Chelsea McCormick danced in her first Nutcracker ballet when she was 9 years old.
“It was a really magical experience as I think it is for any child,” said McCormick, now a ballet instructor.
She’s helping prepare members of the Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble to present the 21st annual “Nutcracker” Dec. 18-20 at Barrington High School.
The show is based on The Nutcracker, a two-act ballet written in 1892 about a toy nutcracker that comes to life at Christmas time for a young girl named Clara. Peter Tchaikovsky wrote the music for the ballet, including familiar melodies such as “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” and “Waltz of the Flowers.”
In Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble’s production, students from elementary to high school age dance alongside professionals.
“It’s a really good opportunity for the children in our community to get to see what it’s like to be part of a professional quality performance,” McCormick said.
It’s also an opportunity for budding young ballerinas as well as dance and music lovers from the community to enjoy this time-honored tradition, she said.
“I remember as a little kid watching ‘The Nutcracker.’ I was always mesmerized by the waltz of the flowers. Eight to 12 dancers are all up there dancing in sync with one another. It’s a really beautiful scene when it’s done well. It’s one of the first roles that the intermediate and advanced students get to dance on point. It’s very challenging and very special.”
Auditions are open to students from any dance school in the area and they start rehearsing in August, said Mary Brennan of Barrington. She owns the Barrington Dance Academy and is the founder and artistic director of the Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble.
Beginning at age 7, children can play little parts such as mice, angels and snow flurries, she said. Starting at about age 12, the ballerinas appear in the party scene or as toy soldiers.
“After that we have different roles like snow queen, dolls dancing in party scenes, fairy angel, the dewdrop fairies, and of course, Clara,” she said.
All of these roles are either performed by company members or guest artists, Brennan said.
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In her 21st year of guiding the performance, Brennan still gets excited when the music and the rehearsals start.
“Each year, the storyline is the same and the costuming and choreography is the same. But the kids are all doing something new and different from what they did last year.”
Plus she never tires of watching the professionals she hires interact with the youth.
“It’s really nice to watch how mature these kids become in the face of having to really produce performance that’s up to caliber on a professional level. The people we have in to dance are by and large, wonderful people. They have a tendency to just naturally want to mentor the kids.”
Though she is fully focused on giving the dance ensemble the best experience possible, Brennan never forgets about the audience.
“We have so many families who are there every single year,” she said. “They make it a part of their holiday tradition.”
Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble’s ‘Nutcracker’
Dec. 18-20
Barrington High School, 616 W. Main St.
847-382-6333 or www.byde.org