Every year during the holiday season, there are hundreds of Nutcracker performances that are put on by various dance companies all throughout the United States. In the Traverse City area, we have Nutcracker performances put on by Dance Arts Academy, Interlochen, and Ballet Etc. When Ballet Etc. puts on their performance, they partner with Northwestern Michigan Ballet Theater (NMBT) to bring the program to life.
“Ballet Etc. is where we take our classes. It’s our ballet school, basically. And NMBT is what we do our performances through and where we learn the Nutcracker and our spring show,” Junior and dancer at Ballet Etc. and NMBT Anika Hintz said.
In preparation for the multiple showings of the Nutcracker that they put on NMBT shares studio space with Ballet Etc., which is owned and operated by Thomas Morrell, who also founded NMBT. He does much of the choreography for the performances and is called Mr. M by the dancers. In order to acquire the cast for their Nutcracker, students, even if they aren’t a part of Ballet Etc., have the opportunity to take an audition class for NMBT to be given a role in the Nutcracker.
“(F)or NMBT, you’re auditioning for [the] Nutcracker and then the performances, then for Ballet Etc., you don’t really have to audition. You can kind of just sign up for classes,” Junior and dancer at Ballet Etc. and NMBT Lucy Thiel said.
After auditioning, the dancers find out their roles. The story of the Nutcracker begins with young girl Clara and her family hosting a christmas party. She is gifted a Nutcracker by her magical godfather and later that night the Nutcracker becomes life sized. He defeats the king of the mice and escorts Clara to the Land of the Sweets and the Kingdom of the Sugar Plum Fairy. All of the people of the land dance for Clara and then she begins her travels home and wakes up wondering if it was just a dream.
“(T)his year, I am dewdrop. I am snow quartet. I am a maid, and I am an Arabian,” Hintz said.
The performers start preparing in August and their rehearsals take place on Saturdays.
“You get there at 10:30 [am], and we have an hour long class before anything. Some people take stretch before class, which then you get there at ten. And then, after we have company class, then we have our lunch, and then, after lunch is done, we start to rehearse things, and we have, like, a schedule, which shows us what we do every Saturday, and it shows you what studio you’re in, who you’re working with, which teacher you’re with, and then, that is kind of just how you go from there, and then normally we get done at around 4:30 or 5,” Thiel said.
Spending the long days rehearsing allows for the dancers to form close friendships with their teammates, many of whom have been dancing together for years.
“(I)’ve met all of my best friends. I’ve been dancing [them] with since I was little, and the teachers are now just a big part of my life, and I will cherish those memories forever,” Thiel said.
After the Nutcracker season is over, the dancers continue to take regular weekday classes at Ballet Etc. after school, but they also begin preparations for their Spring Performance. This year they are putting on A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale.
“The spring show is often a ballet choreographed by Mr. M, who is our director, our artistic director […] last year, we did Sleeping Beauty, and it’s just we do a different one every year,” Hintz said.
