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The Nutcracker network

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The Nutcracker network

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The Nutcracker Network
By
Wiebke Schuster

A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE
USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM (THE ARTS)

May 2014

Copyright 2014 Wiebke Schuster
ii

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements iii
Abstract iv
1) Introduction: The Problem 1
2) San Francisco Ballet’s The Nutcracker Digital Media Campaign 3
3) Why The Nutcracker? 8
4) The Nutcracker Network 11
5) Meet the Contributors 13
7) Content

7.2 Audience Voices – Wiebke Schuster 13
7.3 Audience Voices – Erin Lashway 17
7.4 Five Questions for the Artists – Jaime Hickey 22
7.5 Five Questions for the Artists – Fabrice Calmels 26
7.6 Profile Pieces – Leslie Carothers-Aromaa 28
6) Conclusion 36
Appendix 38
References 43
iii

Acknowledgements

I thank the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication
and Journalism and, in particular, Professors Tim Page and Sasha Anawalt for opening
the door to this life-changing opportunity for me.

I am grateful for my family’s tireless support and patience, as well as for my friends,
Kaitlin Parks and Lindsey Hill, who contributed ideas, thoughts, and a network of
support.

iv

Abstract

This thesis examines two apparent trends: the decline in audiences for classical ballet in
America and the role of digital media and the Internet in building audiences for classical
ballet.

In addition, I have created a seasonal website, The Nutcracker Network, that is designed
to inform and connect new and established ballet audiences.

My goal is to discover how to best engage audiences as a journalist with a background in
ballet and arts management both in the United States and abroad.

I have looked at one US ballet company in particular, the San Francisco Ballet, which has
an extensive online portfolio for its production of The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker Network will launch in November 2014.
1

Introduction: The Problem

As a journalist, I often ask myself, “How can I contribute significantly to sustaining
popular interest in classical ballet. How do I keep the conversation relevant and
engaging? Where is my place in the performing arts ecosystem, and how healthy is that
very ecosystem as a whole?”

During an arts leadership class at the University of Southern California taught by the
former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Dana Gioia, I read the
recent study, “Survey of Public Participation in the Arts” (published in 2013), which was
conducted by the NEA over a period of five years.
1

According to this report, attendance of live performances has declined for ballet and
classical music in particular, while consuming art (all art forms) through digital media is
a growing trend. More than three-quarters of adults have accessed art through handheld
or mobile devices alone.
2
There is no evidence that the two findings are directly related,
as the survey does not address causality.

1
Some professionals agree that the study’s data can be misinterpreted. In a panel
discussion hosted by WQXR, Jesse Rosen president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras points
out that participation data is not the same as attendance data. He stresses the change in proportion of the
audience population. Rosen says: “As the population grows, you can actually have attendance grow while
participation rates decline.” In the case of classical music, Rosen says that while participation declined,
attendance stayed pretty level: “There are two metrics going here.” (WQXR, 2013)
2
WQXR, 2013.
2

Sunil Iyengar, director of research and analysis for the National Endowment for the Arts,
weighed in on the topic in a New York Times article, saying, “Research shows that
viewers who watch a theatrical performance online or on TV are actually twice as likely
to attend a live show.”
3

This trend may explain why ballet companies have been hiring online content producers
for in-house projects as well as outsourcing extensive digital marketing campaigns to
specialist firms.

The New York City Ballet, for example, has recently partnered with one of its board
members and producers, Sarah Jessica Parker, and AOL to produce its own web series.

In the case of The Nutcracker, companies like American Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet
have created microsites, e-papers, and clever social media campaigns geared toward
providing production-specific content.

San Francisco Ballet, in particular, has a large online portfolio that offers its audience a
variety of information on its Nutcracker production across multi-media platforms.

3
Cohen, 2013.
3

San Francisco Ballet’s The Nutcracker Digital Media Campaign

San Francisco was the birthplace of The Nutcracker tradition in the United States. The
ballet was first performed in its entirety there on Christmas Eve 1944 at the War
Memorial Opera House, staged by its artistic director Willam Christensen, and was an
immediate success.

How does the oldest ballet company in America, blessed with a healthy annual operating
budget of 46 million dollars, keep its Nutcracker audience engaged and interested today?

The San Francisco Ballet offers several new ways to experience the holiday tradition and
brands its Nutcracker as a uniquely San Franciscan experience. Helgi Tomasson’s
production puts the city center stage, drawing inspiration from the Panama Pacific
International Exposition that took place in San Francisco in 1915. Artistic director
Tomasson stages the “Waltz of the Flowers” in the city’s iconic Conservatory of Flowers
and uses set designs reminiscent of famous San Francisco architecture such as the
“Painted Ladies” of Alamo Square.

All the background information and history of the ballet is presented in several e-
publications, made available on the company’s official website.

In 2013, the San Francisco Ballet teamed up with the downtown Westfield Shopping
Center to create a video installation project called “Nutcracker under the Dome.”
4

April Johnston, communications director at the San Francisco Ballet, explained how the
collaboration with Obscura Digital, a local firm specializing in 3D video design, and the
Westfield Shopping Center came about: “The Westfield Shopping Center has this
beautiful dome. They’ve been running a holiday show, as well as a summer one, and have
always worked with Obscura Digital, of course, on creating these. Last year, we had kind
of a smaller partnership with them [Westfield] in terms of mall appearances and being
present for the launch event. Then we decided to go into a two-year partnership where
San Francisco Ballet’s The Nutcracker was going to be the main attraction of the dome
show.”

The six-minute video projection ran every thirty minutes from five to ten o’clock in the
evening daily and was prominently advertised on the shopping mall’s exterior, as well as
via local media outlets.

“It was actually a really good interdepartmental project between our marketing
department, our artistic department, [and] the San Francisco Ballet School, as well as our
production department,” said Johnston. “We had been in talks about this project since last
fall–from initial meetings to setting everything up and making sure we were following all
of our union regulations and that Obscura Digital had a timeline and the artistic staff was
present and we had the right dancers. Filming took two full days and we shot on a green
screen.”

5

Designed like a truncated live performance, the projected video began with the sound of
an orchestra tuning its instruments. What followed was a quick plot summary: Clara, the
Nutcracker doll, and mice all appeared.

In a stroke of social media savviness, the project team chose principal Maria Kochetkova,
a prominent dancer personality on Twitter,
4
to performed excerpts of the grand pas de
deux in front of an image of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The highly anticipated show seemed to garner “awws” and “oohs” from shoppers, much
like what one might hear in an auditorium during a live performance. When asked if there
was a measurable increase in ticket sales compared to the previous year’s performances
of The Nutcracker, Johnston said, “Whether or not it influenced ticket sales is always a
really hard piece to track just because there is no direct correlation. It is not like an online
banner where you can go and see that 30 people clicked on this particular banner and you
got 10 sales from it. It is more part of the whole portfolio.”

The company is one of nineteen arts organizations in California to have received funding
from the James Irvine Foundation’s Arts Innovation Fund for several years. The initiative
is designed to build visions for change through experimentation. The case study report
posted on the Irvine Foundation’s website evaluates San Francisco Ballet as having made
a “concerted effort to grow its local fan base, whom they hope to activate as ticket
buyers. In the space of a year, the company has grown local fans from two percent of the
6

overall fan base to twenty percent.”
5

In 2013, the San Francisco Ballet also developed a Nutcracker mobile app. The app
offers its target audience, children aged six to ten years, content such as historical
information and ballet studio rehearsal demonstrations by young students and
professional dancers while they navigate their way through the story of The Nutcracker.
It was developed by Night Kitchen Interactive, a Philadelphia-based web design firm that
focuses on creating connections with audiences for museums, art galleries, and other
venues via interactive learning and participation experiences.

“It is definitely part of our mission here at San Francisco Ballet to bring our love and joy
of dance to as many people as possible. The Nutcracker App does exactly that because
you don’t have to be in San Francisco to enjoy it, you don’t actually have to come to a
performance to experience The Nutcracker. You can purchase the app from anywhere in
the world. It was a fun project for everyone involved,” said Johnston.
6

Overall, the app has received only ten ratings from users of the iTunes store—all of
whom rated it five out of five stars, describing the app as “very intuitive,” something that
“kids request … every night,” “easy to use,” and one adult mentioned specifically that
she was “learning more about a ballet that has been around for years.”

5
Irvine Foundation, 27-28.
6
Johnston, 2014.
7

As Johnston mentioned, it is too early to determine whether or not more audiences can be
reached through digital media campaigns such as “Nutcracker under the Dome,” an event
that took place within a physical location incorporating new media, an app, a resource
that lives on online mobile devices around the world.
While there is not yet any data, the San Francisco Ballet remains a shining example of the
trend of engaging and expanding audiences through online media.
8

Why The Nutcracker?

Ask people on the street about the first thing that springs to mind when they think of the
ballet and the vast majority would probably mention The Nutcracker.

The E.T.A. Hoffmann fairytale, Tchaikovsky’s musical score, and the children—all
delight. Of course, it is also a ballet connected to the Christmas holiday, though many
contemporary versions in alternate settings exist today.

The Nutcracker received its first performance at the famous Maryinsky Theater in St.
Petersburg on December 18, 1892. After the great success of The Sleeping Beauty the
year before, composer and choreographer team Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Marius
Petipa were commissioned to create another masterpiece, this time as part of a double bill
evening including one opera (Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta) and one ballet.

Alexandre Dumas, who himself took inspiration from German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann,
wrote the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which provided the basis for the
ballet’s libretto. Unfortunately, Petipa, who had provided meticulous production notes for
Tchaikovsky, fell ill during the creation period. Lev Ivanov, Petipa’s deputy, took over
and is ultimately credited as the choreographer for the premiere.
7

The story revolves around little Clara, who receives a Nutcracker doll from her beloved
but mysterious uncle Drosselmeier on Christmas Eve. The doll and other toys from under
7
Watts, 5.
9

the Christmas tree come to life at night to battle the Mouse King and his army of mice.
They succeed and the Nutcracker doll, now a handsome young Prince, whisks Clara away
to the land of sweets, where they meet the famous Sugar Plum Fairy. As Clara wakes, she
realizes it was nothing but a dream.

The Nutcracker was not an immediate success with audiences in Russia and was rarely
performed there at first. This was in part, perhaps, because the two-act ballet had no
glorious ballerina roles such as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty or the dual Odette/Odile of
Swan Lake. Nevertheless, the entire ballet eventually made its way to the West, first to
London’s Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1934 (staged by Nikolai Sergeyev after Ivanov) and
finally in 1944 to the United States, to San Francisco where it was staged by Willam
Christensen partly after Ivanov.

Today, countless versions of the classic exist in ballet repertory all over the world.
Famous choreographers, such as George Balanchine, Sir Peter Wright, John Cranko, John
Neumeier, and Rudolf Nureyev, have created their own versions. It is a ballet that often is
credited to the choreographer of the adaptation with the addition “after Ivanov.”

Nutcracker time starts right around late November, or maybe the beginning of December,
when houses are decorated and streets shine bright with holiday lights. Purchasing tickets
for the local production of the classic has become a ritual to many households around the
nation.
10

According to the Los Angeles Times Culture Monster, the year 2011 saw a total of 751
public performances of major Nutcracker productions in 121 US cities. Los Angeles,
home to only one dance company with an operating budget over one million dollar (Los
Angeles Ballet), nevertheless hosted over twelve different productions of The Nutcracker
that same year.
8

The Nutcracker is not only presented on stages around the country but has also found
roots in popular culture. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite was used in the famous Disney
movie Fantasia (1941) and today is often used in background music for TV commercials.
In 2013, the liquor brand Baileys hired principal dancers from The Royal Ballet to stage a
commercial choreographed by Benjamin Millepied around the Nutcracker story set in a
bar.

A year prior, for The Nutcracker’s 120
th
birthday, Google created a Google Doodle for
the holiday classic.

The overall visibility of The Nutcracker made it, for me, a perfect starting point for a new
online platform: an audience already exists and the popularity is there. The challenge was
to connect people and spark curiosity mostly through journalistic content that requires
interaction.

8
Dance Resource Center.
11

The Nutcracker Network

Figure 1: Final logo design by Lois Lee

The Nutcracker Network is a webzine all about The Nutcracker that offers content
beyond the average plot summary, the standard rehearsal video, or random recipes for
holiday cookies shaped like the Sugar Plum Fairy. It fleshes out a new angle on an old
piece of repertory by including alternative voices in an attempt to connect people and
give them a platform to share their experiences during Nutcracker season. I want to
engage people to write their Nutcracker stories.

What does the valet guy know about The Nutcracker? I wondered. Are there actually
ballet dads to be found at local studios? How do we deal with the sudden increase in
rehearsal time for the recreational dancer? Why not ask a local chiropractor or maybe, in
a city like New York, a dance scientist?

Like a storybook that’s opened only at night to populate a child’s imagination with
imagery and hope, The Nutcracker Network can be picked up and expanded upon every
year to grow more original content and thereby reach more people.
12

My explicit mission statement is:

to produce online content about ballet classics that connects, informs, and inspires toward
the enduring contemporary experience of ballet.

Why

To build and retain global audiences for classics in ballet.

How

By getting experts and amateurs to tell their Nutcracker stories through a variety of
multiplatform media.

What

The Nutcracker Network is a webzine committed to providing quality content aggregated
from individual contributors connected to a production of The Nutcracker.

Our Audience

Are you a part of The Nutcracker Network?

Those who play the Waltz of the Snowflakes a million times until their fingers hurt, those
who sew corsets and pointe shoes, those who wait patiently for their children in ballet
school lounges all over the world, those who help fold tons of programs, those who
operate the follow-spot on the Sugar Plum Fairy are The Nutcracker Network.
13

Meet the Contributors

I want to encourage a larger number of people to publish their perspectives on The
Nutcracker Network by blogging, commenting on posts, and sharing pictures and videos
via social media channels such as Instagram, Vine, and Twitter.

Including the dancers as contributors is vital. After all, there would be no Nutcracker

anywhere in the world without performers on stage.

It is important for me, as the creator of The Nutcracker Network, to chime in with my
personal relationship to the work. Why is this work and the subject important to me? My
history as a trained dancer makes me an authentic voice and founder of such a webzine.
My background in education and outreach work for the Bavarian State Ballet give me the
ability to connect with compassion and to communicate with a variety of people.

Columns aside from my own will include “Audience Voices,” “Five Questions,” and
“Profile Pieces.” Audiovisual content, such as photo essays and short video profiles, will
also be regularly featured.

Audience Voices - Wiebke Schuster

During my childhood in northern Germany, I didn’t have access to a full, professional

Nutcracker production. Some might find that surprising, since starting around the age of
14

eleven, my world revolved around balancing academics and ballet. I wanted to become a
professional ballerina. My family was supportive of that dream, within reason. Education
always came first—then came ballet. In my head, it was always the other way around.
My aunt Elisabeth, who recently passed, was the person who inspired me to connect the
two: to come to the realization that an educated mind feeds an artist’s heart.

I sat next to my family—my brother, grandmother, parents and aunt—in a small box
overlooking the stage of the Hamburg Opera House, watching John Neumeier’s Hamburg
perform The Nutcracker on New Year’s Eve 2003.

I was eighteen and had a lot to prove, mainly to myself. I was an aspiring dancer who
believed that classical ballet was the ultimate form of artistic expression. Given the
challenge of working around a less-than-perfect ballet body, I watched with particular
attention the apparent lack of nervousness as principal dancer Silvia Azzoni leaped across
the stage and with what ease the corps de ballet men lifted their partners high above their
heads and those darn fouetté turns in the grand pas de deux. I knew none of this was
simple or easy and, yet, I also knew that being in that fleeting moment of performance
was the only way to escape my fear of my own mediocrity.

As Clara (or Marie in the case of Hamburg Ballet) closed her eyes at the end of The
Nutcracker, I closed mine and was flooded with childhood memories of when I was
eight, nine, and ten years old. I made up my own dances and often proudly showcased
them for my family on Christmas Eve. The Schuster family has a tradition that before you
15

get to open any gifts, you must contribute a bit of art. Recite a poem, play the wooden
flute, fiddle, or another instrument, or worse, lead a song! I always chose to make up my
own dances. I remember twirling away wildly to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite on the
cold tile floor of our living room.

Unfortunately, people in eager anticipation of opening gifts aren’t the most grateful
audience. My aunt Elisabeth, however, was always ecstatic about my dancing. She would
stand, cheering enthusiastically, demanding encores. She wasn’t concerned with
perfection or the illusion thereof.

Auntie Lix became my connection to Tchaikovsky, to The Nutcracker.

Eight years later, I sat at the National Theatre in Munich, the city where my aunt had
lived to attend university when she was my exact age.

I was alone that night. I had spent the better part of those eight years chasing after my
dream with all I had, allowing myself no distractions, no relationships. And I had decided
to move on from my dream, to pursue working in arts administration and education at the
Bavarian State Ballet and to apply to study journalism at the graduate school level.

I closed my eyes once again as Marie hurried up the stairs to her bedroom.
16

I saw my aunt standing there in our living room by the Christmas tree, sporting her
signature glasses, which would always match her brightly colored outfits. But my mind
quickly drifted from these happy memories. It skipped back to April of the same year,
when Auntie Lix answered my phone call.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence on her end followed by a hesitant “hello.” My
stomach sank. The sound of her faint voice was much like how my family would describe
her physical appearance during the last days in the hospital. Her skin: paper thin, her
eyes: vacant.

Nobody knew until the day of that phone call that she had cancer, much less that she was
to lose a short but intense battle to the disease only four weeks later. The night of said
phone call, I dialed my best friend’s number in San Francisco. To her, I confessed my
biggest fear:

“I am afraid this was the very last time I talked to her.”

As I opened my eyes that night in Munich, I was reminded that I lost one of the most
important people in my life too early. I also know that Auntie Lix’s loud laugh, positive
outlook on life, and passion for ballet are all a part of me—a part that she would have
wanted me to share with as many people as possible.

17

Audience Voices - Erin Lashway

When working with collaborators, I believe it is key to provide prompts or other points of
inspiration for the writers. In the case of Erin Lashway, this inspiration came out of a
short conversation about the meaning of family and traditions around Christmas time.
Her uncle John and cousin Olivia are big supporters of the Oregon Ballet Theatre, so Erin
experienced the magic of going to the ballet through the eyes of her cousin. She
explained to me that she had wished that her mother put her in ballet lessons, which is a
sentence I have heard on many occasions from colleagues in art administration or from
other, non-dancer friends. I decided to ask Erin to share her story, hoping that many
people can relate to her point of view.

Writing Prompt by Wiebke Schuster for Erin Lashway

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

A young girl—a magician—a Nutcracker doll.
Twelve o’clock
A dream—a fight with mice and soldiers—the Nutcracker doll turned Prince to the
rescue—off to the land of sweets—and a sunrise: back to reality.

You told me you have experienced ballet, The Nutcracker in particular, through the eyes
of your cousin. You said she went to the theater a lot. Take me back in time—did you ever
imagine yourself in her shoes, going to the ballet? How did young Erin experience The
18

Nutcracker on the periphery, if at all? On posters? Commercials on the radio, TV? A
program book found at her cousin’s house? In a book?

When did you see the piece for the first time? Or have you ever seen it before? What do
you know about the piece—describe the first thing that comes to your mind? What have
you heard about it from people? What is one thing at its core that makes the tale timeless,
in your opinion? Feel free to get creative with this! It doesn’t have to be first person, can
be third! Do you have a picture of yourself at Christmas time that you wouldn’t mind
sharing with the post?

Final Edit Blog Draft by Erin Lashway

I remember the first time my mother took me to the ballet. At seven years old, to me,
ballerinas were just the pretty girls in pink tutus I would see in posters on the wall of my
younger cousin’s bedroom.

My parents were much more into sports than they were the arts. My mother would rather
sit through an entire Saturday afternoon of football on ESPN than through a two-hour
dance recital or choir concert. My father—well, my father wouldn’t know a famous opera
singer from the old lady who lives at the end of our block.
19

You could probably imagine my face the first Christmas season I ever got to experience
the magic that is The Nutcracker. The way my blue eyes widened at the sight of not one
but dozens of dancers filling the stage, the girls twirling around in their toe shoes.

“What kind of shoes are those, Mom?” I wanted to ask. I had never seen anything like
them before, and I thought they were absolutely graceful. I remember watching the
dancers, imagining myself in their place. I was up there on stage wearing a beautiful
dress, having people look at me and think, “She’s the loveliest girl I have ever seen.”

For this fleeting moment, I wanted to be those girls. I wanted to know what it felt like to
be up on that stage, dancing elegantly and spreading holiday joy to everyone in the
auditorium.

I never asked my mother for ballet lessons. She worked full-time and thanks to those
meddlesome “eight-to-five” days that plague almost every adult life, I knew I would
never be able to make such a commitment.

Naturally, as I got older, I became more and more involved in community sports:
basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, and track. I had at least one sport for every season,
and I remember spending many a winter vacation on the basketball court, running and
sweating, an orange ball beneath my slightly uncoordinated fingers. The images in my
head of the pretty girls in pink tutus faded into the background as my life took a turn from
what I thought was magical to what my parents thought was magical.
20

As the years went on, my younger cousin grew more and more interested in the ballet.
Her father—my uncle—would fly out to Portland from his home in Toronto for a few
weeks at a time, and every so often I would see a picture of them: two of the classiest
people I knew, all dressed and suited up to go to the ballet. I’ll admit, not so proudly, that
sometimes upon seeing these photographs, I would seethe with jealousy while sitting at
home in my sweaty clothes from whatever practice from which I had just returned. I
would close my eyes, lean my head back against the old maroon recliner chair, and
practice my imagination: what would it be like to sit in that theater, to hear the orchestra
tuning in the pit, the soft chatter of the audience, and, finally, to see the lights dim, the
curtain pull back, and all those graceful men and women fill the stage with magic once
more.

I had no familiarity with ballet outside of The Nutcracker, and I still don’t today as a
senior in college. Eventually, I gave up any and all organized sports—it took me until I
was fifteen years old to truly realize just how unhappy they made me. In fact,
unhappiness radiated from me like a contagious disease. I’ve since joined choir, taken
singing lessons with one of the strongest, kindest, and most loving women I’ve ever met,
and worked as a stagehand for school musicals and talent shows. I gave up sports and
immersed myself in the arts as best I could. And, yet, the one form of art I failed to
connect with further was the ballet.

I often ask myself why.
21

Perhaps, as I left my teenage years, I decided to leave this fascination and childhood
adoration as just that—part of my childhood. Or maybe a part of me has grown more
afraid of rejection, of asking my mother to experience ballet with me because the answer
might be “it’s too expensive” or “I don’t want to go.”

I’ve always been of the mind that something is much more enjoyable when you have
someone to enjoy it with. I’ve spent the majority of my life either being alone or feeling
alone. There are many things that I accept having to do alone, but going to the ballet—
this experience is too extraordinary not to share.

About a week ago, I made plans to go see The Nutcracker this coming winter break. I
honestly can’t remember the last time I went, whether it was three years ago or thirteen,
but this year I decided I need it. No matter the cost, I need a little piece of my childhood,
especially now, since it’s my last official year of undergraduate education. I called my
mother on the phone and said, “Do you have any plans for December 22?”

She said “no,” so I bought two tickets for the ballet.

My mom was the very first person to take me to The Nutcracker. I’ve grown up, I am no
longer her seven-year-old. Now we’re two very different people with very different
interests, but even still—there’s no one else I would want to share the experience with.
22

Five Questions for the Artists

It is essential to involve dancers in The Nutcracker Network. While the sample here is
from two professional dancers, amateur artists of all ages will be included in this column
and be asked to answer the same five questions.

Jaime Hickey – The Freelance Ballerina

Figure 2: Jaime Hickey in the Joffrey Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Photo by H. Migdoll.

Jaime has recently left the comfort of a season contract with the Joffrey Ballet to venture
out on her own as a freelance ballerina. She is an avid blogger and a health advocate who
travels around the country to dance with different companies. Jaime can often be met in
23

studios around Los Angeles, where she appeared, for example, with the newly-founded
contemporary ballet company the Barak Ballet.

1) How many Nutcrackers have you danced in your life? Ballpark number!

I have danced in four different Nutcrackers throughout my life so far, each one for
multiple years and, of course, at least ten performances each year. It has been so exciting
to dance in multiple Nutcrackers and experience the different choreography and different
interpretations of the story.

2) Which is your favorite version so far?

My favorite version of The Nutcracker would have to be the production at Walnut Hill
School choreographed by the late Samuel Kurkjian. I think this remains my favorite
because I have so many significant memories associated with it, the most important one
being the year I danced Snow Queen. I remember that when casting went up, I began to
cry because it came at a crucial time in my life. I had just been off of dancing for about
six weeks due to health reasons and all I wanted to do was be out on stage performing
again. Being away from what you love most is one of the hardest things someone can go
through. When I saw I would be dancing the Snow Queen, I was overwhelmed with
emotions. It had always been one of my dream roles and to be dancing it at that time was
the perfect holiday surprise. I would return to the stage healthier than ever with my
24

closest friends and family there to support me and I couldn’t have been happier.

3) Your first memory of The Nutcracker (involving the actual kitchen utensil, a doll,
OR the actual dance production)?

I grew up in New Jersey, very close to Manhattan, and went to New York a lot. It was a
family tradition, especially during the holidays, to go see a Broadway show, the Radio
City Christmas Spectacular, or The Nutcracker, of course. I remember my first time
going to see New York City Ballet’s Nutcracker with my family. I was so excited to get
dressed up and see some of the most talented dancers perform at the Koch Theater.

I don’t think I blinked once during the whole show. It was so magical to me.

The dancers were gorgeous, strong yet graceful, and looked like they were all having so
much fun on the stage. I had already known that I wanted to be a professional ballet
dancer one day, but this definitely convinced me that I was making the right choice for
my future.

4) Your favorite and least favorite parts of “the return” of The Nutcracker each
year?

Where to begin? I absolutely love everything about the holiday season. The decorations,
the music, snow, everyone is in good spirits, spending time with family and friends, good
25

deeds being done—it all makes me so happy. I start listening to Christmas music pretty
much right when Halloween ends. So, to be able to have a ballet during this time makes it
even more special! It combines my love of ballet and my favorite time of the year. To get
out on stage and perform in The Nutcracker means so much. It seems to widen the smiles
on the faces of everyone in the audience, and to be able to make an impact on people and
make them feel good means the world.

My least favorite part of “the return” of The Nutcracker has to be icing every night when
it’s already cold out and all I want to do is curl up by a fire with some hot chocolate.
However, I have to force myself to do it. Otherwise, I’ll be sorry the next day. As
dancers, our health and wellness always come first. If we do not take some preemptive
measures, like icing every night, especially during a heavy performance season, we could
be faced with serious injury.

5) Complete the sentence! The Nutcracker remains an audience favorite around the
world because…

…The Nutcracker reminds us to keep dreaming. For young audiences, it shows them how
magical ballet can be and how their dreams can become reality. For adults, it reminds
them of when they were children and when everything was so fascinating and magical.
When watching The Nutcracker, everything you dream seems to be able to come true.
This ballet is often the first ballet people get to see live and has been known to have
sparked the dreams of many professional dancers today.
26

Fabrice Calmels – Principal Dancer at The Joffrey Ballet

Figure 3: The Joffrey Ballet—Nutcracker Snow Scene as the Snow King. Photo: Victoria Jaiani

& Fabrice Calmels by Herbert Migdoll.

Calmels qualifies as the leading male principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet and resides
in Chicago. At 6’6”, he towers over most of his colleagues and his joy and confidence are
undeniably charming. He is a passionate teacher and educator, as well as a young
entrepreneur.

27

1) How many Nutcrackers have you danced in your life? Ballpark number!

I have danced approximately four hundred or more Nutcracker shows.

2) Which is your favorite version so far?

My favorite version is the Joffrey Ballet Nutcracker. The snow scene is the most
spectacular I have ever seen.

3) Your first memory of The Nutcracker (involving the actual kitchen utensil, a doll,
OR the actual dance production)?

My first and strongest memory was dancing Spanish with the Pennsylvania Ballet. I
remember performing it as it was my first time performing with an American ballet
company. It was very exciting. I also remember the Boston Ballet’s great battle scene
very well—specifically, the rats running around with forks and spoons, using them to
catapult cheese.

4) Your favorite and least favorite parts of “the return” of The Nutcracker each
year?

My least favorite is part about the return of The Nutcracker ever year is, unfortunately,
the overplaying of the beautiful score. My most favorite part of the return is to see the
children’s cast and the smiles on their faces when they finally get to be with us on
stage. It is very refreshing.
28

5) Complete the sentence!The Nutcracker remains an audience favorite around the
world because…

…because it is a great Christmas celebration!

Profile Pieces - Leslie Carothers-Aromaa

An essential part of keeping The Nutcracker alive is those former dancers who have
performed it extensively and are now in a position to pass on their knowledge. One
educator with a deep connection to the piece and ties to the local Los Angeles community
is Leslie Carothers-Aromaa of the Colburn School.

29

The Warmth of a Snow Queen – Leslie Carothers-Aromaa

Figure 4: Leslie Carothers and Ashley Wheater in Round of Angels by Gerald Arpino.

Photo by Herbert Migdoll / Special Collections New York City Public Library of the Performing
Arts.

One might not expect to meet a snow queen on a sunny November afternoon on the
campus of the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. In fact, the eighty-degree-
Fahrenheit heat leads one to believe that it is about time for a performance of A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, as opposed to the beginning of Nutcracker season.

Leslie Carothers-Aromaa is the daughter of two teachers who describe themselves as
having “two left feet.” Her mother, Janette, worked in adult education, while her father,
Ted, taught anthropology at Temple High School, Carothers-Aromaa’s alma mater.
30

The memory of dancing around in the privacy of her room, listening to Tchaikovsky’s
“Waltz of the Snowflakes,” never seems to fade from her mind. “That music is something
that I would never, ever tire of. It is just the most glorious feeling. The children’s voices
come in—it is just so heavenly. Visually, the scene is just so beautiful. All of the pearly
white, the snow falling.”

Her early teachers at the Duarte Parks and Recreation Department and the Pasadena
Dance Theatre recognized young Leslie’s potential for a successful career in ballet, but
the young protégé was never pushed. Her parents merely looked at dance training as
having a pleasant side effect on the development of their daughter. When the opportunity
arose, they didn’t allow their eleven-year-old daughter to study with the New York City
Ballet a staggering 2,500 miles away from home. Instead, Carothers-Aromaa attended
regular high school until graduating when she left at sixteen to pursue ballet on a
scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until three
years later that she came in contact with a full-length production of The Nutcracker.

“I had learned the Sugar Plum Fairy variation when I was a student, but my first
experience performing it (on stage) was after I became a professional—as a guest artist. It
(guesting) was something that we did a lot because the Joffrey, at that time, did not have
its own Nutcracker. We generally had time off at Christmas. So, I got to be in
productions all over the country.”

After years of planning, Robert Joffrey first presented his original production of The
31

Nutcracker on December 10, 1987. “He [Joffrey] was in love with Christmas—it was his
favorite holiday. It was his birthday!
9
He was collecting things that would perhaps one
day be incorporated, for example, costume sketches, for many, many years before this
finally came to fruition.”

Carothers-Aromaa had moved up the ranks from the Joffrey Ballet II to the main
company seven years prior and was cast in the role of the Mother and Snow Queen. She
skipped a common dancer’s fate, which her colleagues at the Joffrey jokingly called
“PMS”: “Parents, mice, snow. That’s what the corps of the ballet calls it, because if
you’re a corps dancer, those are the roles you always do.”

A distinct feature about Robert Joffrey’s Nutcracker is that when Clara falls asleep and
takes off on her journey through the dream scenes, her mother transforms into the Snow
Queen. “I loved that idea! I loved being the mother, she is sort of the mistress of
ceremony, with a beautiful, beautiful dress and I just enjoyed the acting and the festivity
of that scene,” says Carothers-Aromaa.

Joffrey’s famous big-budget production holds some serious challenges for this dual role
in particular. “It [the role of the mother] was danced in flat shoes and you really weren’t
doing anything balletic. Then, it was a very quick change into pointe shoes and full on
classical ballet. There wasn’t a lot of time to prepare. Literally, you just throw your shoes
on and out you go!”

9
Robert Joffrey was born on December 24, 1930.
32

“There was a lot of dry ice and snow falling, everything you can imagine all happening
at once: a lot of little children—little trees, so it was a bit of an obstacle course!
Sometimes, the dry ice would be so high that, literally, I couldn’t see anything from the
waist down. I didn’t know where my feet were going!”

Then, there is the costume: “It was gorgeous but also very bulky for a tutu: there was a
huge sash on the back. [In the choreography] there were a lot of pirouettes; a lot of
partnering and that sash would always get in the way. It has its challenges. It was
definitely not the easiest thing to perform.”

Like nearly every principal ballerina around the world, Carothers-Aromaa has also
danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy. “I think the Snow Queen is very grand, she is
sort of the Queen Mary sailing into the harbor—very elegant and a little bit cooler. The
Sugar Plum Fairy is such a warm character. There is much more lightness to her and, at
the same time, a real relationship between her and the cavalier. The Snow Queen and
Snow King are just these figureheads sailing through the land of snow, like the bow of a
ship.”

When asked if she can identify more with one or the other, Carothers-Aromaa is quick to
answer: “I suppose I like both those aspects and enjoyed bringing both of those qualities
of my own character in too.”
33

In person, Carothers-Aromaa is anything but icy. She is soft-spoken, yet a certain
assertiveness glistens in her dark eyes. She has a natural presence, charisma, and a
generosity about her that immediately make you melt. “I grew up in Los Angeles and
after having a whole career back East, I realized that I wanted to come back to my roots,”
she says about why she took the position at Colburn.

“About four years ago, we did a Nutcracker nod here. I thought they [her students] just
absolutely have to be exposed to elements of this ballet. I took sections from different
versions: from the Bolshoi version, from the Kirov, The Royal Ballet, and one other, I
think. It was not only to give them a chance to dance to this music at Christmas time,
which so many dancers around the world do, but also to educate them about the different
productions that exist. The stylistic differences from one national school or company to
another.”

Traditionally, the E.T.A. Hoffmann tale The Nutcracker and The Mouse King is told
through the eyes of young Clara, who falls asleep on Christmas Eve and dreams of toys
coming to life, such as the Nutcracker Prince and the Sugar Plum Fairy, reigning queen
of the land of sweets. Essentially, it is a coming-of-age tale so widely applicable that it
lends itself to many diverse interpretations—from the metaphorical, seasoned with social
criticism, to the simply sweet and innocence fairy tale. But there are productions that
significantly depart from the traditional. Carothers-Aromaa has mixed feelings about
some of them. “If it is done really well and it is a complete reimagining by a genius, all of
which fits Mark Morris’s A Hard Nut, for example, then I am all for it. If it is just, ‘oh,
34

let’s make some psychodrama out of the relationship between Drosselmeier, Clara, and
the Prince,’ I am not all for it. Why do that? Why mess with it, why create some sort of
bizarre psychological triangle? Either completely re-imagine it or leave it alone, let it be
what it is!”

In her ninth year, both as a ballet teacher and administrator at the Colburn School,
Carothers-Aromaa has lost none of her passion. The pedagogy gene was apparently
handed down from her parents. “I love passing on everything I have been given.”

“I love seeing how a dancer will take choreography and make it into their own. I would
never tamper with that as a coach. I don’t want to see anyone dance it exactly the way I
dance it. I want to see it the best they can do it. This is how ballet has lasted for all these
hundreds of years. It is not like in music where you have scores from the 1900s and you
just play the music as written. It is a very personal connection—the older, more
experienced dancers handing repertory on to the next generation. I like being a part of
that.”

The passing on between generations: a challenge and a blessing? A liability and, at the
same time, the art form’s best insurance? Surely, with persons like Carothers-Aromaa at
leading arts education institutions and the history of The Nutcracker continuing, the
future of ballet looks brighter.
35

“Ballet is not on people’s radar. The Nutcracker is the one ballet that transcends ballet. It
appeals to people who like musical theatre, who like to go to concerts, like to see a play.
People pack up the whole car with their family and to go see a Nutcracker. It is a real
blessing for our profession because it gets people’s toe in the door, [which] might never
happen if [not] for The Nutcracker. It is a very palatable first taste and the hope is, and it
quite often happens, that then the appetite it whet and they’ll come back and see
something else. It is a wonderful entry to our profession, and we need that.”
36

Conclusion

The Nutcracker Network will launch in early November 2014. Until then, I hope to
collect more content, as well as to develop and apply my coding skills to work with a
more flexible Word Press template.

During the process of setting up a website and creating content, I have learned that it is
important to have a team for support: contributors, a web developer, and a designer.
Agile development is key—ongoing communication between team members is crucial to
the success of the website. Working with designer Lois Lee on constructing a logo for
The Nutcracker Network (see appendix) was a successful collaborative effort, for
example, and has shown me that being resourceful and open to exchanging skills and
experience with colleagues is part of the start-up process.

I believe that The Nutcracker is the best ballet to focus on for what I hope will be a site
that eventually addresses all ballet classics. The Nutcracker Network, as I envision it, can
exist as an independent entity or be integrated into a specific ballet company’s online
portfolio. Connecting the entire arts ecosystem, whether via social networks or by
creating participatory art experiences, is key to moving the arts ahead.

During the panel discussion “State of the Arts—Behind the NEA Survey,” Oskar Eustis,
artistic director of the New York Public Theater, sums up the current development in
audience participation and sees opportunity for the arts ecosystem: “I think the generation
37

of people who are growing up in this era are growing up with the assumption that their
entertainment, like everything else, is something that is a dialogue between them and the
thing itself, the work of art […]. Maybe we need to actually make something, where the
culture is an experience more than a commodity […].”
10

Molly Pontin, director of community arts participation at Pacific Symphony, which has
been part of the James Irvine Foundation’s Arts Innovation Fund initiative, goes one step
further. She points out the danger of ignoring the importance of interactivity in media
consumption: “I think, as an arts organization, we better come into line with that or we
risk irrelevance.”
11

Working on this thesis has shown me the limitations, as well as the strengths, of the

professional demand placed on journalists today. Most importantly, I have learned the
significance of being flexible and constantly reevaluating the way performing arts are
consumed today. The Nutcracker Network is only a small step towards framing the ballet
as an interactive event for audiences.

10
WQXR, 2012.
11
James Irvine Foundation, 2012.
38

Appendix

Website Appearance: The Nutcracker Network

www.thenutcrackernetwork.com

Domain host: Bluehost

Word Press Theme: The Newswire

2. Evolution of the Logo—Collaboration with Designer and Arts Journalist Lois Lee

Branding across all platforms is essential. The first step was to collaborate with architect
and designer Lois Lee, who is also a journalist, on creating a logo for the project.
39

Initially, we brainstormed and went through sketches by H&D Graphics, a design studio
based in Glasgow and well versed in re-working ballet posters for the Birmingham Royal
Ballet. Lee then came up with a rough sketch before we agreed on the final logo.

First sketch by Lois Lee

Second draft stage: Design 1 by Lois Lee
40

Second draft stage: Design 2 by Lois Lee

Second draft stage: Design 3 by Lois Lee

Together, we chose the black and white logo, incorporating a variation of some essential
aspects we liked from the sketches. We decided a dash of color would be great
(especially when also considering that this would be the thumbnail as well as social
media avatar) to draw eyeballs. In the end, adding the word “Network” to the logo was an
important way to stick to the mission statement and brand the blog as its own entity,
unaffiliated with a particular company for the moment.
41

Final Design by Lois Lee

3.) Social Media Properties
Twitter
@NutcrackerN

Pinterest

Nutcracker Network
42

Instagram

Nutcracker Network

43

References

Anawalt, Sasha. The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American
Dance Company. New York: Scribner, 1996.

Barton, T (December 7, 2013). “Nutcracker on the dome” [Video] You Tube. Web
February 9, 2014.

Bremser, Marha. Larraine Nicholas. International Dictionary of Ballet Volume II, L-Z.
s.v. “Nutcracker.” Detroit, London, Washington D.C.: St James Press, 1992.

Cohen, Patricia. “A New Survey Finds a Drop in Arts Attendance”. Nytimes.com.
September 26, 2013. February 10, 2014.

Cultural Data Project (Tuttle, Beth, President and CEO). February 9, 2014.
culturaldata.org.

Dance NYC Junior Committee. Dance Workforce Census Earning among individuals
among individuals 21-35. February 2012

Dance Resource Center (Keller, Shana, Executive Director). LA County Dance Makers:
Activity, Work Force and Economics. Los Angeles: Dance Resource Center, 2011.

Fisher, Jennifer. Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas
Tradition in the New World. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003.

James Irvine Foundation (December 12, 2012). “Pacific Symphony” [Video] YouTube.
Web March 2, 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k957PWc1vDs&list=UUyk1uQ3HDhjDE5Uy8Ta64f
A

Jones, E. Michael. Ballet Parking: Performing the Nutcracker as a Counter-
revolutionary Act. South Bend: Fidelity Press, 2009.

Klein, Norma. Baryshnikov's Nutcracker. New York: Putnam, 1983.

Midgelow, Vida L. Reworking the Ballet Counter Narratives and Alternative Bodies.
New York, Oxon: Routledge, 2007

National Endowment of the Arts, Office of Research and Analysis (Iyengar, Sunil,
Director.) How a Nation Engages with Art: Highlights from the 2012 Survey of Public
Participation in the Arts. Washington: National Endowment for the Arts, 2013.

Petiška, Eduard. The Nutcracker. New York: F. Watts, 1968.

“State of the Arts: Behind the NEA Survey”. Moderated by Naomi Lewin. Conducting
44

Business. WQXR, October 03, 2012. http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/state-arts-behind-nea-
survey/.

Suilebhan, Gwydion. “Techne: Goodbye Waterfall, Hello Agile.” howlround.com.
October 19, 2013. January 14, 2014.

Tan, Pui-Wing. “The Man Who Dreamed Up San Francisco's 'Nutcracker'.
online.wsj.com. November 28, 2012. February 9, 2014.

The James Irvine Foundation Arts Innovation Fund Case Studies. (Rabkin, Nick; Linett
Peter and Slover, Sarah Lee; Linett Strategies Researchers.) California: The James Irvine
Foundation, 2012.
http://irvine.org/images/stories/pdf/news/Arts_Culture_and_Californians_2011Sep19.pdf

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This thesis examines two apparent trends: the decline in audiences for classical ballet in America and the role of digital media and the Internet in building audiences for classical ballet. ❧ In addition, I have created a seasonal website, The Nutcracker Network, that is designed to inform and connect new and established ballet audiences. ❧ My goal is to discover how to best engage audiences as a journalist with a background in ballet and arts management both in the United States and abroad. ❧ I have looked at one US ballet company in particular, the San Francisco Ballet, which has an extensive online portfolio for its production of The Nutcracker. ❧ The Nutcracker Network will launch in November 2014.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Schuster, Wiebke (author)

Core Title The Nutcracker network

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism (The Arts)

Publication Date 04/30/2014

Defense Date 04/28/2014

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag audience,Ballet,multimedia,Nutcracker,OAI-PMH Harvest,San Francisco Ballet

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Anawalt, Sasha (committee chair), Hernandez, Robert (committee member), Page, Tim (committee member)

Creator Email schusterwiebke@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-406070

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