THE HIP HOP NUTCRACKER to Open Holiday Season at United Palace

On November 20 and 21 "The Hip Hop Nutcracker" opens the holiday season at the United Palace (4140 Broadway at 175th Street, NY, N,Y,) as it kicks off a 12-city international tour that will include cities across the U.S, as well as the Nutcracker's birthplace Moscow, Russia.

The show, which is poised to become a new holiday classic, features the music from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker," along with 11 dancers, DJ Boo, an electric violinist, and digital scenery that complements the adapted storyline, which relocates the action to New Year's Eve in a contemporary Washington Heights community in New York City. The adaptation is respectful of the traditional narrative with references to beloved touchstones like the Mouse King and growing tree.

The production literally turns "The Nutcracker" on its head by inserting the vocabulary of hip hop movement to what has traditionally been a classical ballet, broadening the audience for the art form. The variety of styles represented (breaking, popping, locking, etc.) serve as a history lesson of hip hop dance.

The origin of the project is almost as charmed as the narrative it tells. In early 2013, Mike Fitelson, UPCA's executive director who is also a longtime Washington Heights-based writer and photographer, hoped to bring a traditional Nutcracker production uptown. He met choreographer Jennifer Weber, who had blended classical music and hip hop dance in several noteworthy previous productions. Fitelson and Weber decided to create a new version of the holiday classic by blending the music of Tchaikovsky with hip hop. The Hip Hop Nutcracker debuted at the United Palace last year to rave reviews.

Check out a video here!

Tickets: $10.00 - $100.00 at http://www.unitedpalace.org/UPCA or call 212-568-1157.

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