Release: Dec 11, 2020
Press Contact:
Taelore Rhoden, Marketing Manager
taelore@spectrumdance.org
206-550-2021
SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER ANNOUNCES OPENING WEEKEND OF DONALD BYRD’S THE HARLEM NUTCRACKER WORKSHOP II, DECEMBER 11-13, 2020.
SEATTLE, WA (December 11, 2020) – The Harlem Nutcracker premiered in December 1996 at Arizona State University in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Gammage Memorial Auditorium. It made its NYC premiere later that year at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Touring extensively each holiday season from 1996-2000, five holiday seasons, The Harlem Nutcracker gained national recognition, received critical acclaim, and was dubbed an “instant classic.”
The story centers around an African American family in Harlem at Christmas, highlighting the centrality and significance of the grandmother in African-American culture, the resilience of Black American families, and Harlem as a center of the African Diaspora.
Spectrum Dance Theater is reviving Donald Byrd’s The Harlem Nutcracker through three workshop presentations before the premiere of the full stage production in 2022.
Workshop I premiered at On the Boards in December 2019, and this year’s film production, Workshop II, premieres online as a double feature Friday, December 11 – Sunday, December 13! This weekend’s premiere also includes a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary chronicling the production process of Workshop II.
Workshop II picks up where the 2019 production left off, Clara and her husband have just witnessed the exhilarating floorshow at Club Sweets and a new M.C. appears to introduce the second act, “Time Travel,” where Death manifests flashbacks of Clara’s early years and chronicles the Black struggle for justice and equality from the 1920s to the death of George Floyd.
TICKETS
Memberships for the Imagining Futures season are $120. The membership includes access to:
- New works and performances
- Talkbacks with the Company Artists and Artistic Director
- Past productions
- Member exclusives (interviews, merch discounts, and more!)
The Harlem Nutcracker Performance Pass is $20 and grants viewers 3-day access to both productions, starting at Midnight on Friday, December 11th and ending at 11:59 pm on Sunday, December 13th.
2020/21 Season Memberships and Performance Passes are available for purchase here.
ABOUT SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER
Under Donald Byrd’s artistic leadership since 2002, Spectrum Dance Theater has become the foremost contemporary modern dance organization in the Pacific Northwest, gaining recognition nationally and abroad. For over thirty years, Spectrum Dance Theater has brought dance of the highest merit to a diverse community working to make dance accessible to all through contemporary dance performances and high-quality dance training in a variety of dance styles. Three components comprise the organization: the professional Company, the School and Outreach programs. With Donald Byrd’s visionary artistic leadership, the organization has embarked on an exhilarating transformation that has attracted world-class dancers, produced some of the most avant-garde works in contemporary dance, and generated local and national praise. www.spectrumdance.org
For more information, please contact:
Taelore Rhoden, Marketing Manager
Spectrum Dance Theater
taelore@spectrumdance.org
(206) 325-4161
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