In a small town that typically keeps to its traditional roots, a local production of the beloved Christmas classic, The Nutcracker, has been making waves by embracing diversity and inclusivity like never before.
Two years ago, the St.Paul and District Arts Foundation recruited Dave Ganert to direct their annual production of The Nutcracker. This year, the foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary of the ballet and has become an annually anticipated performance for the community.
Making the two-hour drive northeast from Edmonton twice a week, Ganert focused on assembling a team of amateur, professional and cultural dancers for this rendition of the ballet.
“People are very familiar with Clara and The Nutcracker and how that all comes to be but it is interesting to put your own personality and flair into it,” said Ganert.
With more than 35 years of experience in the arts community and having been involved in productions of The Nutcracker since 1998, Ganert was delighted to take on this role. The production this year had two performances this year, on Dec. 3 and 4.
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet which was crafted in 1892 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky who derived inspiration from the 1816 short story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann. The ballet is traditionally performed entirely by ballerinas, even the ‘Arabian’ and ‘Chinese’ dance pieces which have been historically portrayed as stereotypical.
However, because this particular production of The Nutcracker was a community show, Ganert wanted to ensure that the community was represented throughout the ballet.
“St. Paul has a big First Nations, French, and Ukrainian community,” said Ganert. “When you’re putting on a community performance, it’s important to involve the community.”
On Dec. 2 and 3, attendees of the ballet were treated to an array of cultural dancers ranging from a jingle dancer, a Ukrainian dance team, an Irish dance team to a traditional Eastern Indian dancer.
“From my perspective, and from what the foundation is all about, they are an inclusive organization so it is important to include as much variety as possible,” said Ganert.
From this, Ganert and the St.Paul and District Arts Foundation put out a province-wide casting call and that is how he recruited the team. There was so much interest from the community that the creative team had to start turning people away.
“I’d love to have a four-hour show but unfortunately, you need to try to stick to about an hour 45 or so,” explained Ganert.
Embracing cultures
Randi Candline grew up going to powwows where she was first exposed to what would become one of her passions — jingle dancing. She explained that her mother was a survivor of the residential school system and as part of her healing journey, her mother sought to expose her children to their Indigenous culture and give them the opportunities that she never received herself as a child.
“I remember going to powwows as a little girl and there was something about the jingle dress that literally pulled at my heartstrings,” said Candline.
With her mother making her her first dress, Candline went on to learn the style of traditional dance and began to participate in powwows.
However, because of her lighter-coloured skin, Candline faced some taunting from other children at powwows and eventually stopped dancing entirely. It wasn’t until she was in her early 20s that she started to dance again.
“It was a healing journey. I committed my life to sobriety, physically trying to change my life to be reconnected with my culture,” said Candline.
Now, nearly 15 years later, Candline has been fortunate enough to continue her journey with dance.
“I’ve had so many opportunities in my life professionally, and personally through my dancing, The Nutcracker being one of those examples,” said Candline.
She first heard about the St. Paul production of The Nutcracker in 2020 when a friend of hers recommended that she audition for one of the roles. After connecting with someone from the local arts foundation, Candline eventually became a member of the team and has been ever since.
For Candline, in a Westernized world where European dance styles have become the standard, she feels that this particular ballet holds an important role in taking steps toward reconciliation.
“To embrace cultures that we wouldn’t often see in these theatrical events and exposing them to a whole brand new audience…I think we are building bridges as a society and taking those steps forward in reconciliation,” said Candline.
The ultimate goal for Candline through her walk in dance, healing and reconciliation is to leave the world a better place for her children.
“The way we’re going to do that is by mending our relationships together now so that when they’re old enough to understand, they don’t see each other as others but embrace each other,” said Candline.
Candline explained that the St.Paul and District Arts Foundation has been very on point about being inclusive and respectful of Indigenous culture and teachings.
“I think it’s well overdue, especially in St. Paul,” said Candline.
Showcasing heritage on stage
Kadin Pochynok said that she has found the project inspiring for its vision of showcasing the regions many and diverse culture. Pochynok is a member of Viter, the Ukrainian dancers who showcased their dance style in the ballet this year.
Pochynok has been dancing since the age of five in her hometown of Athabasca. However, once she graduated from high school and moved to Edmonton for university, she knew that her time with dance wasn’t over, which led her to Viter.
“I just felt like I wasn’t done. I felt like I had more that I wanted to do and I wanted to continue on with it,” said Pochynok.
Earlier this year, the creative team from the ballet reached out to the dance company and they promptly began rehearsals. Pochynok said that despite having to train and rehearse for other shows, the team was working hard to prepare for the December showing of The Nutcracker.
“Being able to share that space and have an equal opportunity to represent our culture was so special,” said Pochynok.
Oftentimes, the cultural aspects in traditional renditions of The Nutcracker are performed by ballet dancers rather than someone from that culture. It is for this reason that Pochynok found it important to showcase her heritage, along with her team.
“Every time that we get to go on stage and perform Hopak, which is Ukraine’s national dance, we get to celebrate and protect our culture,” said Pochynok. “With everything going on in the world, it’s so important that we continue to show up in these spaces and … perform and show people that we’re still here and we’re protecting our culture.”
Pochynok said that she hopes that this ballet continues to grow and that it sets a trend that bigger companies consider taking on.
