When this weekend’s performances of the holiday ballet “The Nutcracker” get rolling at South Sioux City Middle School, it’ll mark more than just the first time in two years that the Siouxland Civic Dance Association has staged a rendition of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky classic.
Saturday and Sunday’s shows will be the first time in decades that the show has been under new direction.
Dance director Shirley Dill ran the nonprofit Siouxland Civic Dance Association for more than 60 years, offering up takes on “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty,” before deciding to retire in 2019. Rebecca McNamara, a dance instructor with North Sioux City’s 5678! Dance Studio, took the reins in 2020 and now gets to take a stab at one of ballet’s most-famous productions.
“There’s some pressure in that sense of: This will be different than if people had seen ‘The Nutcracker’ in previous years. It’s a different vision. It’s a different set of eyes on all of it,” McNamara said during a phone interview. She also noted there’s also the weight of knowing that her cast’s version of “The Nutcracker” will likely be the only ballet that a lot of the audience sees the entire year.
Dancers perform the Children’s March dance during the first full dress rehearsal for The Nutcracker at Siouxland Civic Dance Association.
Growing up in Yankton, S.D., McNamara said she probably danced “The Nutcracker” a dozen times, though it wasn’t until the 2018 season that she got a chance to help out behind the scenes of the Siouxland production. Now, McNamara’s responsible for more than mere dance moves. As director, she has to be aware of lighting choices and set designs and what costumes should match up with what pieces.
“Learning all of those aspects has been a big process….As the director, you have 500 questions coming your way,” McNamara said. The cast alone is comprised of about 70 dancers, some of who are as young as 7. Approximately 75% of them have never been in a show before.
Bailey Swain, the assistant director, has primarily been the one to help corral the younger kids, though she said that that hasn’t been some Herculean effort.
“Becca is really good about getting everything organized so that it’s run really smoothly,” Swain said. “She’s set it up really well. She’s good at organizing this kind of stuff, keeping things on track.” The two both teach ballet at 5678! Swain said having that relationship going into the show has made things much easier.
Calista Russo, left, helps Mya Loe with her costume as they prepare for the first dress rehearsal for “The Nutcracker.”
According to dancer Joslyn Lilly, who’s cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy who rules the “Land of Sweets,” even the most recent full rehearsals haven’t felt like some exhaustive chore.
“Honestly, the practices have been just as much fun as the performances will be,” Lilly said. She said she has done “The Nutcracker” twice before, once when the Moscow Ballet Company came through town. What she has enjoyed most this time around is getting to see a new approach.
“Her new perspective and new ideas make the show incredible,” McNamara said.
Dancers set up props of cake and pastries for the party scene in “The Nutcracker.”
In the story of “The Nutcracker,” one of the main characters is the young girl Clara who ends up in the Land of Sweets. This time out, Bailey Ogden, who has done “The Nutcracker” a couple of different times, is filling those shoes. Like Lilly, Ogden said that she appreciates how easy McNamara makes everything.
“She makes learning the choreography really fun and she’s been making all of the costumes and sets and stuff,” Ogden said.
A lot of those set pieces were crafted by McNamara’s husband in their garage while she sewed in the basement. “I joke because I say my husband is ready for me to stop listening to ‘The Nutcracker’ because I’ve been playing it in our house since May.”
Somehow that repetition hasn’t worn down her love of the source material. “There are moments in the music now that bring so much life and so much joy even after 200 hours of rehearsals,” McNamara said.
Josie Hall dances during the first full dress rehearsal for “The Nutcracker” at Siouxland Civic Dance Association.
When those rehearsals become real on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., McNamara said she’ll be more nervous for her students to perform than she ever was when she danced.
“I can’t imagine that I will be calm,” McNamara said.
After the lights fade for one final time, and the cast and crew and parents have been paid their proper respects, the first-time director said she knows where at least some of her thoughts will be.
“(I’m) already thinking about next year,” she said.
Jared McNett is an online editor and reporter for the Sioux City Journal. You can reach him at 712-293-4234 and follow him on Twitter @TwoHeadedBoy98.
Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!