Sacramento Bee Again Cites DDP In Review of Amy Seiwert’s “The Nutcracker” for Sacramento Ballet
"The Devil Ties My Tongue" by Amy Seiwert performed for the SKETCH Series, 2013. Photo by David DeSilva. Courtesy of Amy Seiwert's Imagery
Sacramento Bee Again Cites DDP In Review of Amy Seiwert’s “The Nutcracker” for Sacramento Ballet
By Kameron Schmid
13 December 2019
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“We can approach classical art forms with contemporary sensibilities,” Seiwert said. “In a lot of versions of The Nutcracker, Marie is considered this perfect little girl … she’s an archetype but not a human.”
The ultimate goal was to give audiences, especially children, a different message to walk away with after seeing how Marie, the main character, approaches the obstacles put in her path.
“So many kids come to see The Nutcracker. For so many people, it’s the first ballet they see,” Seiwert said. “To be able to show them, ‘You can do hard things. You can walk through a hard situation,’ to put that image out there was very important to me.”
Seiwert is one of the most prominent female ballet directors and choreographers in the nation. As she points out, there aren’t many to begin with.
Her production of The Nutcracker was the only full-length world premiere created by a woman for the 2018-2019 season in the country, according to the Dance Data Project.
“There is a serious lack of women creating ballet,” Seiwert said. “There’s starting to be a shift in that dynamic. I don’t think it’s because women can’t choreograph ballet, it usually has to do with opportunity.”
In the second year of producing Seiwert’s version of The Nutcracker, Sacramento Ballet has over 22 professional dancers in residence and will feature them in the show, as well as approximately 100 children per performance, according to Seiwert.
Read the full article in The Sacramento Bee.
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