Hi Everyone! I am Jacqueline Perich, Director of Community Productions at Art Motion Pittsburgh, and a teacher at the studio. Dancing my whole life has led to a lot (like a lot) of Nutcracker productions! After graduating college, I felt myself missing the tradition of dancing as a piece of candy each December (đŸ¥¹). It has always been a dream of mine to give adults who no longer have opportunities to perform the chance to shine on stage again. And so the Pittsburgh Community Nutcracker production was born!
Maybe you miss dancing on stage? Maybe you are traumatized by your old ballet teacher and want to reclaim dance? Maybe you just want to connect with your community? Maybe it is all of the above? Whatever your reasoning, this production is for you! So please, come join in the fun and let’s put on a Nutcracker as adults!
Thank you to Jen Gallagher and Art Motion Pittsburgh for supporting this project!
Registration form is located at the bottom of this page
First off – this community-led project is for FUN!
The Pittsburgh Community Nutcracker is the first production through Art in Motion Pittsburgh‘s new 501(c)(3) organization, Art Motion Pittsburgh. It will be a very chill, yet professional, test-pilot for future productions. We will work with our community to produce excerpts from the Nutcracker to be performed in December at our Winter Fair
Whether you grew up performing in the Nutcracker every year or have always dreamed of being on the stage, this production is for EVERYONE!
In a time of separation, we at Art in Motion, children and adults, believe we can reclaim joy, self-esteem, and self-expression through creative and visual movement arts, and this is our first proof of concept project!
This production is for ages 3 – 100+ with a focus on adults who may not have any opportunities to perform!
đŸ“… INFO MEETING : SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2025 | 3:00 PM | Art in Motion PGH (kinda mandatory, but if you can’t come, we can zoom!)
GENERAL INFO
- Anyone ages 3-100+ can participate!
- Roles will be assigned based on interest
- Roles for children available!
- Some dance experience might be helpful, but not required
- The production has been shortened to between 30-40 minutes
- Interested folks can dance in the show, choreograph a dance, do both, or work on costume design/set
- Choreography will be given to you via video (making this shindig very low commitment!) with 3 mandatory in-person rehearsals at Art in Motion …
- Friday, November 14, 2025 6:00-8:00 PM
- Friday, December 5, 2025 6:00-8:00 PM
- Sunday, December 14, 2025 3:00-6:00 PM (SUPER MANDATORY!)
- All choreography must be in the hands of the dancers by November 1, 2025
- There is a $50 (with a potential nominal cost for costumes) participation fee, which helps cover classes, rehearsal time, space rental, and teacher time
- If this fee is prohibitive of your participation, please reach out to info@artinmotionpgh.com
- DEADLINE TO REGISTER: Sunday, October 5, 2025 @ 11:59 PM
CASTING
There are no formal auditions this year, we will work off of the information you give us on our Nutcracker registration form and will try our bestest to place you in a position to thrive! You will receive an email in early October with your piece placements. We are here to support you!
When you receive your casting email, there will be a second form that will have the $50 registration fee and a confirmation of participation.
CHOREOGRAPHY
While we are using traditional ballet music for this production, choreographers are not limited to just ballet! If you have an idea for a different style of dance for your piece, that is great!
As a choreographer, you will be responsible for making sure your dancers have all the choreography for their piece by November 1, 2025. While video will be the main form of learning, you are more than welcome to get your group together in the Art in Motion studio space to rehearse (process of how to reserve space to come upon registration). We encourage choreographers to come to the studio to film their choreography – we will help set up times that the studio is open.
Individual pieces have been cut down to about 1.5 – 3 minutes, so nothing too long!
Never choreographed before, but want to give it a try? Yay! I will be happy to help any choreographer who wants some support!
REGISTRATION FORM
Fill out our registration form to let us know if you want to dance, choreograph, your piece placement preferences, and your contact info! Please only fill out this form if you are ready to commit to participating! đŸ™‚