PENDLETON â In the midst of a global pandemic, Julie Sneden-Carlson used creativity in presenting âThe Nutcrackerâ in its 13th holiday season in Pendleton. Anticipating things would be different for the popular production, the owner of Pendleton Ballet Theatre began planning early.
However, because of ever-changing restrictions with the coronavirus, by the time the holiday season was being ushered in, Sneden-Carlson had gone from Plan B to Plan C, with multiple changes on the fly. The end result was the creation of a DVD featuring costumed dancers clad in sparkly face masks and white canvas tennis shoes accented with sparkles.
Sneden-Carlson brainstormed with Shannon Gruenhagen, marketing and tour coordinator at Heritage Station Museum. Because of restrictions on indoor gatherings, rather than staging the production in the Bob Clapp Theatre at Blue Mountain Community College, Sneden-Carlson made some changes and was looking at presenting âThe History of The Nutc