As with the dancers who populate this annual spectacle, The Nutcracker has become a holiday staple, that, in its durability, sets into sharp relief the passing years and the gradual process by which we grow older. In a new environmental dance-theatre staging this Nutcracker will emphasize these themes by removing the excess trappings of the traditional ballet and instead depicting Clara from ages 7 to 87. It will be an exploration of coming-of-age-stories bookended with tragic death, of leaving things unsaid, and loved ones left behind. The four tracks of one woman’s life (ages 7, 27, 57 & 87) will play out simultaneously on top of four banquet tables. A live chamber music arrangement will bring the beloved music to life in a new, intimate way.