In 1890, the original Nutcracker Ballet was choreographed by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. They based The Nutcracker off of The Tale of the Nutcracker by Alexandre Dumas père, adapted from E.T.A Hoffman’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Milwaukee Ballet will be performing The Nutcracker at the Marcus Center of the Performing Arts. Two of St. Robert’s very own students, 7th grader Zulenny and 6th grader Natalie, will be participating in the classic libretto. Editor’s update: Two fourth graders, Mercedes and Lindsey are also gracing the stage as angels for this performance!

The typical life of a Nutcracker Ballet dancer consists of memorizing music and rehearsing two to four hours a week, and as the show gradually grows closer, more hours are added onto their rehearsals. Although they still have much to do to be ready for opening night, at this point, the dancers feel more confident and some of their stress is relieved. A great relief to the student performers is that The Nutcracker has two casts, so performers only have to perform in half the shows. Despite this relief, stress is often added when some moms “bring the drama.” The Lifetime show, Dance Moms exaggerates how dance moms really behave, but The Nutcracker still has a bit of drama according to Natalie.

Despite the drama their mothers bring to rehearsals, dancers still work hard to be on their “A” game. Sometimes they even have to risk their health for ballet, laboring longs hours in spite of the seasonal illnesses being spread around. Additionally, if a dancer were to get hurt during a show, there may be some help backstage, but most of the time the show just has to continue. As the old saying goes, “The show must go on.”  Not only are they dealing with physical health, but Zulenny and Natalie have to balance school with dance. A lot of times during school a dancer’s mother might pull them out of school for dance, which is a major conflict.

Amid all this pressure, there is always the chance of not making the cast for any given performance. Often times, dancers are declined a performance offer as they simply didn’t make the cut. There are thousands of dancers auditioning for parts, but only couple hundred are chosen, sometimes the amount becomes hard to count. Not only do they have pressure to get a certain part, but they also have to worry about their form. During a performance dancers aren’t provided a mirror to watch if their feet or posture are correct, so the pressure is on to keep form together. Although there is much stress when dancers are trying to be exceptional, Natalie thinks, “It is awesome to know that you are doing something that you love to help entertain others; that’s what I love about performances.”

To appreciate the hard work of these ballerinas, attend one of their many performances. Natalie and Zulenny will be proudly participating in The Nutcracker, and it would be wonderful if their community shows up to support their efforts. The Nutcracker will be performed by the Milwaukee Ballet at the Marcus Center between December 12, 2015 and December 27 , 2015.

Update: Two more St. Robert students are gracing the stage as members of the “angel” cast. Fourth graders Mercedes and Lindsey can be seen dancing in this holiday show!