Like many kids who dream of becoming dancers, Michelle Dorrance listened to The Nutcracker music a lot growing up. Yet it wasn’t the Tchaikovsky classic but the Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn version that captured her imagination. “The reason I fell in love with this score at like age 11 is that my mom — who was a professional ballet dancer and probably did her handful of Nutcrackers — she and some of her colleagues in Chapel Hill, N.C., created a sort of cocktail party rendition for adults. A Nutcracker [set] to this score. I fell in love with the score.

Dorrance’s brings her Nutcracker Suite  to the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, December 8th and 9th. The Ellington-Strayhorn score is not long, so the performance is “a perfect hour,” Dorrance says. ”It’s also a challenge, telling the whole story so quickly." Ticket prices range from $29 to $70. For more info, go to:https://pennlivearts.org/event/dorrancedancenutcracker 

The Music Institute of Chicago presents its annual performance Duke It Out! Nutcracker, featuring the classical (Tchaikovsky) and jazz (Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn) versions of the holiday favorite in a music and dance performance Saturday, December 9th at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue in downtown Evanston.

The Music Institute's Ensemble-in-Residence Quintet Attacca and guests Braeburn Brass team up with Dance Chicago in a family-friendly, one-hour version of The Nutcracker that alternates between Tchaikovsky's original score and the jazz version by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. An interactive musical instrument petting zoo for children takes place between the two performances.
 
“This is a Nutcracker like no other. The program features a unique combination of the classical and jazz scores for this holiday classic, and in between, families can have fun trying out different instruments and explore options for music instruction with our respected faculty,” said Music Institute President and CEO Mark George. Tickets are $15, available at nicholsconcerthall.org.

Like many kids who dream of becoming dancers, Michelle Dorrance listened to The Nutcracker music a lot growing up. Yet it wasn’t the Tchaikovsky classic but the Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn version that captured her imagination. “The reason I fell in love with this score at like age 11 is that my mom — who was a professional ballet dancer and probably did her handful of Nutcrackers — she and some of her colleagues in Chapel Hill, N.C., created a sort of cocktail party rendition for adults. A Nutcracker [set] to this score. I fell in love with the score.

Dorrance’s brings her Nutcracker Suite  to the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, December 8th and 9th. The Ellington-Strayhorn score is not long, so the performance is “a perfect hour,” Dorrance says. ”It’s also a challenge, telling the whole story so quickly." Ticket prices range from $29 to $70. For more info, go to:https://pennlivearts.org/event/dorrancedancenutcracker 

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

The sparkling sounds of the season abound when your symphony performs your favorite holiday music! Hear The Nutcracker in an entirely fresh way—first with Tchaikovsky’s original version right next to the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn big-band arrangements. This family-friendly holiday celebration features Chicago's finest, singer Tammy McCann, whose powerful, sultry, voice merges jazz with a Gospel esthetic to bring her unique sound to festive tunes. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with his friend "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as we all go on a "Sleigh Ride" together! 

Holiday concerts are made possible through an endowment from the Livingston Foundation, in memory of Leslie Livingston Kellar.

The sparkling sounds of the season abound when your symphony performs your favorite holiday music! Hear The Nutcracker in an entirely fresh way—first with Tchaikovsky’s original version right next to the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn big-band arrangements. This family-friendly holiday celebration features Chicago's finest, singer Tammy McCann, whose powerful, sultry, voice merges jazz with a Gospel esthetic to bring her unique sound to festive tunes. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with his friend "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as we all go on a "Sleigh Ride" together! 

Holiday concerts are made possible through an endowment from the Livingston Foundation, in memory of Leslie Livingston Kellar.

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com

An exhilarating story told in dance, SUGAR HILL is set to the music of the genre-defying collaboration between jazz icons bandleader/composer Duke Ellington and gay composer Billy Strayhorn in a captivating way that has never been done before.

SUGAR HILL reveals the glamour of the 1930s as seen through the lens of the nonconformist daughter of a high-society Black family in Manhattan and her fantastic dreamworld in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem. A jazz-steeped reimagining of the classic tale, this Nutcracker dance-story sends a stirring message that champions individuality and the journey to find the power of your unique self: “Go find what makes you different to find your magic”.

For more information and tickets go to: sugarhillnutcracker.com