Of Mice and Music: A Jazz Tap Nutcracker

This Tapestry tradition which premiered to rave reviews and standing ovations last season, OF MICE AND MUSIC unites the company’s professional dancers with the rising stars of its pre-apprentice youth company Visions in Rhythm and the children, youth and adults who study with its dance academy to share a love for rhythm and movement that only Tapestry Dance Company can bring to the stage!

OF MICE AND MUSIC: A Jazz Tap Nutcracker is performed to a jazzed up version of the original Tchaikovsky score and beloved jazz classics. This delightfully entertaining musical score is played live with some of the Austin’s best jazz musicians including Masumi Jones on drums, Eddy Hobizal on piano and Michael Stevens on bass.

Tapestry Artistic Director and National Tap Hall of Famer, Acia Gray takes the “Drosselmeyer” role from the original story as Ms. Bon Marche, a dance diva who introduces little Clara to a world of dance by giving her a pair of TAP SHOES and the journey begins with the Mouse King and his powerful style of contemporary rhythm tap leads an army of tapping mice in their battle against The Nutcracker. 

Of course the traditional second act solos, including Spanish, Chinese and Russian, are brought into the world of contemporary movement and tap dance along with tap classics such as the infamous “Walk Around” by Tony Award winning choreographer Charles “Honi” Coles, reworked into a new take on “Snow.”

“If you’re looking for something Chrstmas’y with a touch of modern this season, look no further than Tapestry’s production “Of Mice & Music”! – The Austin American Statesman