Review: The Duke Ellington Nutcracker by ATX Artists for Social Impact
by David Glen Robinson

New things bring the excitement. Capital Contemporary Ballet and ATX Jazz Orchestra, both new, know this and have brought an innovative rendition of The Duke Ellington Nutcracker to Austin. The show gave us Ellington's jazz performed live and contemporary ballet performed skillfully and with considerable humor. The combination is a natural because the revered work was originally a suite of music for ballet composed by Tchaikovsky. Ever the musical innovators, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in 1960 decided to substitute their jazz for Tchaikovsky’s classical compositions (but to this reviewer’s ear and delight, several signature phrases came through to connect the disparate modes of musicmaking). As the informative program noted, “This modern reimagining celebrates that spirit of collaboration and reinvention. “

 

Another Austin-based innovation is worthy of note. The venue, Brazos Hall, sits at 204 E. 4th in the Warehouse District. It's a newly refurbished event center which housed the legendary Club Foot from 1980 to 1983. Club Foot hosted some of the best emerging bands of the time and was considered a center for the punk movement. But not only that. This reviewer remembers with clarity the concert by the Neville Brothers Band with Aaron Neville and their alter-ego Native American band the Wild Tchopitoulas. Indescribable but unforgettable. The Duke Ellington Nutcracker bridges the generations with creativity and spirited innovation.

 

The organizers and artists of the show had a lot of support and contribution, enough to fill two pages of the program with names and logos under the banner of ATX Artists for Social Impact. That organization directs ticket funds toward underserved communities, individuals, and groups needing and deserving startup help. This concept and vision are extremely ambitious for two brand new arts organizations still finding their own footing in our financially anemic present. Nevertheless, the hall was filled with ticket buyers, and the performers charged forward with enthusiasm.

 

 

The first half of the show, Act I, was strictly a jazz musical show, with jazz compositions from various composers including Duke Ellington (“It Don’t Mean a Thing [If It Ain’t Got That Swing]”) and Billy Strayhorn, of course, and Vince Guaraldi, Oscar Peterson, and Irving Berlin (“White Christmas”), among others. Aly Rosa of the Aly Rosa Quintet handled the vocal responsibilities of the first half competently and notably well in the do-wop scat in “It Don’t Mean a Thing….”

 

The first act suffered only from the distractions imposed by the scenario. Clara’s Club was a nod to Clara in the original suite, but it portrayed a neighborhood bar upstage left, where the musicians drifted in, listened to the music a while, then ambled to their seats in the onstage musical seating while the playing was in progress. They engaged in “business” or meta-acting, halfway between real characterization and storytelling, but only halfway. Of course, when anyone moves on the stage or in the house, it distracts from the music. Clara’s Club stayed in business through Act II. But behind the strong movements of ballet the club was not at all distracting. In pauses, the bar patrons performed amusing comedy bits. But Clara’s Club as performance needed some fine tuning.

 

Act II saw Capital Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Caitlin Elledge perform selections from the Nutcracker Suite to the music of The Duke Ellington Nutcracker. The dance segment of the show was Elledge’s first production as founder and artistic director of Capital Contemporary Ballet, although Elledge’s bio in the program reveals considerable experience with dance companies nationwide. The choreography was Elledge’s, and the dances seemed to be built on excerpts of the longer work by Ellington and Strayhorn.

 

Elledge’s choreography seemed hurried, falling back on standard ballet phrases and tropes such as crowd-pleasing high kicks, spinning turns with spoking arms, en pointe balances in toe shoes, and pirouettes. The ensemble work, always good, amounted to showcases of highly diverse costuming. The single dance that seemed to make the ballet contemporary was the humorous “One Too Many” danced to Ellington’s “Chinoiserie.” In that piece, a dancer entered accidentally, having drunk the title, and to the horror of the other gathered dancers danced creditable ballet while also conveying intoxication. This was a high point in the show, performances credited to Andrea Duong and Katie Lowen.

 

Musical Director Joshua Alderete deserves high credit and praise for pulling together a large crowd of jazz musicians, more than he needed, for the show. Their playing was always together, giving us highly competent jazz, inspiring as jazz fans have come to expect. Similarly, Executive Producer Paolo Dumancas mastered the divergent forces of suppliers, managers, donors, and artists to give us a truly memorable evening of ballet and jazz.

 

 

The Duke Ellington Nutcracker co-produced by Capital Contemporary Ballet and ATX Jazz Orchestra

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The Duke Ellington Nutcracker
by Duke Ellington
ATX Artists for Social Impact

December 19, 2025

Brazos Hall, 204 E. 4th Street, Austin, 78701