Toronto’s longest-running Nutcracker is back after two years of hiatus

The Pia Bouman School as been putting on the ballet since 1985. We talked to the school’s artistic director about what it means.

A photo of a rehearsal for Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement’s 2022 performance of the Nutcracker — The Pia Bouman School’s Nutcracker will be staged at Humberside Collegiate Institute on Dec. 9–11. (All photos courtesy of Pia Bouman School)

The ballet itself is the story of a girl who befriends a nutcracker who goes to war with an evil mouse king.

But it’s the story around the ballet that may be of most interest to Torontonians — and particularly those in the west end of the city.

The Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement is set to put on its 37th annual Nutcracker on the weekend of Dec. 9–11, with four performances of Tchaikovsky’s classic at Humberside Collegiate Institute. According to artistic director Pia Bouman, it’s the longest-running Nutcracker in the city.

“Nutcracker has established a life of its own here in this studio,” said Bouman via an email interview.

The school’s first Nutcracker came in 1985. Since that time, it’s missed only two years of live performances — the last two, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the Pia Bouman Nutcracker set to go again, we talked to the director herself about the history of the performance, and what it means to the dancers in her care.

What was your first Nutcracker like? How did you decide to do it?

PIA BOUMAN: After seeing a children’s production in 1983, I wanted to see if we could make it more magical, and we did.

It was in the parish hall of Our Lady of Lebanon church that the open concept of this production established itself: no stage; no curtain dividing audience and dancers; the adult and children guests of the story blending through pre-show “mingling.”

Did you know then you’d still be putting it on annually four decades later?

No, never in my life would I have imagined that here we are: 2022, presenting our Nutcracker.

What’s changed with the production over the years?

The numbers of dancers participating — from 40 students to close to 100.

From time to time, there’ve been new roles created for students who otherwise could not be part of it. Where there is a will, there is a way.

And on the other side of that, what hasn’t changed?

The “open stage” for Act 1, and the use of the audience section and the orchestra pit for dancers to make their entries. The magic a community of dancers ages six to 17 can create if given the tools. And the way we tell the story — no explanation is necessary. The story, based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s, tells itself.

What was it like the last two years without the Nutcracker?

For the older students: a sense of loss, being bereft of a chance to perform and dance this annual tradition, which is for them a highlight in their dance-learning, -creating, and -performing years before they leave it behind and move on to the next period of their life.

What’s been your dancers’ response to having it back for 2022?

Elation, commitment, understanding the value of a tradition and the importance of passing it on.

(For the younger dancers, it’s the) discovery of how exciting it is to be part of something big, and learn from older dancers who once again can be mentors.

What goes into putting it on each year?

It’s 25 days of intense preparation and creating (over an almost three-month period). This year the auditions took place Sept. 17 and 18, casting was set Sept. 28, and the first rehearsal was on Sat., Oct. 1. Rehearsals take place only on weekends, with a two- or three-hour sprinkling of Fridays.

New choreography is developed for the dancers that will dance Nutcracker 2022, and there are hours of casting logistics for 38 participating students. Normal years would see anywhere between 80 to 100 students participating.

Lastly, how does this annual production support the overall efforts of your school throughout the year?

Our Nutcracker is a very important aspect of the school's annual budget. The revenue supports the excellence of our dance programs and YMI Dancing, the school's company for dancers ages 12–17.

But, most importantly, the revenue supports the mandate of the school: Every child/young person should be given the chance to dance, create, and perform regardless of socio-economic background. Today more than ever, we must do what we can to help our youth rediscover their creative strengths.

The school places this mandate above the question of “Is this 2022 production a responsible financial effort?”

The Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement’s annual performance of The Nutcracker takes place Dec. 9–11 at Humberside Collegiate Institute. Click here for tickets and more info.

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