Willam Christensen
WHEN A REPORTER ASKED WILLAM CHRISTENSEN for how many years The Nutcracker would be staged, he responded, “It will go on for as long as there are children.”
He and his two younger brothers, Harold and Lew, received ballet training from their uncle, Peter, whose classes adhered strictly to classical technique. With this humble education, the brothers would go on to change the face of dance in the United States and make a name for themselves worldwide.
Vaudeville had other dance routines at the time, mostly acrobatic in nature. For many Americans though, the Christensen Brothers act was the first time they had seen purely classical ballet. Sandwiched between animal acts and headliners like W.C. Fields, the brothers braved rough living conditions on the road and difficult circumstances on stage. Slick, wet surfaces and sometimes rude audiences often made the tours demoralizing for the brothers. It could also be exhausting; as vaudeville tried to compete with the advent of movies, the troupe was forced to perform up to four times a day.
In 1932, the grueling pace had taken its toll and the act disbanded. Mr. C and Mignon moved to Portland, Oregon, where he took over his uncle’s dance studio and eventually renamed it the Willam F. Christensen Ballet School. Then, in 1937, he was offered the opportunity to guest with the San Francisco Opera Ballet and later accepted the role of ballet master there. Within a short time, Mr. C accomplished a string of ‘firsts’ that cemented his iconic legacy. In 1939, he choreographed the first Coppélia ever to be mounted in the United States, and the following year he eclipsed himself by staging the first American Swan Lake. In 1942, he separated from the opera to create his own entity, the San Francisco Ballet, which was the first ballet company in the United States. He appointed Harold as the director of the San Francisco Ballet School, and later hired Lew (who had been working with George Balanchine in New York) to choreograph new ballets for the company. Once again, the brothers were united.
The Nutcracker Begins
Surprisingly, The Nutcracker had never been performed in its entirety in the United States when Mr. C went searching for a ballet to fill the San Francisco Opera Ballet’s coffers. During World War II, money for the arts was very scarce; even if there was money, rations on supplies like fabric and metals made a ballet production difficult to mount. Despite seemingly insurmountable odds, Mr. C persisted, searching for a ballet to lighten the hearts of a weary nation, to make a splash and, perhaps most of all, to be profitable.
As if he did not have enough stress, Mr. C cast himself in the role of the Sugar Plum Cavalier, opposite Gisella Caccialanza as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
When a reporter asked Willam Christensen for how many years The Nutcracker would be staged, he responded, “It will go on for as long as there are children.”
Every holiday season at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah, he proves his point. After three quarters of a century, his production thrives.
Not only Ballet West, but every ballet company in America owes a bit of gratitude to Mr. C. His vision, daring, and verve to choreograph the first Nutcracker in the United States sparked a cultural and artistic phenomenon. Today, The Nutcracker is the hardworking Clydesdale in the stable of nearly every ballet company’s repertoire. The Nutcracker, his gift to the world, continues to delight.
Mr. C’s production has a bit more sparkle, more snow, and even flying. But rest assured, at Ballet West, The Nutcracker has the same choreography that the grandfather of American ballet ballet staged in 1944.
