🩰Who pulls the strings behind the scenes of Orlando’s Nutcracker ballet?

ORLANDO, FL. “It’s a holiday classic with some new twists.” Orlando Ballet is gearing up for a production of “The Nutcracker” that includes some of the dancers pulling the strings.

“In the Nutcracker story, the toys come to life, so the marionettes and marionettes create the toy aspect of the story,” said puppet specialist Tony Whitten. “Like a standard puppet, we have a rope on the head and two on each leg and arm to help control the body. But for these puppets, because they fight with swords, they have extra movement, so there’s an extra thumb handle that makes the swords go up and down.”

Whitten has nearly 30 years of local theme park experience. He now teaches Orlando Ballet dancers how to pull the strings.

“What’s interesting is that most of the dancers have never done real puppetry before, so they are getting used to the weight and scale of these new puppets. For example, they have to hold their arms and elbows quite high, which is an unusual position to hold for long periods of time,” Whitten said.

Even with little to no experience working with puppets, dancers like Cameron Bailey quickly master the skills by understanding the language of movement.

“It’s quite intuitive because we’re so used to being in control of our bodies that our hands are part of it. So we get used to the idea that the puppet is an extension of ourselves,” Bailey said.

Orlando Ballet Presents “The Nutcracker” has been reimagined by artistic director Jorden Morris with new costumes and choreography. The new version debuted last year during Orlando Ballet’s 50th anniversary.

“Jorden designed the ballet to be warm, inclusive, exciting and beautiful. We think it should be part of your holiday tradition, and definitely part of ours,” said Associate Artistic Director Lisa Thorne Morris.

This year’s show features new animatronics and larger puppets that interact with audiences, such as a flying goose.

“They wander all over the stage. These dolls are not limited to the scenes we build. They have flared wings and a mechanism on the head that gives it more expressiveness and realistic movement,” Whitten said. “It all seems simple… It’s just rods and ropes, but when it’s done in the hands of a talented performer, we think it’s the Goose on the loose.”

The four dancers train as puppeteers and rotate throughout the nearly 30 performances of “The Nutcracker.”

Orlando Ballet presents “The Nutcracker” Dec. 6-22 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. Click HERE for ticket information.