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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;Costumed, smiling and ready to rehearse &#8220;&#8216;The Nutcracker&#8217; with a Touch of Jazz,&#8221; Ainsley Dean and Abby Lazecki, both 11, explained they would portray friends of a girl named Clara.</p><p>&#8220;I give her a dress,&#8221; said Ainsley, of Mountain Top.</p><p>&#8220;I give Clara a crown,&#8221; said Abby, of Old Boston, explaining yet another girlfriend will present Clara with her most notable gift &#8212; a nutcracker.</p><p>Wait, wait, wait! What about Drosselmeyer? Isn&#8217;t a mysterious uncle/godfather supposed to bring the nutcracker?</p><p>Actually, there&#8217;s no Drosselmeyer in Ballet Theatre of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s production, choreographer Gina Malsky said.</p><p>If you attend the performance at 3 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Downtown Arts building, you&#8217;ll find instead a glamorous godmother who sports a fur coat, boots and plenty of bling, including a necklace of Christmas tree garland.</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s really interested in having fun,&#8221; said dance instructor Bridget Giunta Husted, who has that role.</p><p>There&#8217;s no mischievous brother Fritz ready to break Clara&#8217;s new toy, either. Instead, there&#8217;s a younger sister named Frannie and the nutcracker doesn&#8217;t break.</p><p>Even the traditional battle between mice and toy soldiers has become &#8220;more of a dance off,&#8221; Malsky said, describing the struggle as &#8220;polite and pleasant.&#8221;</p><p>But the biggest differences between &#8220;&#8216;The Nutcracker&#8217; with a Touch of Jazz&#8221; and more traditional versions are the ways Tchaikovsky&#8217;s score has been jazzed up and the dancing, which has expanded to include tap and modern as well as ballet.</p><p>&#8220;I feel like I&#8217;m a cheetah,&#8221; said 11-year-old Ava Rittle, of Sinking Spring, who sports an animal-print leotard and dances a solo to a percussive beat.</p><p>Then, just when you think you&#8217;ve spotted an unchanged tradition, such as 17-year-old Kayla Hostetter, of Lancaster, stretching luxuriously in every direction to the strains of the Arabian dance, you&#8217;ll see her join hands with Ava and turn a somersault in tandem.</p><p>&#8220;The Nutcracker&#8221; is a wonderful holiday tradition, Malsky said, but she&#8217;s enjoyed giving it some fresh tweaks such as a &#8220;waltz of toys&#8221; instead of a &#8220;waltz of the flowers.&#8221;</p><p>Likewise, new and fresh last weekend was the backdrop Malsky&#8217;s 21-year-old daughter, Anna, finished just in time for a Saturday afternoon rehearsal. The paint was still wet, Anna Malsky noted, but the Victorian living room was ready for Clara&#8217;s party.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The dancers from The Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre take the stage to rehearse a jazz version of &#8216;The Nutcracker&#8217; at the Downtown Arts building in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121115jazznutcracker2.jpg</photo0><caption0>The dancers from The Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre take the stage to rehearse a jazz version of &#8216;The Nutcracker&#8217; at the Downtown Arts building in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121115jazznutcracker3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Julia Randazzo, center, as Clara and Lucy Lew, at left, as Clara&#8217;s sister Frannie, welcome guests to a party in &#8221;The Nutcracker&#8217; with a Touch of Jazz.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121115jazznutcracker3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Julia Randazzo, center, as Clara and Lucy Lew, at left, as Clara&#8217;s sister Frannie, welcome guests to a party in &#8221;The Nutcracker&#8217; with a Touch of Jazz.&#8217; </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121115jazznutcracker1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Julia Randazzo, 16, twirls during a rehearsal for &#8221;The Nutcracker&#8217; with a Touch of Jazz,&#8217; which the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre will present 3 p.m. Dec. 13 at Downtown Arts. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121115jazznutcracker1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Julia Randazzo, 16, twirls during a rehearsal for &#8221;The Nutcracker&#8217; with a Touch of Jazz,&#8217; which the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre will present 3 p.m. Dec. 13 at Downtown Arts. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;&#8220;The Nutcracker&#8217; with a Touch of Jazz&#8221;</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 3 p.m. Dec. 13</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Downtown Arts, 47 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $10</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

This ‘Nutcracker’ performance comes with ‘A Touch of Jazz’