ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- For many audiences in the Capital Region and Berkshires, it has become an annual holiday tradition to watch dancers from the Albany Berkshire Ballet perform "The Nutcracker." The company is in its 50th year of putting on the famous production.
The story within the ballet follows a young girl, Clara, who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve.
It was 1974 when Albany Berkshire Ballet’s Artistic Director, Madeline Cantarella Culpo, decided she wanted to put on “The Nutcracker.”
“I absolutely was out of my mind, because I think it was probably around October 12th, and we actually performed, I think, December 12th," Culpo recalled.
With Culpo steering the ship, the show went on. Fifty years later, she still attends rehearsals and puts the finishing touches on choreography leading up to the performance, which tours around the northeast.
“We now go to Albany, Burlington, Vermont, Springfield, as well as Pittsfield. We used to even go farther," Culpo explained, "but everyone's doing Nutcracker now, so we started a trend.”
That trend was once an impossible dream to Culpo, but has since become a holiday staple for the venues it plays.
"A lot of us are getting ready to celebrate. We're looking for something special to do, so I think in that sense, the story is very relatable," said Rehearsal Director Lisa McBride, "people coming together to celebrate a holiday. They're kind of short, little exciting moments, slightly different styles of dance, even though it is ballet. Everyone will have their own favorite.”
As Culpo reflects on how far the production has come, she is proud and grateful.
"It was very difficult then. Now, it's a piece of cake. I have wonderful support system," Culpo said, "wonderful people who did dance with me have come back from their professional careers."
And for the next 50 years?
"I would really like The Nutcracker to continue, and I really would like the Albany Berkshire Ballet to grow under new leadership," Culpo said, laughing as she continued, "and I'll just go up to heaven and watch down.”
The show comes to The Egg in Albany Saturday, December 14 at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. as well as Sunday, December 15 at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Tickets for Albany Berkshire Ballet’s The Nutcracker can be purchased online.
