Wichita’s ‘Short & Suite Nutcracker’ that features youths brings director full circle

In seven years of producing the “Short & Suite Nutcracker,” Jana Owen has seen several full-circle moments.

The young children who played mice in the inaugural 2018 edition are now full-fledged teenage dancers, said Owen, owner and artistic director of Midwest Dance Mechanix.

But the biggest full-circle moment, Owen said, is having her mentors, Stan and Sharon Rogers, joining her as teachers at her Wichita school.

“They are a huge part of our ‘Nutcracker,” Owen said of the couple, former ballet directors at Friends University, where she’s an alum.

“To me, watching Stan Rogers coaching is a part of my childhood and watching Sharon Rogers impart notes on the dancers that I now teach and saying the things I’ve heard her say, is just heartwarming,” she said. “I am grateful for their time and effort and knowledge base that they add to the show.”

“Short & Suite Nutcracker,” which returns next weekend to the Wichita Center for the Performing Arts, is a condensed and slightly adjusted version of the Tchaikovsky classic.

With a few exceptions, the 100 dancers on stage are ages 6-18, so the adult party that begins the ballet has been shifted to a children’s gathering in honor of Clara, the ballet’s heroine. Narration fills in the gaps.

“It’s the classic people are looking for but also fun and refreshing,” she said. “We tell just a little bit of the storyline through narration just to keep the pace up, especially the younger audience members. Sometimes the storytelling aspects of it are a little bit harder to stay completely attuned and get all the nuances of it.”

Owen, who has been teaching since 1997 and operated Dance Mechanix since 2010, said working with an adult company would be “monotonous,” with adults filling the same roles year after year.

“Because I’m working with kids, they age through,” she said. “To watch them progress through those roles is rewarding for me as a teacher and exciting for them. It keeps it fresh for them and also for me.”

Owen said she enjoys passing on the passion that she has for “Nutcracker” to her students.

“As a dancer, ‘Nutcracker’ feels like Christmas,” she said. “To share that with them and have it become a part of their family tradition. Ideally there’s a 3-year-old that says, ‘I want to do that,’ and then it becomes a part of their family tradition, too.”

‘SHORT & SUITE NUTCRACKER’

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6; 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7; 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8

Where: Wichita Center for the Performing Arts, inside VIMA Church, 9112 E. Central

Presented by: Midwest Dance Mechanix

Tickets: $28 adults, $16 children, from www.dancemechanix.biz/nutcracker or at the door