See the iconic ballet at Playhouse Square this holiday season.
Written by Evan Peters
The stage lights come on, the curtains come up and the audience is buzzing, while backstage the dancers are awaiting their cue to come on stage. The scene is set at a Christmas Eve party, as children celebrate among family and friends, receiving gifts around the tree.
Surrounded by the swirling sounds of string instruments, amongst the fluttering of flutes and clarinets, the orchestra takes you on a captivating journey through the world of the “The Nutcracker,” which will be performed by the Cleveland Ballet this December at Playhouse Square.
“Clevelanders are passionate about everything, and whatever they support, you know they’re going to cheer and applaud as loud as they possibly can.”
“The Nutcracker” is the story of a young girl who goes on an adventure the night of Christmas Eve, told through the art of ballet. Based on the 1816 short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E. T. A. Hoffman, the two-act classical ballet performance was created in 1892 by the music composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
The story of “The Nutcracker” follows Clara Stahlbaum after her relative, Herr Drosselmeyer, gives her a nutcracker as a gift the night before Christmas. Clara is very infatuated with the nutcracker, loving the gift bestowed to her.
Later that night, after everyone is asleep, Clara goes to check on the nutcracker in the parlor room, where she finds a group of mice gathering. Drosselmeyer finds Clara distraught, and rescues her by transforming the house, bringing the mice and the toy nutcracker – a prince – to life.
The Nutcracker Prince engages in an intense battle with the Mouse King and wins after Clara distracts the Mouse King by throwing her slipper. Clara and the Nutcracker Prince go on a wild adventure through “The Land of Sweets,” ending the story with Clara waking up, unsure if it was only a dream.
Bruno Palheta Oliveira, a Brazilian dancer who has a significant background in dance, plays the Soldier Doll, who is featured in the first act, as well as various roles in the second act in Cleveland Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker.” Dancing for over 15 years, Palheta Oliveira has been trained in ballet for 13 years (and counting).
Palheta Oliveira joined the Cleveland Ballet in the 2020 season, and has been on stage for more than 10 performances at Playhouse Square. Some of these performances include “Serenade,” the adaptation of “Swan Lake” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which contained one of his favorite roles as Puck.
While this is only Palheta Oliveira’s second time performing “The Nutcracker” with the Cleveland Ballet, he is no stranger to the ballet story.
“I’ve performed in six different versions of ‘The Nutcracker’ throughout my career: two in Brazil, one with The Washington Ballet, Orlando Ballet and now two with Cleveland Ballet,” Palheta Oliveira, 27, said. “If there’s a male role in the show, I’ve performed it.”
For this year’s performance as the Soldier Doll, Palheta Oliveira described how he brings the character to life.
“The Soldier Doll is such a commanding role. I have to think and remind myself ‘I am a doll’ while remaining sharp and articulate during the performance,” Palheta Oliveira said. “It’s fun to take on that character and think ‘how would a doll make this happen?’”
Palheta Oliveira said that the Cleveland Ballet was going back to the classic version of “The Nutcracker” this year. He shared that he believes the artistic director, Timour Bourtasenkov, granted the cast the opportunity to learn something entirely new because Bourtasenkov recognizes what they are capable of.
While the Cleveland Ballet recently finished performing “Dracula,” the ballet company immediately transitioned into learning “The Nutcracker.” Palheta Oliveira described the transition as smooth and said they were able to digest the steps and work collaboratively to bring an exciting performance together.
He went on to say that not only is the performance exciting, but so is performing in front of a Cleveland audience.
“Clevelanders are passionate about everything, and whatever they support, you know they’re going to cheer and applaud as loud as they possibly can,” Palheta Oliveira said. “A misunderstanding about being a ballet audience member is that you have to stay quiet, but Cleveland audiences understand that they can applaud when they’re excited, and that feeds our energy as the performers.”
Palheta Oliveira also described why this performance of “The Nutcracker” is special and why people should come to see the show.
“This show is made for Cleveland Ballet and for our Cleveland audience. There’s nothing more exciting than premiering a new show – especially with the new costumes, sets, lights and choreography,” Palheta Oliveira said. “I feel like it’s not really Christmas or the holiday season until you’ve seen ‘The Nutcracker.’”
Choreographed through the vision of Bourtasenkov at the Cleveland Ballet, the show will feature new sets and costumes to allure the audience. Alongside the performances, audience members have the chance with select cast members to do meet and greets and photo opportunities after Saturday and Sunday matinee performances, as well as “Dew Drop” jewels for young audience members during weekend evening performances.
You can see Palheta Oliveira in “The Nutcracker” at the Connor Palace in Playhouse Square Dec. 13-15 and Dec. 19-22, for a total of 11 shows, with one being a student matinee and one being a “Pay What You Can” performance. Tickets range from $30-$131 on the Playhouse Square website.
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