LIFE

Free-wheeling ‘Nut/Cracked’ takes Bard stage

Jennifer McGreevey

It’s the Nutcracker, with a twist.

The Bang Group’s performance of “Nut/Cracked,” choreographer David Parker’s witty response to the holiday classic, makes its debut at Bard College this weekend.

The “free-wheeling, experimental” production features tap dancing in toe shoes, dancing on bubble wrap and jazz versions of Tchaikovsky’s music, as well as the traditional orchestral suite, said Parker, a 1981 graduate of Bard College.

In addition to these somewhat bizarre elements, Parker said the show combines modern dance with tap and traditional ballet to create a “very unique version of Nutcracker.

“It is a humorous version of the Nutcracker, but the humor comes from love and not from any desire to make fun of the Nutcracker,” Parker said during an interview with the Journal. “It’s really my attempt to create the kind of Nutcracker that belongs to my generation and to the people of the downtown dance world in New York City.”

Parker spent 10 years as a dancer in New York City before he began his career as a choreographer. He started the Bang Group in 1995, and in addition to himself, one other original member remains.

Parker said one of his earliest pieces was a duet between two men that was “classical except the two men partner each other in unusual ways, such as thumb-sucking.” His penchant for irreverent humor in his performances landed him a deal to make a full-length version of the Nutcracker in a similar vein. Nut/Cracked premiered at the Auditorium Theater of the Carlo Felice Opera House in Genoa, Italy in November 2003, with a cast of five dancers.

Since then, the Bang Group has performed Nut/Cracked throughout the United States, Europe and Canada to audiences of up to 1,500, he said.

The performance at Bard will feature a cast of 13, including four permanent members of the Bang Group and nine independent dancers that have a long relationship with the company. Parker said he also uses local dancers in some performances.

Longtime fan Arlene Hellerman of Manhattan said Parker’s production “combines abstract dance with tap and ballet in a way that is aesthetically beautiful and just incredibly fun to watch.”

“It turns everything upside down,” Hellerman said.

Parker said Nut/Cracked uses the score of The Nutcracker, but does not tell the traditional story.

“Instead, each section has a gift, such as bubble wrap, and each gift allows the performance to transform in some way,” Parker said.

The name “Bang Group” comes from his interest in “rhythm of all kinds,” which is reflected in the type of movement seen in Nut/Cracked.

Marion Dienstag of the Bronx noted the uniqueness of the movement and the sound. The former executive director of Dance Theater Workshop and longtime producer of Nut/Cracked said the show has “a lot of David Parker’s signature rhythmic movement.”

Dienstag said she never tires of Parker’s “heartfelt, contemporary” version of the holiday classic.

“I have seen it literally scores and scores of times,” Dienstag said. “I always find something new, something fresh.”

Hellerman, who said she has taken her 7-year-old daughter every year since she was 2, agreed.

“It’s the most fun holiday treat to go see,” Hellerman said. “Better than eggnog.”

Contact Journal intern Jennifer McGreevey at 845-437-4800.

IF YOU GO

What: The Bang Group presents “Nut/Cracked”

Where: Sosnoff Theater of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, 60 Manor Ave., Annandale

When: 7:30 p.m., Dec. 20; 2 p.m., Dec. 21

Tickets: $25-$45

Information: Tickets can be ordered online at fishercenter.bard.edu or by calling the box office at 845-758-7900. Suitable for children ages 12 and older.