'Nutcracker Key West' features seafaring history

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- The curtain has risen for a classic holiday ballet, reinterpreted to feature Key West's seafaring history and coral reef.

"Nutcracker Key West" stars professional dancers including Natalia Ashikhmina, formerly with the Russian National Ballet, alongside Florida Keys children.

The production gives a subtropical twist to the tale of young Clara's visit to the Sugarplum Fairy. Dancers portray snowy egrets, sea fans, "jewels" from a Spanish galleon shipwrecked off Key West and a conch shell.

The Key West production was created by Joyce Stahl, who performed "The Nutcracker" with New Jersey's American Repertory Ballet for 38 years. Stahl has dedicated the show to the children and families impacted by the Connecticut school shooting.

It runs through Saturday at the Tennessee Williams Theatre.

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Online:

Nutcracker Key West: http://www.nutcrackerkeywest.com/

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)