Keith Michael's The Nutcracker
Sunday, November 1, 2026
7:00 PM
Kupferberg Center for the Arts
65-30 Kissena Boulevard, Queens, NY 11367
Scheduled
About This Event
Keith Michael and Merith Michaels perform The Nutcracker at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts. Michael, a New York–based performer with credits at the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center and collaborations with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Queens Symphony Orchestra and Cirque Kalabanté, and Michaels, whose Queens-centered practice emphasizes structure and venue-specific collaboration, share a program that privileges ensemble-minded phrasing over spectacle.
About The Nutcracker(ballet)
anonymous Russian 19th century photographer
Tchaikovsky’s 1892 *The Nutcracker* unfolds on Christmas Eve, where a child’s holiday scene slips into a dream world of toy battles and divertissements. In New York City, George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet staging, first presented in 1954, helped turn the work into a durable local ritual and a pillar of American ballet seasons. The story traces its literary roots from Hoffmann through Dumas, filtered into dance by Petipa and Ivanov. Its structure can feel episodic, but that collage is part of its modern cultural function.
About the Artists
Keith Michael
Keith Michael is a New York City–based performer whose work has appeared at the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center. He has shared bills and ensembles with artists and groups including Miguel Anggelo, the Queens College Choral Society, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, the Queens Symphony Orchestra, Santiago Cruz, Cirque Kalabanté, and Adyjo.
Merith Michaels
Merith Michaels is an individual artist whose work appears on New York City stages, including the Kupferberg Center for the Arts. In *Merith Michaels: The Nutcracker*, she shares the program with NYC-based performer Keith Michael, whose credits include the Milton G.