Submitted photo Columbus Indiana Philharmonic musicians are slightly seen in the pit during a Dancers Studio Inc. performance of “The Nutcracker.”
“The Nutcracker” with live music, recently presented in Columbus for the first time since 2002, was so popular that organizers currently are discussing collaborating on a production in 2024.
Dancers Studio Inc. and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic joined forces for the first time to present Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet Dec. 2 and 3 at the 1,000-seat Judson Erne Auditorium. Previously, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra provided musical accompaniment.
In other years since the early 1990s, the nonprofit dance studio performed to recorded music.
The Dec. 2 performance attracted about 750 people on the same Friday night of the Columbus Festival of Lights Parade and the Dec. 3 show was a sellout, according to Donnie Robinette, Philharmonic executive director.
Those figures represent the largest local “Nutcracker” attendance figures anyone can recall, organizers said.
“It was an amazing show,” said Andrea Davis, executive director of Dancers Studio Inc.
The production featured 200 performers, including dancers and musicians.
Robinette described the performances and the possibilities of another chance to work together as “exciting.”
Plus, Philharmonic music director Isaac Selya confirmed that there is “interest/excitement/exploration of the possibility” of another collaboration.
“That’s a good way of describing the situation — as an exploration or maybe an anticipation,” Davis said.
The seeds of the original collaboration were planted soon after Robinette was hired as The Philharmonic’s executive director. He said he was interested in involving many other organizations with the professional orchestra’s work. He shared that vision with Selya when he was hired in May and the idea grew from there.
It helped that Selya already had conducted a complete “Nutcracker” performance elsewhere. When someone recently mentioned that his rookie season with the orchestra already has been significant, he offered a baseball metaphor: “I feel like the city floated me an easy pitch to whack with such a strong arts ecosystem and support.”
Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” premiered on Dec. 18, 1892, as a double bill alongside his final opera, “Iolanta.”
Both works explore themes of magic, childhood, and the triumph of kindness and compassion over evil and darkness. Tchaikovsky was highly self-critical and was initially disappointed with his final theatrical works and with a somewhat lukewarm audience reception in 1892.
