As hip-hop fans continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the genre in 2023, one of its founding fathers, New York rapper Kurtis Blow, is preparing to head out on tour with “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” this holiday season.
The festive production, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, is yet another example of hip-hop’s incredibly diverse nature and ability to fuse with a variety of styles of music. The tour kicks off at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Nov. 10.
“It’s amazing just to be here to witness the 50th anniversary, it is such a miracle for me. And to be involved with ‘The Hip Hop Nutcracker’ on the 50th anniversary of hip-hop is all the more special to me,” said Blow, a rap pioneer who has been with the show since the beginning. He considers still being present a true miracle since he underwent a life-saving heart transplant surgery in late 2020.
“It’s amazing just to be available and able to get out there and tour again,” he continued. “I was not supposed to be around. I was supposed to pass away a couple of years ago, but I’m still here.”
The holiday dance mash-up turns Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s 130-year-old ballet on its head as it’s reimagined as a contemporary dance set on New Year’s Eve in 1980 in New York City. The show opens with Blow hyping the crowd and preparing the audience for what they are about to see.
“I take them back to old school hip-hop,” he said. “I take them back to that time when hip-hop was very special and I have the crowd stand up with their hands in the air screaming.”
The show still follows the basic storyline about Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker prince who go on an adventure in magical lands where they encounter fighting mice and toys that come to life set to Tchaikovsky’s original score. But instead of pirouettes and pliés, these dancers are popping, locking and breakdancing.
“It’s just something amazing to see and hear. Just the fact that we have classical music, the music of Tchaikovsky and hip-hop beats, wow,” Blow said.
After introducing the show, the rapper then comes back at the end of the to perform “The Breaks,” the hit single from his 1980 self-titled debut album.
“We leave everyone feeling good inside and that is our mission,” said Blow, who in 1979 became the first rapper signed to a major label.
He was also one of the first to fuse hip-hop with other genres, like rock and reggae. So for him, a hip-hop version of “The Nutcracker” feels like a natural fit.
“That’s the whole thing about hip-hop is that it is malleable and able to shape into any form,” Blow said. “This is flipping and remixing a classic story to inspire people, to feel the magic of the holiday season.”
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10
Where: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park Plaza Drive, Cerritos
Tickets: $44-$82 at hiphopnutcracker.com.
