Sussex Dance Academy presented “The Nutcracker” Dec. 14 at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes. It was the 16th year the Lewes-based group performed the holiday classic for the Cape Region.
This ballet tradition has continued with Sussex Ballet (the Academy's youth ballet company) since 2004 under the direction of director Katie Downes Walker.
The Nutcracker is a classical ballet in two acts and is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It tells the story of a little girl (Clara) who receives a unique gift of a nutcracker from her mysterious Godfather Drosselmeyer on Christmas Eve. The magic begins as Clara falls asleep with her new gift.
The cast of 65 dancers (ages 6-18) along with one male guest artist, Scott Weber from New York City, performed in the production a Cape and at the Ocean City Performing Arts Center on Dec. 15.
Auditions were held in late August with rehearsals starting mid-September and running every Saturday until the production.
![The Sugar Plum Fairy (Molly Lingo) performs with Cavalier (Scott Weber) as Clara (Mary Kate Barnhart) looks on during Sussex Ballet's performance. DAN COOK PHOTOS](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/2329a.jpg)
![The Jesters Katie Riley, left, and Barbara Kissell are excited to welcome Clara to the Land of the Sweets.](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/1656a.jpg)
![Clara, Mary Kate Barnhart, tells her the court jesters and ladies in waiting what happened with her nutcracker doll.](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/1721a.jpg)
![The Marzipan Flutes performing for Clara are (l-r) Riley Senseny, Andrea Cabrera, Samantha Sordi, Stella Caldwell, Lizzy Krams, Meoghan Swain, Sydney Mundock and Abby Krams.](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/1998a.jpg)
![The Waltz of the Flowers is performed by (l-r) Kate Conaway, Claudia Walker, Meoghan Swain (rosebud), Stella Dutton and Stella Caldwell.](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/2109a.jpg)
![Clara’s parents Frau Stahlbaum, Emma Brower, and Herr Stahlbaum, Jamie Riddle, lead the adult dance in the party scene. Frau Stahlbaum, Emma Brower, and Herr Stahlbaum, Jamie Riddle.](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/8741a.jpg)
![Mysterious godfather Drosselmeyer, Braeden Swain, arrives to the party in disguise to surprise the children.](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/8769a.jpg)
![Drosselmeyer brings life-size dolls to entertain the children. Here, the Columbine doll, Meoghan Swain, performs.](/sites/capegazette/files/2019/12/field/image/8827a.jpg)