CHICAGO — In the world of amateur ballet, each year has a familiar rhythm. Ballet academies hold auditions for “The Nutcracker” in the fall, and as winter approaches the young dancers learn how to be toy soldiers, or angels, or mice. Shortly before Christmas, when the ballet takes place, it’s time to perform. This year, with the pandemic raging, many ballet schools dropped the tradition altogether. But an academy in downtown Chicago, owned by a pair of Russian ballet instructors who ran the Joffrey Academy of Dance for years, decided that they would figure out a way to mount a “Nutcracker” — no matter how complicated it got. Read More

Trinity Santoro not only knows at 14 that she wants to be a professional ballet dancer, but she has already picked out the companies with which she wants to dance: New York’s American Ballet Theatre or London’s Royal Ballet. Read More

In the summer of 2016, Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik formed A&A Ballet. The husband and wife team, originally from Russia, had just lost their positions as directors at the Joffrey Academy and Studio Company. According to Kremnev, the Joffrey Ballet opted to restructure the student division and pre-professional programs, eliminating both their positions in the process. A few months later, the couple launched a summer intensive to generate income, promoting their workshops on Facebook. And over three years, A&A has developed into a thriving studio with an elite pre-professional conservatory and a youth performance company. Read More

Experience an afternoon pajama party like no other. Enjoy the magical journey of music, dance and storytelling with A&A Ballet's upcoming performance of the famous Coppélia and the world premiere ballet of Sleepover at the Museum! Read More

Twelve-year-old Mikaela Cameron, from Manhattan, has been dancing since she was 2. Cameron recently competed in the 2022 Youth America Grand Prix International Ballet Competition in Paris, France, winning the Youth Grand Prix Award in the junior category. She won the top prize in both the contemporary and classical categories. The Youth Grand Prix award is given for the best overall performance in the junior age division. Cameron is preparing to dance the lead role of Clara in Chicago-based A&A Ballet’s original interpretation of the Art Deco Nutcracker. Read More

If nothing else, the holiday events calendar is proof that live performance is back. Pandemic programming is readapted for stage, while Christmas classics go all in for extended runs that look closer to “normal” than we’ve seen in three years. Here is our guide for putting a little extra cheer into the rest of the year. Read More

From art deco to hip-hop to an immersive experience, “The Nutcracker” remains a holiday dance favorite. Read More

It's one of the world's most beloved ballets, and quite often the first ballet experience for children. It's the Nutcracker - and if you're thinking about taking your kids to see it this year, you've got plenty of options to choose from! Here's a roundup of the best Chicago Nutcracker productions, in order of show start date. Get your tickets now before they're sold out! Read More

Do you have little ballerinas or danseurs with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads? Then it might be time to pirouette to a production of "The Nutcracker" ballet near Chicago this holiday season. Presented by students and professionals all across Chicagoland, the holiday classic of "The Nutcracker" ballet tells the story of a little girl who dreams that her toy nutcracker comes to life. Ballet companies and schools throughout the world each have their own twist on the story, many with elaborate sets and costumes that give kids and grown-ups the decadent feeling of the holidays. Tchaikovsky's score is one that many parents who once took dance lessons can still hum from memory. Read More

"This Nutcracker is a show for young and old, with lots of fun, frivolity, and color. It is a particularly good show for children as it is very fast moving, full of color and keeps the audience fully engaged and entertained throughout. You can always come back and edit your FAQs." Read More

Part of the challenge with the creation and performance of holiday classics is how to keep them fresh and interesting and entertaining, and yet preserve the essential spirit of the pieces that continue the traditions of the holiday. In a stroke of genius, A&A Ballet choreographer Alexei Kremnev and a titanic cast of 175 talented dancers take the beloved yet all too familiar ballet THE NUTCRACKER, and infuse it with the glamor of the Art Deco era. What results is a gorgeous and thematically fitting reinterpretation, hopefully destined to stake its claim among the legion of Nutcrackers presented every December. Read More

Created from a Russian fairy tale and set to music by Tchaikovsky in the early 1890’s, the indispensable Christmas classic, The Nutcracker, wasn’t performed in the United States until 1944. Today, many consider it as much a part of the holiday season as a Christmas tree. Despite its unflagging popularity, the innocence and purity of romance the ballet embodies is not familiar to everyone. A + A Ballet’s appealing and refined production at the Studebaker Theater over the weekend counts as one of the most endearing introductions to this classic as you’re likely to find. For those who’ve seen this holiday staple performed countless times, the A + A performance was so suffuse with youth and impressive dance talent that it would win over even the most critical eye. Read More

A & A Ballet, a three-year-old dance school currently housed in the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Ave., is one of those places with the gift of turning raw talent into prodigious proficiency. Actually a combination of experience and skill, that gift comes in the form of the school’s co-founders, Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev. Read More

Entering the 10-story Fine Arts Chicago landmark, soft yellow lighting fills the auditorium, against a sea of red seats, an adorned ceiling looms overhead, as many spectators excitedly wait for the curtains to part while Tchaikovsky’s melodic score commences. Outside, cold wind gusts scurried pedestrians along Michigan Avenue yet inside the Studebaker theater, spring arrived early in the form of A&A Ballet’s superior ‘Sleeping Beauty’ fairy tale spectacle, which was expertly choreographed by Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev. Projections of original illustrations by 19th century illustrator Gustave Doré, known for his prolific dream-like creations, set the background. Lisa Weller, Carolyn Fay and Laura Skarichand’s fitting costumes combined to form an elegant storybook subtle style. Lighting by Cat Wilson added an ethereal vibe to each space. Arresting athleticism artistically brought to life right before the audience as Princess Aurora, Grace Curry, and Prince Desire, Michael Sayre led the way in this enchanting performance. Read More

A & A Ballet’s production of The Art Deco Nutcracker lavishly illustrates that a dance company need not have a big name to have oversized talent, vision and creativity. The performance last weekend at Athenaeum Theatre featured impressive choreography, stunning costumes and clever reimagining of the holiday season chestnut. It was visually arresting and thoroughly entertaining. Read More

I will remember it as one of my best days in 2022. The similarity between these two productions is that they transport the scene from a mansion in Germany to America. The Joffrey’s Nutcracker—conceived and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon with a book by Brian Selznick—is set at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. A&A’s version, choreographed by Alexei Kremnev, places the story in a mansion in an unnamed city in the 1920s. Otherwise, these were two very different productions. The Joffrey, being performed through December 27 at Lyric Opera House, is one of the world’s great ballet companies, and both the dancing and stagecraft make it two hours of some of the most spectacular theater you’ll ever witness. A&A Ballet, a school on the South Side, does two public productions each year; its matinee and evening shows on Dec. 3 at the Athenaeum Theatre were its only performances of The Art Deco Nutcracker. Read More