Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite, with Charles Funn Big Band, featuring Baltimore Dance Tech

Saturday, December 9 | 3:30 pm – 5 pm

Enjoy the holidays with a performance of the  ballet classic, the  Nutcracker with an urban twist. 

The performance fuses live jazz and ballet, with original arrangements by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, to form a soulful celebration celebrating the Baltimore Cultural Arts Project 1964-1993.  A digital exhibition will feature photos of the first Cultural Arts Urban Nutcracker performed in Baltimore City (1976-1977).

This multigenerational  live performance will include: 

• Original dancers from the  Baltimore Cultural Arts Project – Duke Ellington Nutcracker
• Dunbar jazz band alumni(s) led by Music Director Charles Funn
• Urban Youth Ballet 
• Baltimore Dance Tech Company members with  Dance Director Ms. Stephanie Powell

Born out of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and the Model Cities legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in 1966, the Baltimore Cultural Arts Project was created by the Model Cities Program in the late 1960s in order to provide creative programs, events, and instruction in theater, dance, music, art, and more.  Free and widely available dance, performance, and visual arts education for three generations of Baltimoreans are some of the longest-standing legacies of the Cultural Arts Project. CAP also led to the founding of several key arts initiatives and institutions in the city, including AFRAM, Arena Players, Eubie Blake Cultural Center, and Baltimore Dance Theater.