The Mid-Columbia Ballet (MCB) is a nonprofit corporation, whose mission is to foster and advance the art of ballet in its various forms in the Mid-Columbia region. MCB is managed by a Board of Directors and the MCB Guild is responsible for managing volunteers and many fundraising activities.

The MCB consists of young dancers committed to the art of ballet. MCB’s repertoire includes classical, neoclassical, and modern works by choreographers from throughout the United States. MCB has been granted performance rights to several Balanchine works by the George Balanchine Trust and was the first pre-professional group to perform a work by Twyla Tharp.

MCB has performed at Chop Shop: Bodies of Work in Seattle, USA/International Ballet Competition, in Austria at the Tanzsommer Austrian Arts Festival and at SPRING TO DANCE in St. Louis, Missouri. MCB has hosted Regional Dance America/Pacific Festivals four times, each time bringing to the Tri-Cities over twenty amateur and professional ballet companies, internationally known dance teachers and lecturers, and university recruiters for the 4-day convention.

MCB has also grown to be a valuable community resource. MCB received the 2020 STAR award from the City of Richland for pivoting The Nutcracker to a free movie, Clara’s Tri-Cities Nutcracker Dream that had 14,000 YouTube views and featured over 30 local businesses and locations. In addition, MCB was selected as a grant recipient for Gesa’s Local Heroes program in 2020 and 2021 in recognition of the positive impact our outreach and educational efforts have had in our community. We are very honored to be recognized this way.

Welcome to the 50^th year of The Nutcracker in the Tri-Cities! We are thrilled you are joining us for this family tradition in our golden year. This production is built on the combined efforts of hundreds of volunteers and could not happen without the support of our families and community. We are so grateful for all the support we have received over these 50 years of featuring our young dancers. Many of you in the audience helped with this production or one of the 49 previous ones. Thank you!

We must also recognize the extraordinary contribution that Joel and Debra Rogo have made over their 39 years producing The Nutcracker with the Mid-Columbia Ballet. Their commitment to fostering the quality and magic of this tradition and providing our dancers the opportunity to perform in exceptional productions has nurtured an incredible legacy, and we celebrate them tonight!

Finally, we could not succeed in continuing this tradition without the support of our audience. Your support is the vital element that allows us to continue sharing this experience with you year after year. Thank you and please enjoy the magic!

Many thanks to our Backdrop Sponsors for helping provide new backdrops which we will use for many more years to provide performance opportunities for our dancers and to bring artistic excellence to our Community.

Jonathan Dickey

Chair, Board of Directors

Mid-Columbia Ballet

Our story begins on Christmas Eve. Dr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum are having their annual Christmas Eve celebration. Their children, Clara and Fritz, and their guests happily admire the treasures under the brightly decorated Christmas tree. As more guests arrive, presents are opened, and the excitement grows. Soon Clara’s godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, arrives. The mysterious Drosselmeyer gives a mouse doll to Fritz and for Clara he has a very special gift, a lovely wooden doll - a Nutcracker. Fritz jealously chases Clara, teasing her with the mouse doll, causing Clara to trip and drop the Nutcracker. Drosselmeyer comes to her rescue and returns the Nutcracker to her. After the guests depart and everyone is asleep, Clara tiptoes back into the darkened living room to find her beloved Nutcracker. An army of huge rats and mice attack Clara. Drosselmeyer appears at the stroke of midnight as strange things begin to happen. The Nutcracker and the Christmas tree begin to grow, and life-size rats and mice attack the toy soldiers while the Rat King and the Nutcracker battle. The horrible mice overpower the soldiers, and the evil Rat King seizes Clara. The noble Nutcracker has no choice but to surrender. The Rat King releases Clara and is about to deal the Nutcracker a fatal blow when Clara outsmarts the terrible villain and the Nutcracker turns into a handsome Prince. Drosselmeyer magically transports Clara and the Prince to the Land of Snow where they are greeted by the Snow King and Queen. Their journey continues into the Kingdom of Sweets. Trumpets sound, heralding the arrival of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier and sweets from around the world. Eventually the dream comes to an end as everyone gathers to bid Clara farewell.

First presented on December 17, 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the story of The Nutcracker is based on a tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann, a musician and lawyer as well as one of the master novelists of the Romantic movement in Germany. The versions of Nutcracker performed today contain virtually none of the choreography by Lev Ivanov from the original production. What has survived is the immortal Tchaikovsky score based on a story scenario by Marius Petipa, adapted from the original Hoffmann tale.

MCB Staff

Allie Yates, Amber Davis, Lily Wutzke, Debra Pearse Rogo, Rebecca Rogo, Torrie Mower

Artistic Director

Debra Pearse Rogo

Administrator

Gaye Wutzke

Junior Company Manager

Torrie Mower

Intermediate Company Manager

Amber Davis

INCLUDE Director

Rebecca Rogo

Social Media  & Wardrobe Supervisor

Allie Yates

Costumer

Michelle Engler

Ballet Beanies Manager

Lily Wutzke

Debra Pearse Rogo, Artistic Director

Debra grew up in Melbourne, Australia where she trained in the Cecchetti (Italian) Method of Ballet passing all exams, including her teaching certification, with Honors. She also received teaching and performing opportunities with the National Theatre and Ballet Victoria. After finishing her schooling, she performed with the Sydney City Ballet for three years before moving to the United States where she was the Assistant Director and then Artistic Director of Ballet Omaha, a professional company with its own school. In 1987, Debra and her husband, Joel, moved to Washington State to buy a small ballet school; the Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet. After more than 35 years it is now the Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet and Music and includes a Performing Arts Pre-School.

Debra is currently the Chairman of The Ballet Alliance, and has previously served as Chairman of Regional Dance America, on the Honorary Committee for the USA International Ballet Competition and as Executive Director of Regional Dance America’s Craft of Choreography Conference. Debra has been a guest teacher at many US schools and universities, the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda, the 2013 Australian Cecchetti Conference, the 2014 USA International Cecchetti Conference and the 2016 Cecchetti USA Summer School. In recognition of her work in the Tri-Cities, Ms. Rogo received the City of Richland 2014 Contribution to the Arts Award.

The mission of the Guild is to support and promote the Mid-Columbia Ballet in their commitment to providing high quality performing arts to our community. The Guild assumes responsibility for organizing volunteers to support MCB productions such as The Nutcracker. Guild funds help MCB with production costs such as theatre rental, costumes, guest artists, and outreach. Volunteers organize a series of various events throughout the year to raise funds for MCB.

The Guild welcomes any new members who wish to ensure that the Tri-Cities will always have an opportunity to enjoy the cultural experiences of ballet. To learn more about the Guild and how to become a member visit our Guild page.

The Mid-Columbia Ballet (MCB) is incorporated in Washington State as a non-profit corporation and is exempt from federal taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information on MCB’s finances, including funding spent on programs, do a charity search at https://ccfs.sos.wa.gov.

Join those mentioned below by giving a gift that will help MCB sustain our efforts to provide artistic excellence in our productions and community outreach programs.

Please patronize the local businesses and other arts groups that support MCB