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Photo by Bob Pennell Dancers perform "Latin Chocolate" for students at Belleview Elementary School in Lorenzo SantaBarbara's adaptation of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" ballet. `Nutcracker' with a new twist Nutcracker Lorenzo SantaBarbara's production of "Ashland's Nutcracker" will be performed at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 11, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12, at Ashland High School's Mountain Avenue Theater. Advance tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children under 12; tickets are $8.50 and $5.50 at the door. Advance tickets are available in Medford at Tights & Tards, 610 Crater Lake Ave., and in Ashland at Heart & Hands, 255 E. Main St., and Tree House Books, 15 N. Main St. Students do modern jazz version of classic ballet By BILL KETTLER ASHLAND -- Modern jazz meets Tchaikovsky in a new interpretation of the Russian composer's "Nutcracker" ballet. Tutus and toe shoes will be hard to find when the curtain goes up on "Ashland's Nutcracker" on Saturday. Dancers will wear bright costumes and perform barefoot. There will be other surprises, too. Jugglers and unicyclists take the place of sugar-plum fairies, and modern jazz replaces Tchaikovsky's century-old score. Ashland dance teacher Lorenzo SantaBarbara organized the production to put a new face on a ballet that has become an American Christmas ritual. "I think if we can take a tradition and paint it a different color or twist it a little bit and make it interesting, we should go for it," he said after a rehearsal last week. SantaBarbara, 51, came to Southern Oregon a year ago after two decades of teaching and performing in Europe and North America. He created Ashland Children's Dance Theater to teach dance to Rogue Valley children, then decided to stage an adaptation of Tchaikovsky's story with contemporary dance and music. "The audience will be taken down the road of the original story," he said, "but it starts to twist in the third scene." The twists include things no one would ever see in a traditional presentation of Tchaikovsky's ballet: a nine-foot dancing tree, scenery painted in the exaggerated style of Henri Matisse, and dancers balancing atop large plastic balls. SantaBarbara called the production "Ashland's Nutcracker" to reflect the community's involvement in the production. Local artists produced the scenery and wrote most of the music. The 102-member cast includes Ashland residents as young as 5 and as old as 70. Many had no previous dance training. SantaBarbara taught them simple dance phrases and kept repeating them. Hundreds of Ashland children watched parts of the performance last week when dancers performed at several schools. Boys and girls at Belleview Elementary School saw SantaBarbara dance his role in the opening scenes. Some laughed when he flitted barefoot across the gym floor, sporting a black eye patch and trailing a black cape behind bright, patchwork clown pants. Most watched intently when 15 girls in red-and-black flamenco-style dresses swirled, clapped and shouted through a dance called "Latin Chocolate." Many seemed to enjoy the marriage of contemporary music and dance with a century-old story. "I thought it was pretty good," said Charlie Lindsay, an 11-year-old fifth-grader. "I liked how they did that thing with their hips." "The music adds a twist," said his friend, Raisa Gentis, 10, as they walked back to their classroom. Some of their schoolmates were less impressed. "I didn't like it that much," said Jeff Peters, 8. "I don't really watch dance that much." SantaBarbara said some adults have questioned his vision, too. "I told a classical violinist what I was doing," he said, "and she got very stiff." Parent Nikki Cotton praised SantaBarbara for his commitment to the project and his patience with the children. "He's transformed some of these kids who have never performed before into real dancers," said Cotton. "We've had some dance teachers who have really blown up at the kids. He's always positive and he's got this incredible energy." SantaBarbara hopes to make the production an annual event. He already has plans to expand his dance troupe for next year. "Next year," he said, "we will have wheelchair dancers in our `Nutcracker"' Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA