| Nut/Cracked — The Bang Group’s beloved, witty response to The Nutcracker — has enthralled audiences for more than two decades. Choreographer David Parker draws inspiration from across the dance spectrum, blending tap, ballet, disco, and even bubble wrap to create a unique performance that reimagines Tchaikovsky’s iconic score. With renditions ranging from Duke Ellington to Glenn Miller, Nut/Cracked transforms the familiar into something delightfully unexpected. Praised by The New York Times as “immensely entertaining” and “intensely musical,” this production combines humor and artistry in a way that will leave you seeing The Nutcracker in a whole new light.
Choreographer David Parker says about the work: “Nut/Cracked is my holiday gift to New York’s scrappy, irreverent, resilient and hilarious dance community in all its glorious eclecticism. Conceived in the spirit of dancing schools across the country with their annual Nutcrackers and embossed with New York City grit, Nut/Cracked cuts the plot loose and revels in the powerful essences of the season–snow, ice, evergreens, greed, competition, generosity, presents, addictions, tap shoes, toe shoes all set to Tchaikovsky’s beloved score–in this version both traditionally rendered and in arrangements by Duke Ellington, Fred Waring and Glenn Miller. Spending the last 20 holiday seasons with this show has been a joy, and I am excited to bring it to the Kaatsbaan Cultural Park this year.”
“…a passionate declaration of naivete in the best sense, innocence regained.” —Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times
“Mr. Parker’s piece is not only immensely entertaining but also intensely musical and witty, melding tap, disco, ballet and contemporary dance over 22 scenes that combine fantasy and silliness to marvelous effect.” — Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times
The Bang Group’s Nut/Cracked
December 20, 2024 at 8pm
December 21, 2024 at 8pm
December 22, 2024 at 2pm
Tickets: $45, $35 Student (ID Required)
Venue: Indoors, Black Box Theater
Important Event Information: – This event is General Admission and will held in our Black Box Theater – The duration is approximately 1 hour and 5 mins. – Kaatsbaan has a no refund policy. Ticket insurance is available upon checkout.
About David Parker
Choreographer David Parker is a 2013 Guggenheim Fellow who founded The Bang Group in 1995 with dancer Jeffrey Kazin. Parker’s work is dedicated to creative liberty, aesthetic diversity, and craftsmanship. He has created over 50 works for ballet and contemporary companies, universities, festivals and soloists as well as the bulk of the repertory for The Bang Group. Parker has also served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, The Alvin Ailey School, Barnard College, SUNY Purchase, Princeton University, Marymount Manhattan College and Hunter College. Parker’s genre-non-conforming works have toured widely throughout Europe and North America, and he is currently curating and presenting the work of a range of dancemakers through Arts On Site and DANCE NOW|Boston.
About The Bang Group
The Bang Group is a contemporary theatrical dance troupe which is devoted to choreographer David Parker’s fascination with the rhythmic potential of the dancing body. At the center of his work is an abiding love of rhythmic form and the intensity of communication it allows between audiences and performers. Among his best known works are the 21st century neo-vaudeville Nutcracker entitled Nut/Cracked as well as ShowDown, a choreographic reinvention of Annie Get Your Gun for cabaret and concert stages, and a series of male duets ranging from Slapstuck for two velcro-clad gentlemen, to Bang and Suck, Friends of Dorothy, The Missing Reel and Old Fashioned Wedding. These dances were created for Jeffrey Kazin and David Parker who now direct the company together building a choreographic dialogue between show business, classical and contemporary dance traditions. Their most recent work, the evening-length Misters and Sisters is an unadulterated song-and-dance cabaret which achieved instant critical acclaim at its premier run at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. |
