MuSE, the people behind the Dance-It-Yourself Nutcracker, have found a new delight to add to the holiday candy sampler that is Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker: an English Gigue cut from the original production and obscured by time until recently.

According to MuSE Creative Director and founder Alicia Lieu, the playing and dancing of this toe-tapper may well be the New York premiere. It will be used as an audience “dance-it-yourself” event during the ballet.

The interesting concept for the DIY ballet is to have some scenes danced by professionals and then use other numbers as an opportunity to get the audience involved. The original choreography was conceived by Theresa Burns with a little help from Associate Producer Ian Brodsky and Marisa Byers who is also prima ballerina.

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I played trombone with the group last year, and their hybrid approach was widely enjoyed by the audience. I expected the audience to be full of lots of little girls in tutus, but that wasn’t the case. While children are encouraged to attend, the crowd was mostly adults who participated with gusto in the simple and enjoyable group dancing.

The production features a full orchestra of top flight players which alone is worth the price of admission. If you are looking for something creative and fun to do this weekend, with your child or with a date, then take this opportunity to dance it yourself. See the Gigue performed by the creative people at DIY Nutcracker in the clip below!

Dance-It-Yourself Nutcracker

Friday, December 8 – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 9  – 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church
152 West 66th St
New York City, NY 10023