The Nutcracker 2022

Mahalo for 3 SOLD OUT shows!

THE NUTCRACKER 2022

December 2-4, 2022

Neal S Blaisdell Concert Hall

Celebrate the Holidays with Ballet Hawaii’s lavish Hawaiian-themed Nutcracker presented in the 1858 Kingdom of Hawaii. The production is choreographed by Septime Webre with guest artists from New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Carolina Ballet, and Eugene Ballet and accompanied by members of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.

What better way to celebrate the Holidays than by combining a timeless Nutcracker with the grandeur and elegance of the Hawaiian monarchy? Audiences can anticipate all the traditional holiday dances, but with historical characterizations of Washington Place resident Mary Dominis and Hawaii’s beloved Queen Lili’uokalani. In this production, the flowers are Crown Flowers, Hibiscus and Plumeria. The birds are I’iwi and new island animal performers are introduced, such as the Honu (sacred Hawaiian Turtle). The toy soldier uniforms are patterned after those of the Royal Guard and the famous Waltz of the Snowflakes takes place atop the slopes of Mauna Kea.  It is truly a delight to behold!

LOCATION

Neal S Blaisdell Concert Hall

MEGAN FAIRCHILD, PRINCIPAL DANCER, NYCB

Megan Fairchild was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and began her dance training at the age of four, studying with Judy Levitre and Kaelynne Oliphant at Dance Concepts in Sandy, Utah, and at the Ballet West Conservatory in Salt Lake City with Sharee Lane, Deborah Dobson, and Maureen Laird.

While at the Ballet West Conservatory, Ms. Fairchild was also a Ballet West trainee. Ms. Fairchild entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the fall of 2000.

In November 2001, Ms. Fairchild became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in October 2002 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet.

Ms. Fairchild was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2004, and in January 2005, she was promoted to principal dancer.

OTHER PERFORMANCES

In 2014 Ms. Fairchild made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award–nominated revival of On the Town at the Lyric Theater. She was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award, and received a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Ivy Smith, AKA Miss Turnstiles.

FILM CREDITS

In 2011, Ms. Fairchild danced the role of the Sugarplum Fairy in PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center telecast of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® which was also screened in movie theaters around the world. 

HONORS

Ms. Fairchild was a recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise in 2001.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Ms. Fairchild is currently a Teaching Fellow with the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet.

JOVANI FURLAN, PRINCIPAL DANCER, NYCB

Born in Joinville, Brazil, Mr. Furlan started dancing at the age of 11 at The Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil.

In 2010 he participated in the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and was offered a full scholarship to attend the Miami City Ballet School by Edward Villella.

Mr. Furlan began his training at the MCB School in 2011 and joined Miami City Ballet in 2012. He was promoted to soloist in 2015 and was named an MCB principal dancer in 2017.

At MCB, his repertory of featured roles included George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Ballet Imperial, Episodes, Jewels, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, Serenade, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Square Dance, Swan Lake, Symphony in Three Movements, Theme and Variations, and La Valse; Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, West Side Story Suite, and The Concert; as well as works by Richard Alston, John Cranko, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Liam Scarlett, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and Christopher Wheeldon.

LESLEY RAUSH, PRINCIPAL DANCER, PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET

Lesley Rausch (she/her) is from Columbus, Ohio. She studied with Shir Lee Wu at Columbus Youth Ballet and also trained at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Ms. Rausch joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2001. She was promoted to soloist in 2007 and principal in 2011. Ms. Rausch has performed as a guest artist with Chicago Dancing Festival (Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun), Lafayette Ballet Theatre (Snow pas de deux and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker), Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival (Balcony pas de deux from Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Cylindrical Shadows), and Nevada Ballet Theatre (Titania in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
In addition to her performing career, Ms. Rausch has been a guest teacher at Ballet Hawaii, Evergreen City Ballet, New American Youth Ballet, and Punahou Dance School. She also is on the faculty of Pacific Northwest Ballet School.

Ms. Rausch is a Stott Certified Pilates Instructor.

LUCIEN POSTLEWAITE, PRINCIPAL DANCER, PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET

Lucien Postlewaite (all pronouns) is from Santa Cruz, California. He trained on scholarship at the School of American Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. While a Professional Division student at PNB School, he received a Level II Award for ballet in the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts’ 2003 Arts Recognition and Talent Search. Mr. Postlewaite joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2003, was promoted to corps de ballet in 2004, soloist in 2007, and principal in 2008. He was a 2008 recipient of a Princess Grace Award. In 2012, Mr. Postlewaite joined Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, and in 2017, he re-joined PNB as a principal dancer.

While at Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Mr. Postlewaite performed leading roles in Forsythe’s New Sleep; Kylian’s Bella Figura and Gods and Dogs; and Maillot’s Altro Canto, La Belle, Cendrillon, Faust, LAC, Scheherazade, and Vers un Pays Sage. He originated leading roles in Pontus Lidberg’s Summer’s Winter Shadow and Maillot’s Casse-Noisette Compagnie, Choré, and Entrelacs.

Mr. Postlewaite has performed as a guest artist with New York City Ballet on seventy-fifth anniversary gala for the School of American Ballet. He is featured in the film Casse-Noisette Compagnie by Jean-Christophe Maillot. In 2019, Mr. Postlewaite was invited by the Fire Island Dance Festival to organize a commission for its annual gala (Garrett Smith’s Continuum). In addition to performing on galas worldwide, Mr. Postlewaite has performed Petipa’s Paquita and Wevers’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Reiko Yamamoto Ballet Company in Japan, and Balanchine’s Tarantella with Los Angeles Ballet. He is an original member of Olivier Wevers’ Whim W’Him.

In 2021, he choreographed this is US, now for PNB’s NEXT STEP.

MARGARET SEVERIN-HANSEN, PRINCIPAL DANCER, CAROLINA BALLET

Margaret Severin-Hansen began her training at the Huntington School of Ballet on Long Island, NY. She was accepted into The School of American Ballet and trained there until joining as an apprentice with Carolina Ballet in the inaugural season (1998) and made a Principal in 2002. Ms. Severin-Hansen trained with the Royal Danish Ballet for six weeks in 1997 and danced with The Royal Ballet of Flanders in 2013. At Carolina Ballet, Ms. Severin-Hansen has had many ballets created on her and has danced the majority of the ballets in the repertoire. She has repeatedly been singled out for her artistry and technical merit. In January of 2009, Ms. Severin-Hansen was one of eight graduates of the School of American Ballet personally invited by Peter Martins to perform with New York City Ballet dancers in the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the school. In addition to being a Principal at Carolina Ballet, Ms. Severin-Hansen is the Director of the Ruth S. Shur Summer Intensive and Co-Chairman of the School of Carolina Ballet. She is also a founding member of the SAB Alumni Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion as well as Assistant Director at Triangle Academy of Dance in Cary, NC.

RICHARD KRUSCH, PRINCIPAL DANCER, CAROLINA BALLET

Richard Krusch was born in Budapest, Hungary. He started his ballet training in 1994 at the Hungarian Dance Academy, where he received training in the classical Vaganova technique and classical repertoire. He attended numerous summer programs in the United States, including the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and The School of American Ballet in New York City. He graduated from UNCSA in the summer of 2002 and joined Carolina Ballet the same year. Mr. Krusch has also worked with the American Ballet Theatre in 2004 and the Hungarian National Ballet in 2005 where he also toured with the Hungarian Ballet in Europe. In 2006 he returned to Carolina Ballet and was made a Principal 2011. He has danced many major roles and many roles were choreographed on him by Robert Weiss and Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Zalman Raffael. In 2011, Mr. Krusch represented Carolina Ballet at the International Ballet Festival of Miami.

COURTNEY SCHENBERGER, PRINCIPAL DANCER, CAROLINA BALLET

Courtney Schenberger began her formal training at age 8, at The Ayako School of Ballet in Okinawa, Japan. At age 10, she continued her training at Ballet Hawaii. While attending she competed at Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) San Francisco and won 3rd  place bronze in the Junior Women Classical category. She also competed at the World Ballet Competition where she achieved the 3rd highest score in the Pre-Professional category as well as receiving the Jury’s Award. At age 15, she attended the Washington School of Ballet’s professional training program and then the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). Ms. Schenberger has also attended summer programs at The Washington School of Ballet, Ballet West, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Boston Ballet. Ms. Schenberger’s featured roles with Carolina Ballet include Lead Couple in George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, Cinderella in Robert Weiss’ Cinderella, and August Bournonville’s Flower Festival.

AMAR RAMASAR, PRINCIPAL DANCER, NYCB

Born in the Bronx, NY, Principal Dancer Amar Ramasar enrolled at the School of American Ballet (SAB) in 1993, receiving additional training at the American Ballet Theatre Summer Program and The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet. He became an apprentice with NYCB in July 2000 and joined the corps de ballet in July 2001. Ramasar was promoted to soloist in March 2006, and achieved the rank of principal dancer in 2009.

While a member of the Company, Ramasar originated featured roles in a number of ballets created on NYCB, including Mauro Bigonzetti’s Luce Nascota, Oltremare, and AMARIA; Wayne McGregor’s Outlier; Justin Peck’s Paz de la Jolla, Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes, and The Times Are Racing; and Alexei Ratmansky’s Odessa, Pictures at an Exhibition, and Russian Seasons, among others. He has performed featured roles throughout the repertory, such as George Balanchine’s Agon, Western Symphony, and Divertimento No. 15; Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels; Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, The Four Seasons, and West Side Story Suite; Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and Polyphonia; and many more. 

Ramasar will take his final bows as a performer with the Company following a dynamic 21-year career at the May 29 performance of Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

DANIELLE TOLMIE TUCKER, PRINCIPAL DANCER, EUGENE BALLET

Danielle received her early training from Connecticut Dance School and attended the University of Utah where she graduated with a BFA in Ballet Performance and a BS in Business Management.  She joined Eugene Ballet Company in 2008 as an apprentice, was promoted to the corps de ballet in 2011, and principal in 2015.  During her time with EBC, Danielle has performed numerous lead roles including Aurora, Juliet, Myrtha in Giselle, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Carmen, The Snow Queen, and Anitra in Peer Gynt.  She has also been showcased in various contemporary ballets such as Stephanie Martinez’s Wandering On, Amy Seiwert’s White Noise, Jessica Lang’s Solo in Nine Parts, and Val Caniparoli’s Tutto Eccetto Il Lavandino.  Danielle is an instructor for Eugene Ballet Academy and also performs and teaches throughout the northwest.  She has had the opportunity to perform as a guest artist with Ballet Hawaii in Septime Webre’s Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and as the Dark Angel and Waltz Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade. Danielle is the proud mom to her son Luca whom she shares with her husband and fellow principal dancer Mark Tucker.

MARK TUCKER, PRINCIPAL DANCER, EUGENE BALLET

Mark Tucker is honored to be taking part in his twelfth season with Eugene Ballet. Mark began his training in his home state of Hawaii.   As well as continuing his training in Miami, Houston, and Washington DC, Mark attended The North Carolina School of the Arts where he graduated high school and obtained a BFA in Classical Ballet with a minor in Modern Dance. Mark joined Eugene Ballet in 2008 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2015.  Mark has defined his career as a strong partner and has had the opportunity to be a part of the creation of some of Toni Pimble’s more modern ballet’s including Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon and “I Want You” in Pimble’s All You Need is Love. Over the course of his career, Mr. Tucker has had the opportunity to dance an expanding range of roles with choreographers and directors both internationally and from across the country. Septime Webre’s Alice in Wonderland, Mauricio Wainrot’s Anne Frank, Val Caniparoli’s Tutto Eccetto il Lavandino, Salvatore Aiello’s Journey, Head Wrangler in Agnes De Mille’s Rodeo, Heather Maloy’s Stranger, as well as works by Jessica Lang, Amy Seiwert, Stephanie Martinez, Devon Carney, Victoria Morgan, Stanton Welch, and EB’s Suzanne Haag to name a few. In 2017, as a guest artist with Ballet Hawaii, he was featured as Waltz Boy in George Balanchine’s Serenade.

Mark began dancing lead roles with EBC in 2012 as the head male in Rite of Spring with, now, Associate Artistic Director Jennifer Martin.  He has been featured as the lead male in Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain and more recently premiered the role of Fear in resident choreographer Suzanne Haag’s Firebird.  He also enjoys bringing characters to life onstage in roles such as Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Von Rothbart in Swan Lake, and the sultan in Scheherazade. In 2015 Mark starred alongside his wife, EBC Principal Dancer Danielle Tolmie, in Pimble’s Carmen. “Dancing the role of Don Jose across from my wife was one of the most memorable and powerful moments I have ever experienced on stage.” In the 2021-2022 season Mr. Tucker looks forward to being a part of Toni Pimble’s world premiere of Taming of the Shrew and celebrating his son Luca’s second birthday.

Follow him and Danielle on Instagram @markdani8688

JOHN SELYA, PRINCIPAL DANCER, ABT

Native New Yorker John Selya trained at the School of American Ballet from 1980-1988. In his final year, he received the Mae L. Wien award for outstanding promise. John was then invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to join American Ballet Theatre, where he performed and created works by Balanchine, Robbins, Tharp, and Mark Morris, Tetley, Kudelka, and Kylian as well as the classical repertoire. In addition to making a name for himself as a dancer, John choreographed three works for the company: Moondance, Disposition and Don’t Panic. Since that acclaimed first work, Mr. Selya has gone on to create choreography for A.B.T., Houston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, Sacramento Ballet, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, and the School of American Ballet.

Following his departure from A.B.T., John created and performed the central role of Eddie in Twyla Tharp’s Tony-winning Broadway show, “Movin’ Out.” His performance earned him a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical, an Astaire award for outstanding dancing on a Broadway stage and a Theater World Award for outstanding Broadway debut. Since then Mr. Selya has appeared as the Mambo dancer in “Damn Yankees”, Scranton Slim in “Guys and Dolls” and Sid in “Come Fly Away.”

 Mr. Selya has also acted as director for Twyla Tharp, staging productions of “Come Fly Away” and “Nine Sinatra Songs” and “Sinatra Suite.”

 In addition to appearing on stage, John also has appeared on screen in the movies “Everyone Says I Love You”, “Across the Universe” and “Romance and Cigarettes.

 In 2008 Mr. Selya was named “artist-in-residence” at the Joyce SoHo where he created two works: “La Voix Humaine” and “Tweaker.”

Mr. Selya continues to perform on stages across the globe as a member of Twyla Tharp Dance. He also is slated to stage Ms. Tharp’s works for Pacific Northwest Ballet in the fall of 2017.

Recently, Mr. Selya was awarded a fellowship with NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts where he continues to create and develop new choreography.

DEREK DANIELS

Derek Daniels is the president/owner oDerek DANIELS PRODUCTIONS (entertainment production).  He is world-traveled, multi-lingual (Japanese, French), passionate about everything that he does and a multi-faceted entrepreneur who always brings a distinctive style, vision and energy to everything he creates and/or is a part of. 

Born and raised in Hawaii, Derek has traveled and lived around the world and worked in the entertainment industry for over 40 years. He is an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, instructor as well as a producer, director, costume designer, model, photographer and a recording artist with accomplishments in stage, film, television, fashion and music. 

With 10 years in Europe, three years in Japan, five years in the US and over 20 years back home in Hawaii, Derek is happy to share his talents and inspire up-and-coming entertainers and entrepreneurs to achieve their goals.

TIMOUR BOURTASENKOV

Timour Bourtasenkov began his professional education with the Moldavian Opera House and the Bolshoi Ballet. Upon coming to America, he danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and the New York based Daring Project. In 1998, Mr. Bourtasenkov joined Carolina Ballet as a Principal dancer and founding member of the Company His repertory includes ballets by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanox, Mikhail Fokine, Leonid Massine, Auguste Bounonville, Arthur Saint-Leon, Georg Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, John Cranko, Frederick Ashton, Antony Tudor, José Limón, Peter Martins, Robert North, Margo Sappington, William Forsyth, Richard Tanner Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Christopher Wheeldon and Carolina Ballet’s Artistic Director, Robert Weiss, has created numerous principal roles for him in the company’s extensive repertory.

Mr. Bourtasenkov has choreographed works for Carolina Ballet, Ballet Hawaii, Infinity Ballet and New Jersey Ballet. He has been chosen twice for the New York Choreographic Institute. In 2004, he choreographed using New York City Ballet Dancers and 2006 using Carolina Ballet Dancers. His ballets include Light and Dark, sections of Messiah, Rag House, Elements, Memories, Visions, Intrigue, Dance of the Spirits, Fallen Dreams, Slavonic Dancers, Tango! Tango! Tango!, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Dances for Piano and Violin, Walpurgisnacht and Calderiana.

Mr. Bourtasenkov won the Bronze Medal in the VII Massako Ohyo World Ballet Competition of Osaka, Japan and the V International Competition of Paris, France. He has appeared in two USSR movies, The Long Way and The Magic Star. In 1996, he filmed Little Red Ridinghood for the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2006-2009 he was named Assistant Professor at East Carolina University where he choreographed Listianna, Provocative Monologues and Swan Fake.

During the summer of 2008, he choreographed the dance scene for the independent film Looking for Nick.

Currently he’s on the faculty of American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive and judging/teaching for Youth America Grand Prix.

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