. to give access and knowledge of dance expertise that is all inclusive in demographics, and
3. to offer enrichment for its ballet dancers on- and off-stage. 

For the Nutcracker specifically, NEDT is responsible for raising the funds required for the partnership with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra. This is our single largest expense but one we feel is vital to the continued excellence of our Nutcracker performances. This partnership also is an amazing learning opportunity for the dancers who learn to modify their movement and timing to a live orchestra.

NEDT also owns and maintains all of the professional level costumes and tutus featured in our performance. We work with a local costume maker, local seamstresses, and a nationally recognized professional costume company. Many of our costumes have been in rotation since the beginning of our production history thanks to careful maintenance and storage. Last year, we debuted new Marzipan and Fairies costumes (all part of Land of the Sweets) and this year our nearly 30 Angels, our youngest performers, will be wearing brand new costumes.

NEDT also seeks to bring the Nutcracker to the community in other ways that give access to all persons interested in the arts no matter one’s demographics. We do this by donating performance tickets to local non-profit partners, hosting mini performances at nearby senior centers and other locations, and providing live stream links to non-profit organizations. Last year, we donated more than 275 tickets to local, nonprofit partners including Horizons, Building One Community, STAR Inc. Lighting the Way, among others. 

NEDT manages all the volunteers required to make this production possible – ushers, backstage chaperones, hair & makeup, decor, ticket sales, plus a specialty boutique, concessions, and flowers for patrons at each performance. With 20 co-chair positions secured every year, and their many volunteers in support, we estimate our 200+ volunteers give more than 500 hours to bring this magical production to life. Our ballet families are as dedicated as our ballet dancers – they’re just not on stage, moving quietly behind the scenes.

Talk about NEDT’s connections to New Canaan, beyond operating out of the Main Street and downtown instruction spaces. Do New Canaanites help make up its board? How many dancers are served by the school year-round, and how many of those are New Canaan families?

The majority of NEAD students and NEDT board members are New Canaanites. We proudly participate in many New Canaan activities from the Halloween Block Party to the Holiday Stroll. We also partner with many New Canaan organizations including the New Canaan High School, New Canaan Library, Horizons at New Canaan Country School, among others. We are proud recipients of grants from several New Canaan organizations and families such as the New Canaan Community Foundation and the Harmony Lodge Masons. We also are thoughtfully supported by the State of Connecticut’s Office of the Arts. While the majority of our students and reach is in New Canaan, we are proud to work outside of town boundaries as well bringing the joy of dance to neighboring communities. This includes our outreach with Nutcracker lecture demonstrations in Stamford, Norwalk, Darien, Westport, and Pound Ridge that include senior centers and venues for young children, including nursery and elementary schools.

Talk about NEDT’s synergy and partnership with New Canaan High School. In what ways do the two entities help each other? What are some other important community partnerships for NEDT?

NEDT is very proud to partner with numerous other organizations to help bring our mission to life. Each year, we partner with the New Canaan High School as our venue for three important events – the Sugar Plum Tea Parties, the Nutcracker performances and our spring performances. Not only do we use many rooms at the High School including the auditorium, lobby, Wagner Room and Cafeteria, but we also benefit from the expertise of the New Canaan High School production staff and students. We are so grateful for this partnership each year.

As mentioned earlier, we also partner each December with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra for the live musical accompaniment to our Nutcracker performances. We are also fortunate to be invited to perform with the NSO at their annual Holiday Pops concert. This year, the Pops concert will be Sunday, December 8th at 3pm at the Norwalk Concert Hall. NEAD dancers will be performing a special excerpt from the Nutcracker as part of this holiday concert.

We have also developed a great relationship with the New Canaan Library. We were so proud to be invited to open their new outdoor space in May bringing our competition dancers to perform their classical variations and contemporary pieces. Again this year, NEAD and NEDT are bringing the magic of the Sugar Plum Fairy to the New Canaan Library on December 17th with a special reading of the Nutcracker book followed by a performance and opportunity for the audience to learn a few special Nutcracker inspired moves! 

Through our complimentary tickets and lecture demonstration programs, we have developed wonderful partnerships with numerous other local non-profits including Horizons, Building One Community, STAR, Carver, Intempo, Inspirica and many, many others. We are excited about all these partnerships because they allow us to expand our reach and provide access to the arts, specifically ballet, to those who may not otherwise experience it.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one last partnership – we now work with New Canaan chapters of NCL and SLOBs to provide volunteer opportunities for their members. We are so fortunate to benefit from their energetic passion for volunteering as we often have more work and opportunities than we can tackle alone!

What else should locals know about New England Dance Theater? 

What else? Well, I think we’ve covered a lot already! But, I’d love to mention two more programs and partnerships that NEDT sponsors. We host weekly adaptive dance classes in our studios for disabled adults in partnership with STAR. And, NEDT sponsors teachers for a summer dance program at the Carver Center throughout the month of July. Both programs allow us to spread the love of dance to new communities. 

All this is accomplished by our remarkable 12 person board and a host of other volunteers. We are so proud of the work we do to keep arts accessible and available to as many community members as possible. NEAD provides their dancers with exceptional training and we are proud to help showcase them throughout our community. 

We’ve been listening to the Nutcracker non-stop since the end of August and are excited to share this wonderful holiday tradition with everyone in a few short weeks!