With the choreography of its artistic director, Luis Ortigoza, the stable dance corps of the Municipal Theater of Santiago premieres on Friday, December 17, a new production of the classic Christmas ballet, whose scenography and costumes, by Jorge Gallardo, stand out for their winks to the Russian Ballet of Sergey Diaghilev.

The ballet company will be accompanied by the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra, under the musical direction of Pedro-Pablo Prudencio. Due to sales success, the performances will run until January. More information and ticket sales at municipal.cl.

An unpublished Nutcracker arrives at the Municipal Theater of Santiago. On Friday, December 17, the Santiago Ballet will premiere, after 15 years, a new production of the Christmas classic. With choreography by the artistic director of this stable body, Luis Ortigoza, and scenery and costumes by the outstanding theater designer Jorge Gallardo, this is a proposal designed for the whole family that pays special tribute to the creators of the Nutcracker, P. I. Tchaikovsky and M. Petipa. The functions were originally scheduled until December 30, however, due to their sales success, they will run until January (6, 8 and 9) with a value from 2,000 pesos (with recorded music).

Accompanied by the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of its resident director, Pedro Pablo Prudencio, the Santiago Ballet will address a traditional version that follows the choreography of M. Petipa and the history of ETA Hoffmann, but evoking the Russia in which the work it appeared for the first time, at the end of the XIX century.

“Releasing a completely new version of the Nutcracker has a fundamental importance due to the tradition that the work has for the company and the Theater,” says Luis Ortigoza, artistic director of the Santiago Ballet. “It is also a challenge, because after the first scene we must transmit a fantasy to the public; remind them that the inner world feeds on magic ”, he concludes.

Meanwhile, Carmen Gloria Larenas, general director of the Theater, points out: “This is a proposal that is located in a golden age in artistic matters to celebrate one of the most fantastic pairs in the history of dance, the one composed by Tchaikovsky and Petipa, whose synergies gave way to some of the most important classical ballets, including the Nutcracker. We hope that the families will accompany us to dream about this new version, which will make us move between the real world and other fantasy worlds where, like so many other times, imagination and desires are confused with reality ”.

The workshops of the Municipal Theater of Santiago have been working for four months on the design and manufacture of all the pieces that will give life to this magical ballet. Sleds inspired by icy Russia, giant spinning Fabergé eggs, dresses sparkling with dozens of crystals, and deep forests are part of the production that will surprise audiences. Meanwhile, the costumes pay homage to Serguei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, as it takes on the colors and forms that that company stood out in its productions and which are a reference to this day for the world of dance.

Behind these creations is the Chilean plastic artist, set designer and costume designer for dance and opera Jorge Gallardo, who has an extensive career outside of Chile, working with prominent companies such as American Ballet Theater, Royal Swedish Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance Company, San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Théâtre National de Chaillot and Malandain Ballet Biarritz, where he is a permanent designer. At the Municipal de Santiago, he had designed the costumes and scenography for the ballets Zorba, el Grecia and La Casa de los Espíritus.