Historical December 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
It’s dance, it’s music, it’s theater, it’s irreverent parody at its most pointed—it’s Mid America Dance Company’s madcap production of THE MADCRACKER, billed as a pungently-witty holiday bonbon for people of taste.
With tongue in cheek and tradition tucked even further out of sight, THE MADCRACKER is MADCO artistic director Ross Winter’s razzle-dazzle modern dance version of what he calls “that dreary Christmas classic.” THE MADCRACKER is “The Nutcracker” spruced up, spiced up, turned upside down and inside out.
The curtain opens on Clara’s condo just prior to the lady’s gala holiday soiree. Clara is a wealthy divorcee who is courted by Dross L. Meyer, an enigmatic city alderman.
The Madcracker is Dross’ dim-witted but macho nephew who ignites the ever-soslightly bored Clara.
In the second act, Clara’s dream transports Dross, The Madcracker and Clara to the Land of the Entertainments, somewhere just this side of The Twilight Zone. There, the trio meets the ultimate Sugar Plum Fairy and her bizarre entourage that includes swains, loves, zephyrs and a tap-dancing nymph named Voluptua.
Her Plumness is stricken with lust at first sight and attempts to woo away The Mad- :.:racker from Clara. Rossalbertina Winterova, prima ballerina assoluta, will dance the Sugar Plum Fairy—partly en pointe and partly off. Mme. Winterova is well known for her roles in the heroic and dramatic repertoire of classical ballet and is renowned for her extraordinary musicality and her fiery temperament.
She was retired from the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet in 1975 after a violent disagreement with her partner on stage during the opening night performance of “The Nutcracker.” Polly Brandman, assistant professor of dance at Southwest Missouri State University and co-artistic director of Wishbone Dance Theatre, will dance the role of Clara. Gary Hubler, chair of the dance department at Webster University. will dance Dross L. Meyer.
The Madcracker will be danced by Scott Loebl, member of the St. Louis Repertory Dancers at Washington University. MADCO dancers appearing in THE MADCRACKER are Kathleen Waller Feist, Raeleen McClernon, Joseph Mills, Paul Mosley and Elizabeth Webb. Guestartists will include dancers Paula Clare, Suzanne Grace, Michael Richardson and Lorilee Saucier. Patricia Corrigan, by day a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, will play Voluptua. Michael Hunt, dubbed “one of St. Louis’ more adventurous composers” by a local music critic, has rewritten the full score of “The Nutcracker” (with apologies to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) for four musicians. Hunt will conduct the ensemble at all performances of THE MADCRACKER. Hunt is associate professor of composition and theory and composerin-residence at Fontbonne College.
He recently returned from Ireland, where he spent a year as the Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Trinity College in Dublin. Ross Winter, MADCO artistic director, wrote the scenario for THE MADCRACKER, with no apologies to anyone. Winter was recently selected by the Missouri Arts Council as one of two choreographers in its MISSOURI DANCING! project. Hope Wurdack, artistic director of the St. Louis-based Theater Factory, staged THE MADCRACKER. Michael Warrick, whose sculptures have been exhibited throughout the Midwest, designed the sets. Lighting design and production coordination for THE MADCRACKER are under the direction of David Kruger, artist-in-residence at Washington University. Bonnie Cutter, also an artist-in-residence at Washington University, designed the costumes.
In preparation for her work on THE MADCRACKER, Cutter notes that she has costumed bald, green visitors from outer space for the Repertory Theatre and an entire herd of reindeer for the Syracuse Ballet Theatre. More than 35 dances—modern, ballet, Flamenco, jazz, tap and esoteric combinations of same—have been choreographed for THE MADCRACKER.
In addition to Winter and MADCO dancers, choreographers include Paula Clare, Suzanne Grace, Gary Hubler, Scott Loebl, Jon Manlove and Beckah Voigt. Among the dances are “The Dance of the Feather Dusters,” “The Libido Trio,” “The Dance of the Horrible Present,” “The Klutz Polka” and “The Dance of the Sated Entertainers and Entertainees.” THE MADCRACKER will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, December 20; at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, December 21; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, December 22 at Edison Theatre. Tickets are $12.50, $10 and $7.50. Special rates for senior citizens, students and children are available.
All seats are reserved. Tickets are available at all TICKETMASTER Ticket Centers (Famous Barr, Dillard’s, Team Togs and Tickets, Regal Sports and Westport Playhouse) or by calling DIALTIX at 421-1400. MADCO, Missouri’s only professional modern dance company, was named an honor company in the Mid-States Region of the National Association for Regional Ballet. Founded in 1976, the St. Louisbased company has performed throughout the Midwest and (to Erick Hawkins’ great delight) at the Riverside Festival in New York. Financial assistance for THE MADCRACKER has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, with additional grants from the CAMELOT/ Special Projects Fund of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, the Regional Cultural and Performing Arts Commission and the St. Louis Community Foundation.
The program is also made possible by support from the Missouri Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, through their participation in Mid-America Arts Alliance and Meet the Composer, Inc.
For more information, call 664-2631.
Original photograph caption
Rossalbertina Winterova, featured guest artist for Mid America Dance Company’s “The Madcracker.” The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1985, page 8. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1985.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1985_12.pdf, printed page(s) 8; PDF page(s) 8.
