SEATTLE — A Christmas tradition has returned to the Seattle stage.
Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) had to cancel its annual production of "The Nutcracker" last year because of the pandemic, but the sugar plum fairy is dancing again along with all the familiar favorites and a new character.
There is a small change to help with a problematic element to past productions. A few years back, PNB adopted the classic choreography of George Balanchine, and there were concerns that some elements of the ballet were not culturally sensitive.
They made several changes over the years but never felt like they did enough to address all the concerns.
This year they’re debuting a new character as the dancers return to a live audience.
“There's something that happens when several thousand people gather for live theater that collective 'aww,'” Artistic Director Peter Boal explained.
PNB is showing even the oldest traditions can change.
“One day, I came up with the concept of the cricket,” Boal said. Boal said he was aware that crickets were significant in Chinese culture and reached out to Phil Chan to confirm it would make an appropriate replacement for the Chinese Tea Dancer, a character who caused concern in the past.
“In the original 1954 production, there was just what we would term cultural appropriation and racial stereotyping in a way that didn't sit well with us as an organization and our core values and also the community that we lived in,” Boal explained.
The ballet worked with a consultant to make sure the change was appropriate and said, so far, the feedback has been positive. Still, they plan to continue to look at ways they can move their productions forward.
“I think the world we live in today, I think we have to constantly go back and check and reassess,” he explained.
The cricket is a relatively small part of the production. The dancer is on the stage for about two minutes.
"The Nutcracker" runs at McCaw Hall through Dec. 28.
In response to the ongoing pandemic, the ballet is using checkerboard seating to limit capacity. So, groups will not be seated next to each other, and those attending need to show a negative COVID-19 test or vaccination cards.