Now celebrating its 11th year, Life Force Cultural Arts Academy’s production of The Chocolate Nutcracker has become a beloved community tradition that brings a freshness and cultural richness to a hackneyed classic while providing a few hundred community youths with the chance to get involved in the performing arts with help from professional actors and choreographers. The modernized Nutcracker offers a multi-ethnic spin on the story of young Claire’s adventures to faraway, fantastical lands, with her enchanted nutcracker serving as the guide through places like “The Rain Forest,” “The Land of Funk” and “Jazz Land,” and making stops in Egypt, Harlem and West Africa along the way. Traditional ballet is combined with tap, jazz, hip-hop, swing, tribal and break-dance styles, and performed to music ranging from gospel to funk to Afro-Cuban. This year’s production features special guest appearances by Apollo-winning performers The Mime Boyz, and film, television and stage actor Mel Jackson (Soul Food, Living Single). Dec. 6-7, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg, $12-$37, 727-892-5767.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2008.