![]() ![]() It is a playful take on table tennis and the pronunciation of her first name - Peng is pronounced “ping” as in “ping-pong,” and it was enough for a nickname to take root.Ī native of Taiwan, she started dancing in the third grade at the age of 10, but she concentrated on gymnastics, Chinese dance and Chinese folk dance. ![]() Now in her eighth season with Atlanta Ballet, Chen, 33, is affectionately known as “Pong” to her fellow dancers. The Nutcracker has also served as an important marker of Chen’s career. This year’s run at the Fox Theatre begins tonight and goes through December 28. Atlanta Ballet began production of McFall’s version in 1995.įor most ballet companies, the December run of the Nutcracker brings in the bulk of the income to support the rest of season, and Atlanta Ballet is no different the annual production makes up a full 60 percent of the ballet’s annual ticket sales. ![]() It made its Atlanta Ballet debut - the second act alone - in April (go figure) 1959 and took its place as a holiday staple three years later. The tradition started in 1955 with a New York City Ballet presentation that was choreographed by the father of modern American ballet, George Balanchine, and it has become a staple for ballet companies across the country. SINCE THE 1950s, The Nutcracker has been a staple of American ballet companies. She hobbled off stage, suddenly faced with the harrowing prospect she might never return. “There’s not much to discuss because it’s so nice.”įor Chen, this year’s Nutcracker holds special significance - exactly two years ago she was injured mid-performance as she danced the marquee role of the Sugar Plum Fairy. When the other dancers in the room applaud their effort, they smile self-consciously in acknowledgement. ![]() By the end of the routine, they are breathless from exertion. Hooper lifts Chen, and she falls into the crook of his elbow. They separate, go to opposite sides of the room, then meet again in the middle. “Okay,” says Atlanta Ballet artistic director John McFall, who also is the choreographer of this version of The Nutcracker, “let’s start where the snowmobile comes out.”Ĭhen and Hooper walk over to the far corner of the expansive room and then, as McFall switches on the music of the “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” the two dancers execute a series of leaps, lifts and spins. She follows that with a series of casually masterful pirouettes en pointe across the dance floor. They hold the position for a moment, then Chen giggles as he lets her down. He effortlessly lifts her until Chen’s entire body is perched on the palm of his right hand. She and Hooper take their positions, and they rehearse one last bit before the famed Tchaikovsky score begins to play over the room’s sound system. A tiny pendant of a cross hangs down her spine, twisted around from exertion. Her dark hair is twisted into a dancer’s bun at the top of her head. The diminutive Chen, who barely hits the five-foot-tall mark, is dressed in a blue stretch top with black tights and a white tutu. JONAH HOOPER TOWERS over his partner, ballerina Peng-Yu Chen, as they walk onto the rehearsal floor to go through the Snow Queen portion of Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker on a crisp fall afternoon in early November. ![]()
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