Eugene Ballet announced on Dec. 4 that it decided to cancel all in-person performances of “The Nutcracker” for the first time in the company’s history. The announcement followed weeks of effort to present “The Nutcracker” to audiences as it has for the last 40 years.

“We have a very loyal audience here in Eugene, and I know it’s as disappointing to them as it is for us that we’re not out there,” Eugene Ballet director Toni Pimble said.

Prior to Governor Kate Brown’s two-week freeze in mid-November, Pimble and the artistic staff were in the midst of applying changes to the traditional structure of the ballet in order to be able to safely perform come December. This process included arranging company dancers into pods that could rehearse and perform together. The runtime was reduced to 70 minutes without an intermission. It also meant removing the young student dancers who are typically a defining feature of “The Nutcracker” and replacing their scenes with new choreography featuring older, more advanced students. 

Once the freeze went into place and Lane became a high-risk county, Eugene Ballet was unable to have dancers in the studio to rehearse, and it became clear that performing live wouldn’t be an option. Pimble said that despite the news of the cancellation, she doesn’t regret the time spent preparing for the performance.

“We just try to move forward all the time. We started to choreograph something that didn’t get onstage, but I never view that as a waste of time,” Pimble said. “I always view it as an experience worth having, whether it’s for me personally or for the students in the studio learning new choreography.”

Rehearsing under these circumstances also allowed Pimble and the artistic staff to get to know the several new company members who joined this season and helped them prepare for their spring performances.

The professional dancers in the company are fortunately still being compensated for the time that would have been spent performing thanks to a portion of Eugene Ballet’s Oregon Cultural Trust COVID-19 funds, according to the company’s announcement.

Eugene Ballet originally planned to perform 10 shows at the Hult Center with an audience of 80-100 people. While performances at the Hult Center have been entirely canceled, audiences can still experience the tradition of “The Nutcracker” from their homes by streaming a recorded 2018 performance with extra behind-the-scenes footage. Tickets are available for $30 at experienceballet.org.

Despite the disappointing news, Pimble is optimistic about the rest of the season. Eugene Ballet will move into a new facility with larger studios in January that will allow for more distance between dancers and the ability to film content if their future performances must also shift to streaming online.

The company will rehearse in pods for both upcoming spring programs. “Dance Unphased” is a mixed repertoire program that will feature choreography by Pimble, resident choreographer Suzanne Haag and dean of the UO School of Music and Dance Sabrina Madison-Cannon. “Cinderella” tells the classic fairy tale to Sergei Prokofiev’s iconic score. The performances are scheduled to run at the Hult Center March 5-7 and April 9-11, respectively, but, of course, these plans are subject to change. 

“We just can’t wait to be on stage again,” Pimble said. “When the dancers finally get back to stage, they will be vibrating.”