With the holidays upon us, you and your family owe it to yourselves to start a new tradition, melding a classic story with fresh and relatable Louisiana themes. “The Creole Nutcracker,” showing twice on December 4 at Angelle Hall on ULL’s campus, celebrates its fifth year of performance this year. 

“The Creole Nutcracker” is the brainchild of Leigha Porter and Jazmyn Jones, produced annually by F.I.R.E. Performing Arts Conservatory, of which Porter is founder and Artistic Director. F.I.R.E., which promotes Faith, Inspiration, Relationship, and Experience through dance and the performing arts for dancers and young artists in Southwest Louisiana. The Creole Nutcracker, seemed a perfect vehicle to not only provide participants with creative expression, but also to bring unique entertainment to the community, something familiar yet exciting and new.

“I looked at the many different renditions of the Nutcracker, and said, ‘why not one about Louisiana?’ This was in 2015. I kept it in mind, thought about it through several years, because we have so much that is unique about our culture: the festivals, the celebrations, the joy of life,” said Leigha Porter. “Then, in July 2018, Jazmyn came to me and said, ‘why don’t we do a Louisiana Christmas show?’ and we were off. We collaborated on the music, the choreography, we gathered together a team to produce, and held auditions. We were just bowled over by the community’s response. That was our first year. We’ve revised and refreshed each performing year, and the community has responded.”

While you won’t find any Tchaikovsky in the score of “The Creole Nutcracker,” you will discover the 19th century fairytale updated with what Porter calls ‘a gumbo of styles’ of music and theatrics. “We have such abundant local talent, and we incorporated a wide variety of music and dance into the show. We have drumming, with Herb Green, as well as step dancing, jazz, African, hip hop, lyrical dance and so much more. The Dopsie family has allowed us to use their music within the show, and each year, including this one, we add new festivals and new experiences for our dancers and actors and for the community to delight in.”

In “The Creole Nutcracker,” the young girl Clara from the original story, becomes Clarice, a young woman who grew up in Georgia, traveling to visit her Louisiana family for Christmas. As in the original, she receives a Nutcracker as a gift, who comes alive and sends her on a dream trip, not around the world, but through Louisiana, visiting the many festivals so prominent and beloved in the state. It turns out that her sister has been Sugar Queen and she herself becomes Sugar Queen as well.

Actors, singers and dancers from the community audition for the production each year, with participants ranging in age from 7 to adult.  “We’re excited to present “The Creole Nutcracker” this year, our fifth anniversary. You can expect new sets, new costumes and new festivals,’ said Porter. The company has been rehearsing for several months and we’re ready to put on a spectacular show.“

According to Porter, Lafayette is just the first stop in the legacy of this production. “We’re anticipating a tour throughout Louisiana, we’d like to bring ‘The Creole Nutcracker’ to Texas, to Florida. We’re growing, and we could bring our unique experience to the entire world.”

 

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Beyond the Nutcracker

“The Creole Nutcracker” is just one aspect of the work Porter does to further arts education in the area. She has established Heritage PARC, a non-profit foundation to support arts education through a Creole/African American lens. The pilot program of HeritagePARC is Creole Garcon, mentoring boys who want to find careers in the performing arts. Porter says that many boys don’t realize the wide variety of excellent career opportunities that exist within the arts and entertainment industry. This program opens their eyes to all the career choices and creative outlets available to them.

Porter’s F.I.R.E. Performing Arts Conservatory operates out of PARC Village, an arts center in North Lafayette. PARC Village is a collective space that supplies resources for professional, emerging, and amateur artists empowering them to magnify, exercise, and present their artistic works. The spaces at Parc Village, 2323 Moss Street, include dance studios, art galleries as well as meeting and podcast areas. PARC Village provides spaces to be utilized as well as opportunities not only for all artists at any level in their career, but to engage the community as a whole by creating a gathering space to view and participate in art. The spaces at PARC Village aims to create a collaborative communication channel between artist and the Community with the goal of motivating and improving the quality of life for all.

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