Sugar plum memories

The cacophony of the symphony orchestra warming up, the light click of pointe shoes meeting the stage, the crinkle of cellophane-wrapped candy canes handed out after the performance, thick winter coats over Sunday dresses: These are my memories of “The Nutcracker.”

Each holiday season when we were growing up, our parents took my sister and me to a “Nutcracker” performance at what was then the Spokane Opera House (now First Interstate Center for the Arts). I remember seeing productions by Alberta Ballet and Ballet West, always with the Spokane Symphony in the orchestra pit playing Tchaikovsky’s exuberant score.

Our dad, a lifelong trumpet player, would walk up front with us before the show to peek at the musicians, hoping to catch trumpeter Larry Jess practicing his solo. We’d marvel afterward at how Jess could hit every note in that piece just so.

My sister and I took ballet classes for several years, and I think that experience added to the awe we felt as those aspirationally muscular dancers leaped gracefully across the stage.

Fast forward a few decades, and I was flooded with memories when I took my oldest son and 8-year-old niece to Moscow Movement Arts Center’s community production of “The Nutcracker” last month in Pullman. I’m happy to say they loved it, too.

Maybe you have “Nutcracker” memories of your own, or maybe you’d like to make some? There’s an opportunity for that this weekend when more than 20 local dance students, including from Moscow’s Festival Dance Academy, join professional dancers from Canadian company Ballet Victoria for performances at the Hartung Theatre on the University of Idaho’s Moscow campus.

Festival Dance and Performing Arts Executive Director Tim Sievers shared his “Nutcracker” memories during a recent phone interview, including the first time he saw it, on a date with his future wife.

Years later, the now-married couple took their children to see it in Seattle, and now their youngest daughter, Arabella, is performing in this weekend’s production.

“It leaves an indelible impression, for sure,” Sievers said.

He also discussed the value of experiencing artistic expression through dance (for which I’d argue “The Nutcracker” serves as an excellent introduction): “It’s an important way that we tell stories to each other, that we share our history with each other,” he said.

To that end, Ballet Victoria’s visit to Moscow, in addition to the public performances this weekend, includes workshops for area school groups, organized through Festival Dance’s YouthReach program.

Bringing professional dance performances like “The Gift of the Nutcracker” to the Palouse is what the nonprofit organization he leads is all about, Sievers said.

“I think one of the unique things about Festival Dance is that we are the only organization presenting a professional dance series every year between Seattle and Minneapolis,” he said.

Hopefully, he said, providing that access will help people explore and better appreciate the performing arts.

“I think that’s something that we’ve lost sight of a little bit is how much value the arts have to our lives,” he said. “This is one of those things that’s just really enjoyable. We need to make time for that in our lives.”

Stone (she/her) can be reached at mstone@inland360.com.

If You Go

What: “The Gift of the Nutcracker” presented by Ballet Victoria and Festival Dance.

When: 2 and 6 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Hartung Theatre, 625 Stadium Drive, University of Idaho campus, Moscow.

Tickets: $55 reserved; $40 for adults; and $25 for youths 12 and younger at festivaldance.org.