We are so grateful to you, our audiences, who’ve come to share your holiday with us and to appreciate the joy of The Nutcracker. This is my favorite time of year. A time for reflection and renewal. A time to take stock of blessings and to refine that which I hold most dear.
It was a labor of love to choreograph and oversee the creation of this production with the help of an incredible design team: Alain Vaës who developed such stunning sets, Holly Hynes who designed magnificent costumes, and Trad A Burns who put together an incredible lighting scheme.
I truly appreciate the opportunity to once again direct all of these amazing dancers. Each year is a chance to revisit these roles and continue to tweak them to play to strengths and to keep the roles fresh.
And, our wonderful Kansas City Ballet School students are our next generation of rising stars growing to take on better and better roles each year. It makes me so proud that we cast the entire children’s cast from our own school—not all companies can do that. It’s a true demonstration of the caliber of our students and teachers.
Kansas City, you have a world-class production here to enjoy every year for generations to come. The whole show is a testament to that and it is what drew the attention of the Kennedy Center.
This year we were especially proud to have been invited to perform our Nutcracker in our nation’s theater, the John F. Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C. over Thanksgiving week. It was an amazing experience for all of us to represent KC in D.C. in such an incredible way.
I’ve always said this show is for kids from 2 to 92—and that’s my goal—to experience the holidays with a childlike heart and sense of wonder. My hope is you walk out of the theatre feeling lighter on your feet and bursting with of holiday spirit as well.
Happiest Holidays!
Devon Carney