America?s passion for The Nutcracker ?is not as old as time,? said Li Chiao-Ping, chairwoman of the dance department at UW-Madison and artistic director of Li Chaio-Ping Dance company, which is staging its third annual production of ?The Knotcracker? at Overture Center this weekend. The American ?Nutcracker? rage came about in the 1950s, when a Balanchine production caught on with the dance world, Li said.
?It became something of a staple for ballet studios. Actually, the story?s a little dark,? Li said. ?But perhaps there was something about the way it was dressed up, the music itself, maybe the fantasy aspect to it.? When she created ?The Knotcracker,? an all-ages production with aerialists, dancers and lots of ?serious fun,? Li said, she wanted to stage ?a celebration of community.?