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Houston Ballet's Got The Nutcracker Covered

Houston Ballets The Nutcracker

In the music industry artists often release new renditions, called covers, of previously recorded and released songs. Often these are explorations and reworkings of the original material, designed to pay tribute to the original, reach a new audience demographic, and/or encourage the listener's interest in the artist by hooking them with a familiar tune. For similar reasons, dance companies worldwide add their versions of The Nutcracker to the fray, making it the most "covered" ballet narrative in the dance world. In this sea of re-hashed material, how does a dance company create a variation that will be a stand-out and beloved at the same time? While there may be no concrete answer to this question, Ben Stevenson's  choreography, as performed by Houston Ballet, is an excellent model of this elusive formula.

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tags Ballet, houson, nutcracker, review (all tags)