The New York City Ballet cancelled its famous five-week run of “The Nutcrack- er” Thursday, citing advice from govern- ment officials and medical professionals regarding dangers of the coronavirus. The nixed Christmas spectacle means the company won’t return to the stage until 2021. The news comes with a certain sense of domino-tipping: Who will be next? The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago already can- celled their version of the show, and San Francisco Ballet is waiting for news from the city’s government to add sugarplums to their calendar. As the pandemic builds into a second wave cascading across the United States, the future of in-person per- formance jumps further and further into an increasingly unstable future. Cancelled shows are nothing new in 2020. At this point, NYCB has cancelled its Spring, Summer and Fall seasons, along with two galas — but losing the “The Nut- cracker” is a much deeper wound, and it’s one that will be much harder to heal. The popularity of the beloved Christ- mas show is underscored by its commer- cialized success outside of the theatre: The Tchaikovsky score makes its way into December car commercials, the Sugar Plum puns are well-exploited by Ameri- can marketing and the Nutcracker doll sometimes feels as well known as Santa Claus himself. Put simply, the annual mass production of Snowflakes and Rat Kings makes “Nutcracker” the singular poster child for all of ballet. Behind the curtain, though, the Land of Sweets is also one of opportunity. Increased numbers of performances mean longer cast lists — students earn spots in the huge ensemble and young profession- als gain breakout roles that they’d usually never be in line for. The annual nature of “Nutcracker” also makes progressive reform more financially feasible: Recent years have spurred positive conversations about the restaging of previously prob- lematic representations in the Chinese tea and Arabian coffee divertissements. Older (and sometimes still current) versions of the two sections tend to include embar- rassingly derogatory depictions of East- ern cultures, but recent years have seen an uptick in reform: Phil Chan and Georgina Pazcoguin launched their “Final Bow for Yellowface” campaign after successfully petitioning NYCB to change their Chi- nese divertissement in 2017. Other com- panies have restaged the setting of the whole show to reflect the communities they serve. Joffrey Ballet’s version takes place at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Last year, NYCB also cast its first Black “Marie,” the preteen main character of the whole show. Albeit quite overdue, “Nutcracker’ has operated as the catalyst of many larger initiatives for the potential of progressive reform in classical ballet. The diversity of the ballet’s audience also changes come December. Grandpar- ents sit next to grandchildren and gaggles of girlfriends make yearly pilgrimages to the opera houses. Swarms of schoolchil- dren attend matinee field trips and many companies also take their dancers to nurs- ing homes and hospitals. “The Nutcrack- er” is very often the first piece of dance anyone will see, and it’s often cited as the reason a dancer begins taking lessons. 7 Community chamber orchestras are at the heart of towns and cities across America. Vol- unteer, amateur musicians often comprise these ensembles, yet some ensembles employ high-level, local freelance professionals and students at nearby universities. The Ann Arbor Camerata (AAC), founded in 2006, is of the latter variety. Until 2019, the AAC existed as a traditional community chamber orchestra that regularly performed in local churches. Now, they do things a bit differently, and they’re mak- ing profound connections with the greater Ann Arbor community in the midst of COVID-19. Thomas Militello, University of Michigan Music, Theatre & Dance alum and Ann Arbor resident, is the current artistic director of the AAC. In a phone interview with the Daily, he spoke about the notable changes in the AAC’s mission since taking over as artistic director, and how the organization is not only staying relevant, but also staying true to its mission of serving the Ann Arbor community at large, especially its most vulnerable members, dur- ing this challenging time. Militello graduated in 2019 with a master’s degree in horn perfor- mance after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California in 2017. While he was primarily in school to study horn, he also sought out opportunities in conducting, despite not being in the official con- ducting studio in the Music, Theatre & Dance School. Through his involvement in Prof. Ken- neth Kiesler’s conducting seminar and a con- ducting cognate with Prof. Michael Haithcock, he grew close with graduate students pursuing conducting degrees. Before Militello took over, that cohort of students ran the AAC. “The role of artistic director and conductor of the Camerata has been passed down through the orchestral conducting students at Michi- gan. I wasn’t next in line, so I got kind of lucky. When my class was graduating, they passed it to me because they figured I needed a vessel for experience if I wanted to pursue conducting at the level I was aiming for,” Militello said. As artistic director, Militello wears many hats. Day to day, his responsibilities include being in touch with venues, curating perfor- mances, contracting players, conducting the larger ensembles, managing the ensemble’s online presence and reaching out to current and potential donors. His most significant responsi- bility, however, has been completely rebrand- ing the organization’s mission with significant changes to its core values. While the AAC was already a beloved com- munity orchestra before Militello became its artistic director, he felt that there was more that could be done to provide accessible engagement with classical music to the entire Ann Arbor community, not just to those who frequent clas- sical music concerts. With that direction, the ensemble has taken an intentionally accessible approach to bring classical music to unconven- tional spaces and underserved communities. One of the biggest organizational changes to the AAC was the pivot to a project-based “cohort of musicians,” as Militello called the ensemble, from the traditional, season-based schedule that most orchestras follow. Instead of having a set, programmatic agenda for the entire year consisting solely of orchestral reper- toire, the AAC now sets up concerts with both orchestra and smaller chamber ensembles that are planned in succession. “With the Camerata being not just function- al as a chamber orchestra, we gained so much flexibility in performance locations, reper- toire and audiences, as a result,” Militello said. “Chamber music has become a performance medium that’s essential to who we are.” The AAC had a remarkably innovative con- cert series centered around bringing diverse chamber music repertoire to unconventional audiences and venues when COVID-19 hit Michigan. The series, called Main Street Bar Crawl, was the first major performance project the AAC had planned since the radical change in artistic direction. The concerts were cen- tered around bringing thematically relevant standard and nontraditional chamber music to popular bars along the Main Street stretch, like a brass quintet playing Irish music at Conor O’Neill’s and jazz-inspired repertoire at the Raven’s Club. The series highlights the ensem- ble’s motto of “come as you are” — no expecta- tions, unspoken rules or frills; audiences can attend live classical music concerts from the comfort of their favorite hangouts and watering holes. Main Street Bar Crawl was unfortunate- ly cancelled for social distancing measures, but Militello’s creative, innovative planning did not end with its cancellation. “When all the shutdowns started happen- ing, it was disappointing for everyone, both for audiences and musicians in the Camerata. When thinking about how to move forward with the ensemble and stay relevant, I was try- ing to think about who really needed music right now, and what communities were most vulnerable during this time of need,” Militello said. The first people who came to mind were res- idents in senior living homes who were not only most susceptible to contracting the virus and enduring significant trauma with their health, but also unable to have in-person contact with their families and closest friends. With those residents in mind, Militello put a new concert Thursday, June 25, 2020 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS COMMUNITY CULTURE COMMUNITY CULTURE ZOE PHILLIPS Daily Arts Writer SUMMER SERIES SUMMER SERIES ELLEN SIROWER Daily Arts Writer Ann Arbor Camerata adapts to quarantine Read more at michigandaily.com Read more at michigandaily.com ‘The Nutcracker’ and the uncertain future