Episode 2120- Atlanta Ballet on The Nutcracker, Frida Kahlo & More

In this exclusive holiday-season episode of the Ash Said It Show, we sit down with Tricia Ekholm from Atlanta Ballet to explore their upcoming season — including the return of their iconic production of The Nutcracker at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Whether you're a seasoned ballet lover or a first-time attendee, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at:

🎄 What’s new in The Nutcracker 2025
🎨 The highly anticipated spring premiere of Frida, a bold new ballet celebrating Frida Kahlo, the legendary Mexican artist
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Atlanta Ballet’s family-friendly performances and how they’re designed to welcome all ages
🩰 Dance classes for adults and children, from beginner to advanced levels
🌍 How Atlanta Ballet recruits international talent and nurtures local dancers
💬 Personal reflections on working with one of the Southeast’s premier performing arts institutions
🤔 Surprising insights into ballet culture, training, and what newcomers can expect

This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about Atlanta’s performing arts scene, holiday entertainment, or the evolving world of contemporary ballet.

Web: https://www.atlantaballet.com/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
What it is, what it does guide the world.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
It is your girl, the one and only Ash Brown,
and this is the Ash said it show. Over two thousand,
one hundred plus episode since twenty fourteen, half a million
streams around the world. None of this is possible without you, guys,
So I thank you so so very much, all the shares,

(00:25):
all the cares. It makes a huge, huge difference. Today
I have such a very very special guest with me.
I have got the wonderful Tricia from where else, none
other than the Atlanta Ballet. Hello Tricia, Hi as, how

(00:46):
are you today?

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Thank you so much. I'm great, awesome, awesome Tricia.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, thank you so much. I know that you're a
busy lady as we are. You know, we're well into
October now and we're into the holiday. The holidays are
starting to creep.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Up on us, so yes they are. You appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
But as the holidays are coming up, including Atlanta Ballet's
iconic production of The Nutcracker at the cob Energy Performing
Arts Center, what's in store this year for the production?

Speaker 3 (01:22):
So this year we are so excited to bring our
annual production of the Nutcracker to the cop Ergycenter stage
with our forty professional dancers, our live orchestra, and over
I think right now about one hundred and twenty five
students from our Center for Dance Education. So it is

(01:46):
a large production that is spectacular, all sorts of fun
technology tricks that make it just sparkle on the stage.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
For those who haven't been into the Atlanta Ballet before
or maybe slightly intimidated to go, can you walk us
through like what to expect in that experience.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
So when you come to cob Energy Center, the first
thing I will always tell people when they're coming is
plan to arrive early. Doors to the theater open ninety
minutes ahead. There are our sorts of really fun concessions
that the cup Energy Center has available. Our Atlanta Ballet
Boutique is there with all such of specialty items, but

(02:31):
it allows guests to get in and get settled and
be ready for the performance. And our nutcracker is really
unique and different from other nutcrackers across the country. So
our nutcracker was created specifically for Atlanta Ballet. No one
else does our version. It was choreographed by Uriposakoff, who

(02:57):
is the choreographer and Residences Francisco Ballet and when Uri
created this version for us in twenty eighteen, I remember
sitting in a meeting where he was talking about his vision,
and he said, I'm going back to the original Eta Hoffman,
the nutcracker in the Mousekak, the original story, and it's

(03:19):
going to be a little bit creepy. And of course
we're all like, Okay, holiday creepy don't necessarily go together,
but he did. He went back to the original story.
So we really follow Marie as she gets her nutcracker
from Uncle Drousselmeyer. She falls asleep and she enters this

(03:39):
dream world where everything in our version becomes supersized. So
if you come to see it, there is the small
chair and the small toy cabinet that she puts her
nutcracker in. She falls asleep, the chair becomes supersized, the
cabinet literally becomes I think it's something like thirty feet tall,
with three level of live human nutcracker soldiers that come

(04:04):
sliding out, and then they go off into the to
their land where we visit. You know, we don't do
the sweets. We do Arabian and Russian and French, and
it was the other one in Spanish for our variations,
but the big changes. We don't have a sugar plum fairy,

(04:25):
and a lot of people think, oh, you can't do
a Nutcracker without a sugar plum fairy. Sugarplom was not
actually in the original story. Sugarplan was a later invention
by Alexander Dumot. He added it to the narrative much
much later, and so it's not actually that country. It
is not actually a part of the original story. But

(04:48):
then from there we have the astral projections for the
star maps that glow as Murray's gliding, for her adventures
to all these different countries. It's just it's it's a
beautiful production. That's very unique.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yes, that sounds incredible. I did not know that about
the sugar Plum.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
I literally did not.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
I was like, wait a minute, there's another person. But
you know, as I'm sure you know, like our forums,
there's always like different interpretations and people putting their spin
on it.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
But that is very fascinating. I did not know that.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Really cool. Now, what else is coming up for this
season ahead?

Speaker 3 (05:31):
So for the season ahead, after that Cracker in February,
we will be back at cab Energy Center Valentine's Weekend
with Giselle one of the great classic ballets. That is
the best way to describe it. It's a great romantic
ghost story. It is the town girl who falls in

(05:52):
love with the nobleman that she doesn't know is a nobleman.
He basically sort of negates her. She's like, no, I
have to marry the princess. She goes crazy and runs
off into the woods where she encounters the willies. And

(06:12):
the willies are all the souls of the dead young
women who have been turned away or you know, by
the men that they loved, and they're run by the
queen who their goal is to dance the men who
did them wrong to death, you know. And so the
prince so sizes he really loves Giselle.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
He comes running after her, and.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Jaselle saves him because she's still even though she has
died and gone to be one of the willies, she
still loves him and she asks for him to be
saved and to not be danced to death. It is
this huge romantic story. It's beautiful, but it is a
perfect Valentine's production in a weird way. Is the best

(07:00):
so for me to describe it. But we're really excited
we'll have the orchestra for Valentine's Weekend with us and
then in March the last week and in March, we
will bring our one hour version of snow White to
the stage. So it is a snow White designed for
our youngest audiences with narration to help them follow along

(07:23):
with the story. And that is actually performed by Atlanta
Ballet two, which is our second company. So these are
our dancers that are just on that cusp of going
professional and their chance to really shine and take on
some lead roles. But always fun when you go to
see these productions because all the little girls come dress

(07:43):
in their princess dresses and they come truly in the
theater and truly out and it's just a joy to
watch so many young people have their first experience of
something like a ballet performance.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yes, I think that's just so magical for them, and
have that moment with their family, like you said, to
see them all dressed up, very cute, see little their
little dresses, their little outfits and going and having those times.
I think that, Yeah, family's making memories. That's a beautiful thing.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
It is making memory. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, Now, what can you tell me about Frieda? I've
been hearing a lot of buzz about that that's coming
up in the spring, that's going to give.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
A spring, so we will be there. It's in May,
it's Mother's Day weekend, and I actually had an opportunity
today this fact. We got together and watched a recording
of a different company performing Freeda, so we could all
sort of see what the ballet was going to look like.
But Frida is it's a balet based on the life

(08:47):
of Frida Caleb and it was created by Annabel Lopez
a Choa, which if anyone saw our Cocoa Chanel The
Life of of Fashion Icons in twenty twenty four, it's
the same Quero Hurt and the same composer that have
created this world where they tell the life of Freda.

(09:08):
But it's almost like her paintings are coming to life,
so you're giving her history, her life, but it's all
these iconic characters and visuals from her paintings that are
coming to life to guide this main the main character
of Freeda, you know, through the various moments. It's it's amazing.

(09:28):
I really really can't wait for it to see that
come to our stage and to see our answers really
bring it to life and it's very vibrant Freda esque colors.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Okay, definitely, that's on the list. That's on the list
of things to see. Yes, looking forward to the new
year and all those new experiences, new shows. Now on
the flip side of things, what kind of classes are
being offered as far as like adults, an for kids,
so a that really.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Center for dance education. We offer classes from ages two,
So we start with mommy and me or as we
call it, tiny dancer and me because we have a
we have a lot of dats who come in and
bring their their young ones in for classes all the
way through adults. We have a certified teacher who teaches

(10:21):
Silver Swaps, which is a program a ballet class that
developed four fifty five them plus to really sort of
at a slower pace to keep them to keep older
adults agile and moving. So we teach a little bit
of everything. We have three studios in the Atlanta area,

(10:43):
so we teach at the Midtown West at our Michael C.
Carlos Dance Theater, we teach at Chastain Square, and then
we also have a studio at Amsterdam Walk in Virginia Highlands.
So it's you know in real for our student division
are two to sort of sixteen to eighteen is ongoing

(11:06):
year round, so people can still enroll their students, and
then our adult classes, which are for eighteen plus are dropping,
so you can drop and you can purchase and drop
in a class at any time during the year. There's
go year round and it's everything from ballet to modern
to tap to jazz. It's a little bit of everything

(11:27):
that they teach at the adult level, as well as
dance for lice in Silver Swans, which you're really geared
towards some of our older students. But it's really amazing.
I am really lucky. Our offices are at the Midtown
My Studios, and so in the afternoons about two or
three o'clock, you can go down the hall and to
see the lines of students lining up and getting ready

(11:50):
to go into the studios to take their class. And
it's just so much fun to see students getting excited
and learning and giggling as they are either a while
they're waiting watching the professional company rehearsing and kind of
seeing what a professional dancer looks like, while they're waiting
to go into their studios and take their classes as well.

(12:12):
It's always a moment when you need inspirations, Like I'm
going to go down the hall, let's see what's going on.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
As we're talking about the company and the professional talent that.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
You all hold, how do you guys scout talent?

Speaker 2 (12:28):
Like you've got dancers from all over the world, and
not to mention, from right here in Metro Atlanta, how.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
Do you guys find So that is an artistic sass challenge,
but we do. We have dancers from across the US
from the Metro Atlanta area, but from I want to say,
I think we're at thirteen countries from across the world
that have chosen to come and dance in Atlanta for
Atlanta Ballet and our professional company members. People don't think

(12:58):
about this, but they it's a forty hour work week
for them. They're on contract. I think we're at thirty
eight weeks out of the year. They work a forty
hour work week. This is a full time job. So
they don't just drop in and dance pretty and then
go boof and go away. They work really really hard

(13:18):
to do and to accomplish what they what they can
do on stage. But yeah, our artistic stass, they will
they do. Once they open the audition quartals, they go
to auditions. They've gone to Brazil, to Japan, to Italy.
They go to auditions that are across the US as
well as hosting auditions at our studio that dancers are

(13:41):
invited to come in an audition. They accept video auditions
as well, so they're constantly it's almost a year round
activity for them scouting to see what talent is out
there and what you know, who is going to be
the right fit for what what we need. And then

(14:02):
we have, like I said, Atlanta Ballet two, which is
that top level of our surfer dance education. Oftentimes these
are dancers who are sixteen to maybe nineteen or twenty
right on the cusp. They oftentimes it's like if they
see a dancer who's maybe close but maybe needs like
that little bit of final training, they invite them into

(14:24):
Atlanta Ballet Too to do some final training. And this
past year was really excited to see two of our
dancers from Atlanta Ballet Too were promoted into the company
and one of them, Julio, he was promoted into the
company and actually got a lead role in our September performance.
So to really see that. You know, they're really working

(14:47):
hard to train and to bring those dancers up into
Pride opportunities for younger dancers. We are you know, I
don't think people think about this too, but we're a
non ranked company. We don't have principal solace or every
dancer in our company can be cast in any role,

(15:09):
a lead role or a core role, which really is
unique because it gives all of our dances a chance
throughout the year to really be challenged to take on
new roles, to take on different roles, and for choreographers
when we bring outside choreographers and to create, to say,
here's a group of forty dancers, he's the right one

(15:31):
for what you want to create and not be forced
to say I have to use this dancer. So it
really creates a unique creative environment in our studios.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, that is outstanding.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
So for nutrition, you know, so we're going to put
it all. We're going to put the spotlight on you
for a millisecond here. Okay, what is your favorite part
about working at the Atlanta Ballet.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
My favorite part, honestly is being in the lobby when
a show winds and watching patrons coming out from the theater.
And as much as you can chatting, listening, seeing and
feeling the energy and knowing that my role is to

(16:23):
get people to come in those doors, to enter and
to go into the theater where they can hopefully have
these amazing artistic experiences. And when they come out to
get that energy that they've had a transformation of some sort.
And you know, it could be little girls twirling because
they just watched in a white I mean, there are

(16:43):
times it's patrons coming out and coming over to me
and telling me, I mean and it's fine, I really
didn't like this for these reasons, and I'm like, okay,
but the art had an impact on you. It was
an impact that maybe made you go, I don't like this,
but it made you somethen, it made you think in
that ballad. You know, I really believe that art, especially

(17:07):
in the performance world, happens when you have audience and
you have artists. It's the it's the consuming of the
art that creates the art, not just the creating of
the art. So I love just getting that sense of
energy and like, did people have a good time, did
they have a bad time?

Speaker 1 (17:23):
Which piece?

Speaker 3 (17:24):
You know, did they like which dance or did they
see that's where I draw my energy. I mean, I
love my dancers. I love watching them at all times,
you know, ever, but it is it's that moment that
I really really love.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yes, last, but certainly not least. What do you feel
is the biggest misconception about ballet?

Speaker 3 (17:50):
I think misconception that it's just pretty sparkly to tooth
and that somehow these artists miraculously appear. You know, I've
watched how hard are dancers and our students train to

(18:11):
get to the levels that they do. And I'm like,
you know, our dancers come in, they take you know,
they're come in, they take class from like nine point
thirty ten o'clock to maybe eleven. Then they go into
six hours of rehearsal during the day and as they
get a lunch. But I'm like, they do it's a
forty hour work week. They train just like a professional

(18:32):
athlete does, like every morning. That class it's about perfecting technique.
It's about improving whatever they need to improve. And they
go into rehearsals and they're not only learning the choreography,
but they are learning the musicality of it. Oftentimes they're
learning the drama that they need. They're actors like, they

(18:53):
don't say words, but they still have to. If it's
a story about it, they still have to portray that
emotion to that audience. So they have to embody that role.
They work so hard, and I oftentimes find people thinking, oh,
they just like magically appear. I'm like, no, They've been
training their whole lives to be able to do what

(19:14):
they're doing on stage and in performance they want it
to look effortless and beautiful. But at the back, they
work so so hard about getting to that point that
they can do that. And then beyond that, there is
stage crew and set designers and costume designers in our

(19:34):
costume shop, you know, building these costumes. I als and say,
think about what you see a dancer do on stage,
especially in a pretty sparkly to tu, and that too,
too might be worn by three different dancers five times
over the weekend. And I'm like, there are people who
are crafting those two twos to be so durable, and

(19:55):
you know, making sure that they are ready every time
that dancing needs to go back on stage, puchu or
costume is ready for them to go. It's really an
amazing process to watch a ballet be built from the
beginning all the way through the performance.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yes, that sounds incredible, treasure. Thank you so much for
coming through. We so appreciate you well.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (20:20):
It was fun.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
I love talking about the ballet.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yes, and let everyone know the best way for them to,
of course, to secure their tickets, all right, and get
some more information.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
Yep. Always, all tickets for all their performances are on sale,
and it's really simple. It's Atlanta Ballet dot com. Everything
you need to know is on that website, right and.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
You guys check out the description. We'll have the link
and all that info there. I appreciate each and every
one of you, guys, Thank you so much for your
love and support. Keeping in mind. Anyone to tell you
that you can't do what you want to do, you
look them square in the face, you tell them, don't
believe me. Just want watch what I do. Watch me
make it happen, Watch me make history. That's what we're

(21:05):
doing this for the history books. Social media is nice,
but real life is so much better. Until next time,
you guys,