It is nearly synonymous with the Christmas season: Clara, her Nutcracker Prince and the Mouse King chassé their way across stages all over the world each year as thousands make a viewing of "The Nutcracker" part of their holiday traditions. The ballet adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's story set to the iconic Tchaikovsky score will kick off the holiday season for many in Northwest Arkansas with four different companies hosting performances. The Walton Arts Center welcomes Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet back to Fayetteville Nov. 23-25 as 50 local children join the professional company on stage. Ballet Westside's dance team Northwest Arkansas Regional Dance Company in Rogers, Fort Smith's Western Arkansas Ballet and Bentonville's Northwest Arkansas Conservatory of Classical Ballet also offer their takes on the beloved story in December. Here, get to know some of the faces bringing the classic ballet to life and visit each company's website for full cast and performance information.
Walton Arts Center
FAQ
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet
WHEN — 7 p.m. Nov. 23; 2 & 7 p.m. Nov. 24; 2 p.m. Nov. 25
WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
COST — $19-$52
INFO — 445-5600, waltonartscenter.org
FAQ
Ballet Westside
NWA Regional Dance Co.
WHEN — 7 p.m. Dec. 8; 2 p.m. Dec. 9
WHERE — Rogers High School
COST — $6-$12
INFO — 636-6678, balletwestside.com
FAQ
Western Arkansas Ballet
WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15; 2:30 p.m. Dec. 16
WHERE — ArcBest Corp. Performing Arts Center in Fort Smith
COST — $25
INFO — 785-0152, waballet.org
FAQ
NWA Conservatory of Classical Ballet
WHEN — 7 p.m. Dec. 1; 2 p.m. Dec. 2
WHERE — Arend Arts Center at Bentonville High School
COST — $20-$25
INFO — 553-7400, nwaballet.com
FYI
Sugar Plum
Fairy Tea
Guests can meet and take photos with favorite “Nutcracker” characters Clara, Sugar Plum Fairy and other members of WAB’s ensemble when Western Arkansas Ballet hosts its annual Sugar Plum Fairy Tea. Lunch, delectable desserts and Nutcracker and Christmas crafts will also take place.
WHEN — 2:30-4:30 p.m. Nov. 18
WHERE — Fort Smith Riverfront Glass Pavilion, 100 North B St. in Fort Smith
COST — Sold Out!
INFO — 785-0152, waballet.org. Keep an eye out for details on next year’s event!
2018 Children's Cast
Adelyn Bramlett
Role: Party Boy
&
Quinn Bramlett
Role: Polar Bear
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
Adelyn -- My favorite dance move is a Firebird leap.
Quinn -- A leg lift.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
Adelyn -- Everyone at practice knows I have a lot of crazy things in my dance bag, so my favorite would be my toy handcuffs.
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Adelyn -- My best advice would be that you can't sit around and dream it, you have to go out and do it to achieve all your dreams.
Quinn -- To try as hard as you can and have fun!
• What do you love most about ballet?
Adelyn -- Ballet makes me feel like a princess and that it is my time to shine.
Quinn -- Warming up.
Brady Chandler
Role: Reindeer
• What is it like to work with the professional dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet?
It feels like I'm a part of something amazing because I'm dancing with professionals.
• Who is your favorite character to dance?
I loved when I was a gingersnap in "Hansel and Gretel" with Arkansas Festival Ballet.
• What do you want non-dancers to know about what you do?
That it is not easy. It's very hard and takes a lot of strength.
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
To create a specific character for each dance you do. It really helps with expression.
Carrington Cartwright
Role: Angel
• What are you most looking forward to about dancing alongside the professional dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet?
I can't wait to see the pretty costumes.
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
Miss Annika is helping me work on my fouettés right now; they are so fun.
• Who is your favorite dancer?
My sister, Chandler, is my favorite dancer -- she is a Silver Star. My mom said if I am not too busy when I get big that I can maybe try to be a Silver Star, too.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My Polaroid camera; we take silly pictures at dance sometimes.
Eleanor Eichmann
Role: Party Girl
• Is there anything just for fun in your dance bag? Candy.
• What do you want non-dancers to know about what you do?
It's harder than it looks.
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
A dancer's body is like a noodle: If you don't warm up and stretch before you start dancing, you'll break. If you warm up and stretch first, you'll be as flexible as a cooked noodle.
• What do you love most about ballet?
The challenging aspect of it.
____
Emalyn Johnson
Role: Mountie
• What are you most looking forward to about dancing alongside the professional dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet?
This is my second time to have this experience. It was so fun last time. I was a polar bear. They are so nice. And they dance beautifully.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag? Is there anything just for fun in there?
Yes! I always have my No. 3 Kyler necklace for good luck. And gum!
• What do you want non-dancers to know about what you do?
It is hard! Yes, it is fun also. But it takes a lot of practice. And it's an important art form.
• What do you love most about ballet?
It's something I can share with my mom. She loves to watch me dance and most times she is the one blubbering in the audience. But it's our "thing," and I love sharing that with her.
Emilea G. Ree
Role: Mountie
• What are you most looking forward to about dancing alongside the professional dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet?
I get to see what they do and hopefully become one.
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
The Floss!
• Who is your favorite dancer?
Myself
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Practice makes better -- no one is perfect.
Emily Thomas
Role: Reindeer
• What made you want to become a dancer?
I love that through dance I can express myself and my feelings. I also get to meet all kinds of people and make connections with people who I might otherwise never get to meet.
• Who is your favorite character to dance?
I don't know if I have a favorite, but I have done a lot of musical theater dance, and I like characters that are really animated and silly.
• What do you love most about ballet?
I love that it's the foundation of all dance, and for me it's relaxing to both watch and dance. I also love that it looks graceful and easy, yet it takes so much skill and hard work to make it look like that.
Gracie Love Kennett
Role: Reindeer
• When did you start performing on stage?
I was in my first stage performance when I was 3 years old. This is my 10th year performing on stage. I love it more every year!
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My water bottle. After a long day of classes or rehearsals, I definitely need lots of water!
• What do you want non-dancers to know about what you do?
Dance is a sport! We work really hard, we have strong bodies, and we are athletes. It's harder than it looks.
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
There's nothing you can't do if you are willing to work hard for it and not give up. In everything you do, do it from your heart.
Hudson Horton
Role: Mouse
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
Russians and chaine turns.
• What do you want non-dancers to know about what you do?
It takes a long time to dance like a professional.
• What do you love most about ballet?
Doing tendu on the floor.
Jade Holland
Role: Mouse
• When did you start performing on stage?
When I was 2 years old! My biggest show has been "Once" at TheatreSquared. I played Ivanka earlier this year.
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
My own moves are my favorite moves! Hip hop and jazz classes are my favorites.
• Who is your favorite character to dance?
Ivanka in "Once" and pretty sure I'm going to love being a mouse in "The Nutcracker."
• Who is your favorite dancer?
Witney Carson from "Dancing with the Stars."
Kennedy Ragar
Role: Dieter
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
My favorite dance move is a Calypso Leap and then roll to the ground.
• Who is your favorite dancer?
My favorite dancer is Moira Shearer, also known as Lady Kennedy, who was a famous British ballet dancer and actress.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My favorite item in my dance bag is my magic bun maker. It makes it quick and easy to style my hair in a bun.
• What do you want non-dancers to know about what you do?
I want my friends to know that dancing can be difficult, and I spend at least 10-12 hours a week in the studio after school. I have been dancing for six years.
Lucia Moore
Role: Party Girl
• What made you want to become a dancer?
I used to take gymnastics, but I felt like it wasn't the best for me. While at the gym one day, I saw the dancers dancing through the glass and I knew that's what I wanted to do. I love music and expressing my feelings with dance.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My favorite item in my dance bag is my dance journal. It helps me remember and apply corrections and tips for each dance I am part of.
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
To give anything less than your best is sacrificing the gift.
Madilyn Savage
Role: Mountie
• What are you most looking forward to about dancing alongside the professional dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet?
Watching the dancers in their pointe shoes.
• Who is your favorite character to dance?
My favorite character that I have played is an angel, but I really love the party girls!
• Who is your favorite dancer?
My friend, Ema, and one of the older girls at my studio, Macy. She is SO good! I love to watch her!
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
My dad once told me that nobody else gets to decide who Madi is going to be. I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not. I get to just be myself. I really liked that advice and try to remember it.
Matthias Gwinn
Role: Party Boy
• When did you start performing on stage?
I started dancing when I was 3. My first role on stage was when I was 4. I was a candlestick in "Mother Goose" at Springfield Ballet. My brother was Jack and had to jump over me. I was afraid he would miss.
• Who is your favorite dancer?
My brother because he is the one who got me into this. He is the best dancer I know because he perseveres even when things don't go his way. He is a good role model.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
Food! Lots of snacks. It is a myth that dancers don't eat a lot. We eat all the time for energy.
• What do you love most about ballet?
I enjoy getting lost in the music and not thinking about anything else but ballet. I love learning new things from my ballet teachers, especially when I do summer intensives.
Naomi Greenway
Role: Angel
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
I love to leap.
• Who is your favorite character to dance?
I loved the mouse part in "The Nutcracker" because it was super cute and I got to be on stage with a lot of the professional dancers.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My favorite item is my ballet shoes, and my fun and silly item is a Starbucks gift card in case I need some extra energy.
• What do you love most about ballet?
I love ballet because it's athletic and beautiful and you get to dance to interesting music.
Natalie Bell
Role: Party Child
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
Arabesque. They can be soft and floating or powerful and dramatic.
• Who is your favorite dancer?
Misty Copeland. She is a great role model and encourages dancers to be strong and healthy.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
The most surprising thing is my baby powder. I use it to help keep my toe pads clean. My favorite item is my pointe shoes.
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
To make yourself look like a dancer you have to have enough confidence in yourself to really FEEL like a dancer.
Quinn Ballew
Role: Polar bear
• What is your favorite dance move to perform?
My favorite move is the pas de chat, otherwise known as the cat step.
•Who is your favorite character to dance?
My favorite character to dance is Firebird, the bird Misty Copeland played [in Stravinsky's "Firebird"].
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My favorite item in my dance bag is snacks because I am always hungry.
• What do you love most about ballet?
I love ballet because it is very calm.
Sara Justice
Role: Reindeer
• Who is your favorite character to dance?
Last year for my solo, I got to play the evil queen from "The Huntsman: Winter's War" and it has been my favorite so far.
• Who is your favorite dancer?
Haylee Rodrick from the In10sity In10sive.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My favorite thing in my dance bag is actually on it. In the midst of all my other decorations and puffys, I have a grey puffball that looks like an owl.
• What do you love most about ballet?
My favorite thing about ballet is that it is the basis for all other forms of dance. The more I improve in ballet, the more I improve everywhere.
____
Vivian Bullock
Role: Mouse
• What are you most looking forward to about dancing alongside the professional dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet?
It makes me feel proud and kind of famous!
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My leos (leotards) are my favorite and I keep slime in there, too!
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
• What do you love most about ballet?
[It's] so graceful and beautiful to watch.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Ballet Co.
Scout Watson
Role: Clara
• What have you learned about yourself or about the craft of ballet in performing this character?
One of the things I have learned about me in this ballet performance is that I get so stressed over one little small part that I can't get, but after I try and try, then I get it -- and it's like getting a gift that you always wanted.
• When did you start performing on stage?
I started performing on stage when I was at least 3 or 4 and that brought out a lot in me. I'm very shy, but not when I'm on stage.
• Who is your favorite character to dance?
My favorite character to play would be one of the evil stepsisters from "Cinderella" or any funny character because I love adding a twist to my performances.
• What is your favorite item in your dance bag?
My favorite thing in my dance bag is this little card with the French word "battement" (bat-muh) and the definition because it was one of the very first words that I learned in dance class.
• What do you love most about ballet?
What I love most about ballet is that you can be graceful in so many different ways, and you get a lot of new muscles when you do ballet.
Aluria Merlino
Role: Soldier, Page, Clown, and Boy in the Children's March
• What made you want to become a dancer?
Because I wanted to be active instead of being on electronic devices all the time.
• What have you learned about yourself or about the craft of ballet in performing with the NWA Regional Dance Co.?
I believe in myself better than I did before dance and that is harder than it looks and take lots of work.
• What do you want non-dancers to know about what you do?
I dance a lot, work hard and love my dance company.
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
When you make a mistake don't show it. Just work through it and make it better.
Western Arkansas Ballet
Kelsey Corder
Role: Snow Queen
• What made you want to become a dancer?
My mom signed me up for ballet class when I was 4 years old and on the day of my first class, I cried all day because I didn't want to go. On the ride home, I cried because I couldn't go back the next day, and I have been in love with dance ever since.
• Who/what inspires you most in your dance career?
Watching other dancers inspires me to always work hard and reminds me that there's always something for me to improve. I'm also inspired by the awestruck little girls who watch rehearsals through the windows and the reactions I receive from the audience.
• What have you learned about yourself or about the craft of ballet in performing with the Western Arkansas Ballet?
Through my years at WAB, I've learned that comparing my weaknesses to someone else's strengths won't make me any stronger. The only way to improve is to push yourself further than you think you can, no matter how far anyone else goes.
• What stereotypes about ballet do you wish you could dispel?
Many people think of ballet as little girls twirling around on stage in pretty pink tutus. People don't realize the sacrifice, hard work, dedication and strength it takes to be a dancer.
Jammie Walker
Role: Walker is a visiting dancer from New York's Jessica Lang Dance, returning to WAB to perform the role of Cavalier
• Who/what inspires you most in your dance career?
I am always inspired by the people around me. Watching how they approach a step or a role, or just seeing what their process is. I love learning from others.
• What lessons from your time with Western Arkansas Ballet stand out as having the greatest impact on you?
Definitely just working hard. I am glad that the faculty there pushed me so hard while I was young. It made me better prepared for my future training and eventual career.
• What have been your biggest challenges as a dance professional?
Mostly being physically sore almost all of the time. All of the classes, rehearsals and performances really take their toll on certain joints.
• What stereotypes about ballet do you wish you could dispel?
I think that the stereotype about dancers not eating is really unfortunate. Dance is aerobic activity, you have to fuel your body.
• What do you love most about ballet as an art form?
I love that ballet has the power to inspire people; to make them feel different when they leave the theater than they felt when they came in.
NAN What's Up on 11/18/2018