By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
When Dance Arts Los Alamos’s (DALA) “Nutcracker on the Hill” concluded in 2019 – it did something unusual. The show ended on a cliffhanger.
The villainous Rat Queen had conquered the Land of Sweets and J. Robert Oppenheimer was trapped in this magical land. Want to learn what happens next? DALA is telling a bit more of the story in its film, “The Dark Year,” which will premiere at 7 p.m. Saturday at Duane Smith Auditorium.
Before the film begins, DALA dancers will get to walk the red carpet at 6:30 p.m. in front of the auditorium.
DALA Director Jonathan Guise wrote “The Dark Year”. He also is the creator of “Nutcracker on the Hill” and the planned follow-up ballets, “Ratcracker on the Hill” and “Sugar Plum on the Hill”, which will be performed later.
He explained the trilogy. In “Ratcracker on the Hill”, everything is backwards. The show opens in the Land of the Sweets, which is now ruled by the Rat Queen. Gwen Groves, Gen. Leslie Groves’ daughter, has to help Oppenheimer, and save the Sugar Plum Fairy and her friends. The show will finish back at Los Alamos with the traditional Land of Sweets dances (Chinese tea, Spanish chocolate, Arabian coffee, etc.). In the final installment, “Sugar Plum on the Hill”, Oppenheimer successfully returns to Los Alamos but discovers there are two of him. Meanwhile, Gwen Groves needs to rescue a now evil Sugar Plum Fairy by teaching her how to dream again.
“The Dark Year” tells what occurs between “Nutcracker on the Hill” and “Ratcracker on the Hill”, he said.
This has been a labor love; Guise said he spent four years writing these ballets.
“When I first came to Los Alamos, I wanted to write a historical Nutcracker,” he said.
The Nutcracker does have a tie to local history. Guise said while working on the bomb during the Manhattan Project, they would constantly experience radio interference. What was heard on the radio was Tchaikovsky’s “March of the Children,” which is performed in “The Nutcracker”, he said.
Guise added that the more he learned about local history, the more he was interested in it.
“As I dug deeper into the history, mostly it was the people who made me curious because they had such great, unique stories,” he said.
Guise credits Los Alamos Historical Society and its Executive Director Liz Martineau for assisting him in incorporating the history of the Manhattan Project into the ballets.
Besides history, Guise said he loves creating new ballets.
“I’ve never been a traditionalist when it comes to ballet … I like to take the classics in a new direction if I can,” he said.
Guise has put a new spin on “The Nutcracker” before having created a Nutcracker ballet that featured the history of Colorado in a production performed in Colorado Springs. He said he gets excited to re-imagine this particular ballet because while “The Nutcracker” is known for being a wonderful family ballet, he hears complaints that it never changes.
While creating original ballets requires a lot of innovation, COVID really made Guise get creative. He explained that normally DALA puts on a spring show, but COVID caused the dance organization to be concerned that it wouldn’t be able to utilize the Duane Smith Auditorium. As a result, DALA invested money into filming equipment and shot “The Dark Year” starting in April and concluding in July.
Filming occurred all over town. Guise said they filmed at Pajarito Mountain, in a dry riverbed in White Rock and even in Oppenheimer’s house on Bathtub Row. Additionally, he said DALA’s studio in White Rock was transformed into a green screen.
Even in filming COVID still presented obstacles. Guise said they were restricted to filming only on weekends and when the COVID vaccines were made available to children and teenagers, it became even harder to schedule filming around vaccination appointments.
“It was rough, but we got it done,” Guise said. “I’m very impressed with my dancers and choreographers and film workers.”
“The Dark Year” has a cast of 75 and students were able to do multiple roles including helping with the lighting and camera work. While there were challenges, Guise said the experience opened possibilities in the digital and online realm.
“I think one thing I’ve gotten really excited about is the whole new market out there with online classes … that has a lot of potential,” he said.
Additionally, “I’ve always had a big interest in merging media arts … I think for me I am interested in incorporating more media into ‘Ratcracker on the Hill’ … it enhances the experience.”
Guise said he wants the audience for “The Dark Year” to feel a little like they are going on a theme park ride. From the moment they walk into the auditorium lobby, Guise said he wants people to be introduced to the story so when the film begins, they will be ready to go for a ride.
He encourages the community to come see the show.
“Los Alamos can come together as a community and celebrate dance and history and the holidays,” Guise said.
Tickets for the show are $5 and will only be sold at the door. Duane Smith does have a 33 percent capacity limit, but Guise said work is underway to be able to purchase a recording of the show from DALA’s website, https://danceartslosalamos.org/. Also, visit DALA’s website to register for fall classes, which begin in September.