Colorado Ballet dancers’ first season without the Nutcracker
For the dancers of Colorado Ballet, it’s hardly a holiday season without The Nutcracker. The show has been a staple of the dance company for nearly 60 years, since its debut season in 1961.
“This time of the year we should be at the theater,” says Melissa Zoebisch, a Colorado Ballet dancer since 2014. “We should be so exhausted and you come out and there’s lights and people, and [now] it’s just kind of eerie looking.”
She’s referring to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Complex off of 14th and Arapahoe. The Colorado Ballet performs at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
“Obviously it’s been killing me to get back in there,” says Bryce Lee, Company dancer since 2015, “But you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Lee and Zoebisch are just two of countless others affected by COVID-19. They’ve gone almost an entire year without performances and have had to adapt. Lee has gone back to school and teaches ballet on the side, inspiring the next generation of male dancers. Zoebisch had just taken over a ballet school with her husband. She’d planned to take things slow, but “with me not dancing, I’ve had to just kind of completely dive into it.”
2020 marks the first time in ten years that Lee hasn’t been part of a Nutcracker performance. For Zoebisch, it’s been ever longer. “If COVID wasn’t happening right now…we would be on week three of five weeks of show,” says Zoebisch.
“I get super amped and excited and I try and get everyone else excited,” says Lee. His favorite roles are Fritz and, of course, The Nutcracker.
Zoebisch enjoys playing the Arabian dancer and the Sugar Plum Fairy. “Kids always dream and read and see fairytales, but we actually get to live it and that’s kind of cool,” she says.
Both dancers have been staying in shape for when the time comes to return to the stage. Zoebisch takes class at least 3 times a week. “It’s not easy. Self-motivation sometimes is hard to find, especially when you can’t see when your next [show] is because we’re very goal-oriented,” says Ziebisch.
Lee takes class twice a week and hits the gym as much as possible. He says, “because we’re planning on coming back in January…I’ve been really stepping up as of late.”
They both miss their fellow dancers and directors, but most of all? The audience.
“Getting that feedback from the audience, it’s what makes me continue every single year,” says Lee, “there’s no question, I miss it so much.”
You can watch a performance of last year’s Nutcracker right here on RMPBS: https://www.rmpbs.org/schedule/nutcracker/