Idaho
Idaho Ballet Theatre's 21st annual performance of 'The Nutcracker' returning to the Colonial Theater – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS — Idaho Ballet Theatre will be performing its annual holiday tradition of “The Nutcracker” for its 21st year this December.
“The Nutcracker,” which is a classical ballet, will be performed Dec. 5, 6 and 7 beginning at 7 p.m. The show will be held at the Colonial Theater located at 450 A. Street in Idaho Falls. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.
“(The Nutcracker is) definitely one that many people are familiar with, but I think it resonates with so many people because you can see yourself in so many different moments throughout the ballet,” Director Abbey Lasley told EastIdahoNews.com.
The cast is made up of roughly 125 dancers. There are about 110 Idaho Ballet Theatre students performing in the production, ranging in age from three to 17. There will be guest performers and students from Brigham Young University-Idaho on stage as well.
“Everyone is local … and the majority are students,” Lasley said. “That’s what we really pride ourselves on is putting on a professional level production with an entire student cast.”
Lasley believes “The Nutcracker” is a “magical tradition” and a great way to kick off the Christmas season and focus on the “hopeful, optimistic, pure and beautiful aspects of this holiday.”
“There’s so much depth in ‘The Nutcracker’ that I think people don’t expect. People expect to see mostly all of the bright, shiny, sparkly, beautiful little parts of it — and we love all those parts — but there’s so many more layers,” she mentioned. “There’s so much more to be learned and to be internalized — things that can help us channel a really gratitude-based, optimistic view for the future.”
Lasley is one of three new directors who are making “The Nutcracker” possible this year.
Idaho Ballet Theatre’s founder and original director Brandy K. Jensen, who is Lasley’s mother, fainted last year during “The Nutcracker” rehearsals a few days before the performance. She had a stroke later that night and died December 14, 2023, at the age of 53.
“It was really hard, and it was a shock to all of us, but she got to do what she loved until the very last day and that was really a gift,” Lasley said.
Jensen started Idaho Ballet Theatre in 2003, and Lasley said she quickly began doing full-length productions like “The Nutcracker.”
“Every year she would add some elements — she’d polish something, rechoreograph something or improve it in some way,” Lasley explained. “By the time we got to her performance last year (of “The Nutcracker”), it was a very beautiful look at her life’s work.”
Lasley said the absence of her mother is going to weigh on the performers’ hearts during their December shows, but they are looking forward to taking the stage and honoring Jensen through their performances.
“We are very grateful to continue and be able to use everything she taught us and everything she embodied in her life to share this holiday magic and help people see the deeper meaning behind everything that we’re doing,” Lasley said.
=htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities(‘For more stories like this one, be sure to visit https://www.eastidahonews.com/ for all of the latest news, community events and more.’)?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”>
PAYETTE — A Payette mom’s bond was revoked Tuesday after she was charged with suffocating her twin children earlier this month and is believed to pose a danger to the life of her newborn child.
The case, which has drawn national headlines, concerns Andrea Renee Shaw, a 23-year-old Payette mother who in May 2025 said her 18-month-old fraternal twins died the same day, after receiving routine childhood vaccinations. In January, Shaw joined as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with several other plaintiffs claiming vaccine injury or death.
Kennedy, who now serves as secretary of Health and Human Services, is no longer part of the group after taking on the cabinet position, as was reported by the Associated Press.
In Idaho, the twins’ deaths prompted a 14-month investigation by the Payette County Sheriff’s Department. On June 29, the investigation yielded a grand jury indictment of Shaw on two counts of first-degree murder by suffocation. If convicted, Shaw can be punished by up to life in prison or the death penalty, and the court would have the ability to order the penalties be served consecutively, or back to back.
Tuesday’s arraignment at the Payette County Courthouse was primarily attended by Shaw’s relatives and members of the media. Payette County Judge Kiley Stuchlik, who serves Idaho’s Third Judicial District, presided.
A key consideration for Stuchlik on Tuesday was a request from Joseph Filicetti, the legal counsel for Shaw, to have her bond reduced from $2 million to $100,000. Filicetti said this would allow for Shaw to care for a newborn girl, who, according to court documents, was born by caesarean section on June 25, four days prior to Shaw’s grand jury indictment.
State prosecutors objected to the motion for bond reduction, noting at hand was a potential death penalty case and asserting, unlike her husband, Shaw’s story repeatedly changed during questioning. Prosecuting Attorney Mike Duke said releasing Shaw would ultimately put the newborn’s safety at risk.
“That child is the most at risk. We do not think she should be allowed to be anywhere near any children, let alone her own children,” Duke said.
Stuchlik decided to revoke bond entirely, stating Shaw posed a “risk of safety” to the newborn child that was not known to Stuchlik or prosecutors when the $2 million bond was initially set.
Also for consideration Tuesday was a request to have grand jury transcripts of witness testimony provided to prosecutors and defense counsel to prepare their respective cases.
Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
-
Los Angeles, Ca39 minutes agoRemains of murder victim identified as missing Southern California millionaire
-
Detroit, MI1 hour ago4Warn Weather Alert: Wildfire smoke leading to ‘unhealthy’ air quality in Metro Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoSan Francisco fishermen recount harrowing rescue after boat capsizes near Alcatraz
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoTimothée Chalamet ‘Starstruck’ by Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoWives of detained men allege inhumane conditions at federal detention center in Miami
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoDriver charged in Norwood pedestrian crash that left man seriously injured
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoBoys, 12 and 14, arrested in deadly shooting in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoOutreach groups respond to the reported relocation cycle of Ballard’s homeless population
