Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

The Next Generation of Nutcracker Dancers

Starting on Saturday, Dec. 9, The Nutmeg Conservatory, a professional-training ballet school for young dancers in Torrington, Conn., will begin its holiday season run of “The Nutcracker.” The ballet school has performed Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece of Christmas Eve magic since 1970, originally as a one-act production, but for decades now as a fully costumed, set-decorated rendition of the classic ballet first composed in Russia in 1892. Adapted from  E. T. A. Hoffmann’s 1816 short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” Nutmeg’s production features original choreography from Artistic Director and Executive Officer Victoria Mazzarelli and the rest of the ballet faculty. 

Casting for the grand-scale dance performance demands the discerning expertise of the faculty, as they meticulously align students with roles that accentuate their skill levels, allowing their talents to shine brightly on stage. “Some students really come alive during the performance; that’s where they shine,” said Mazzarelli. “Others are a little more timid; they might be stronger in the studio and need to develop their performance skills, but some of them are just, you know, once they get on stage, it’s like magic happens and — boom.”

Students performing on stage at The Warner Theatre in Torrington are as young as eight, but that may only be the beginning of their Nutmeg dance careers. “One young lady performing The Sugar Plum Fairy has been with us since she was three. She played an angel. I think she was Little Mary — that’s the littlest party guest. She was a soldier. She was in the Spanish Corps, Marzipan Corps; she’s done every role. She’s played a mouse, and now she will be Sugar Plum. It’s amazing to see. She’s very petite, and her partner is just lovely. He’s been with us for two years, and the two of them look great together.”

“The Nutcracker” runs from Dec. 9 to Dec. 17. For tickets, go to www.nutmegconservatory.org or www.warnertheatre.org.

/
Photo of The Nutmeg Conservatory by Rem Dinio
Alexander Wilburn

Latest News

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Windacre, a 25-acre property in Millerton will be the site of “Work in Progress,” an afternoon with acclaimed entomologist, New York Times bestselling author and Homegrown National Park co-founder Doug Tallamy.

Provided

For nearly three decades, Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, has studied the intricate relationships between native plants, insects, birds and the ecosystems that sustain them. His books, including “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” have helped shift the conversation about conservation from something that happens primarily in parks and preserves to something ordinary people can practice on the land around them.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, Tallamy will bring that conversation to Windacre in Millerton for “Work in Progress: Toward Native Fields,” an outdoor gathering exploring both the possibilities and the complications of restoring private land for biodiversity.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe at Homelands PowWow in 2025.

Joeseph Plante New Media Storytellers
Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands.


For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people, the Berkshires are not simply a place to visit. They are ancestral homelands.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

How would you feel if you found out you weren’t the only you — if there was an exact replica of you? What if you found out that you’d been cloned? Would you believe that you’re the real you? Would you suspect you might be a copy of the original? How could you be sure anything about your life was real? These are some of the questions posed in Caryl Churchill’s play “A Number,” opening at the Ancram Center for the Artson Oct. 1.

Churchill was born in London in 1938 and has been hailed by the theaterl world as one of the strongest voices of her time to take on sexual politics and feminist themes. Her works garner pointedly considered analysis from the highest levels of theatrical intellectualism. Basically, it’s about as far from “The Lion King” as you can get. While she’s experimented with dance theater in the past, “A Number” is much more stripped down, highlighting Churchill’s chosen themes and the skills of both actors on stage.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Dispatches from the Farm

Dispatches from the Farm

Adamah Farm crew members planning out the day’s tasks on a late September day.

Janna Siller

“Dispatches from the farm” is a new, periodic column offering a firsthand look at the rhythms, challenges and rewards of farming through the eyes of a local farmer.

The thing about plants is that they can’t get up and move. When a storm like last weekend’s nor’easter threatens to roll through, you can’t just round everybody up and settle them safely on the sofa for movie night.

Keep ReadingShow less
dispatches-from-the-farm

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman to perform at Hotchkiss Oct. 4

Cheryl Mazak

The passion, drama and energy of Beethoven will fill Katherine M. Elfers Hall at The Hotchkiss School on Oct. 4, when world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman is joined by pianist Shai Wosner for a special recital.

The 4:30 p.m. program at the Esther Eastman Music Center will feature three of Beethoven’s celebrated violin sonatas: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”; and Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Found Footage Festival brings laughs to The Triplex

Found Footage Festival brings laughs to The Triplex

Pickett and Prueher on stage.

Provided by Found Footage Festival

On Sunday, Oct. 4, the Found Footage Festival makes its way to the Triplex Theatre in Great Barrington with a treasure trove of lost and forgotten VHS tapes scraped from the piles of distant memories and discarded physical media.

The Found Footage Festival is a “celebration of the videos that time forgot” hosted by two Brooklyn-based comedy writers and childhood friends, Joe Pickett of The Onion and Nick Prueher of The Late Show.

Keep ReadingShow less
film festival
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.