On Wednesday, December 11, the dance team and orchestra presented The Nutcracker Showcase in Elfers Hall. The show consisted of individual movements and variations from the ballet The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker was first performed in 1892 by the Russian Imperial Ballet, with music and choreography by legends of the ballet world Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa, respectively.

The ballet, which is set on Christmas Eve, has long been a staple of companies in the United States and is a beloved part of many families’ holiday celebrations and a rite of passage for young dancers.

The performance was organized by students and supervised by Mr. Fabio Witkowski, head of the visual and performing arts department.

Dance Team Captain Ophelia Cham ’25 said, “This is the first-ever collaboration between the orchestra and dance team.”

The collaboration started with Irene Zeng’s ’26 enthusiasm for ballet. “I have always aspired to perform a ballet at Hotchkiss,” she said.

Students performed four solos: the Sugar Plum Fairy’s Entrance by Zeng, the Chinese Dance by Amina Wang ’27, the Toy Dance by Hermione Wu ’27, and the Arabian Dance by Katie Qian ’26. Cham, Wu, and Jiyani Bharvad ’27 performed the trio Dance of the Mirlitons, and the entire company presented Waltz of the Flowers. Students followed George Balanchine’s famous 1954 choreography for the New York City Ballet.