Dancers shifting roles in BalletMet ‘Nutcracker’
By the time that BalletMet’s annual production of “The Nutcracker” winds down on Sunday, the company will have performed the holiday classic 17 times.
The number might sound high, but company Artistic Director Edwaard Liang remembers performing the ballet with even more frequency as a member of the New York City Ballet in the 1990s and 2000s.
“Seventeen performances is quite a bit,” Liang said, “but in New York City Ballet, we did 45 performances — sometimes 50 — of ‘The Nutcracker.’”
Still, for a company of BalletMet’s size, the tally can be taxing: During this month’s run, each of the principal parts has been shared among dancers in the 26-member troupe.
For example, three dancers will appear as Herr Drosselmeyer (the inscrutable uncle who gives a nutcracker doll to heroine Clara Stahlbaum), and five others as the Nutcracker Prince.
Some dancers will be more familiar to BalletMet audiences than others, but Liang appreciates the chance to dip into the company’s roster.
“Half of my job ... is not just to put dancers on when they’re ready but also to push them and develop them,” Liang said. “They’re almost there, and they just need that extra push. ‘Nutcracker’ and full-length and classical ballets are a perfect way to be able to really give opportunities.”
This weekend, several dancers will be seen in roles they have not danced in previous “Nutcrackers.”
First-year company member Sophie Miklosovic grew up in Detroit dreaming of playing Clara. Because she focused on jazz and lyrical dancing until age 12, however, she never got the opportunity.
“When I went to see ‘Nutcracker’ when I was little, or if I watched it on TV, ... I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to do Clara,’” said Miklosovic, 17, whose age and height led her to be cast in more mature roles, such as the Sugar Plum Fairy or Snow Queen, in subsequent school productions.
In performances Thursday and Sunday, however, Miklosovic will step onstage as Grown-Up Clara. In BalletMet’s production, the part is initially performed by a student dancer before a company member — in this case, Miklosovic — takes over.
“In this version of ‘The Nutcracker,’ Clara dances what in other productions the Snow Queen does,” Miklosovic said. “She does the snow pas (de deux) with the Nutcracker Prince, and she dances in (the Waltz of the) Flowers with the Nutcracker Prince, as well.”
Despite dancing a part designated as Grown-Up Clara, Miklosovic tries to keep herself in a youthful state of mind.
“She’s still a younger girl,” she said. “You really have to think, ‘Oh, my gosh — there’s a Chinese doll in front of me, dancing.’”
Meanwhile, William Newton — also a first-year company member — is balancing three roles in his inaugural installment of BalletMet’s “Nutcracker.” On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, he will appear as Clara’s father; on Thursday and Friday, as the Cavalier; and on Sunday — during this season’s final “Nutcracker” — in the Arabian Dance with his wife, Madeline Skelly.
Newton, a 28-year-old who grew up outside Johnstown, Ohio, previously appeared in comparable parts in other “Nutcracker” productions but said the roles here feel fresh to him.
Newton is especially looking forward to the last segment with Skelly.
“Having so much experience with her in the studio, ... but also on a personal level, knowing the way that she moves, ... it makes it that much more of a treat to get to go onstage because you’re that much more comfortable,” Newton said.
For audiences who saw “The Nutcracker” earlier in the month and want to revisit the production, these final shows will offer different sets of dancers.
Patrons should be prepared to see different interpretations, too, said Martin Roosaare (who, in his fifth season with BalletMet, made his role debut as the Nutcracker Prince earlier this month).
“All of us have our own different way of portraying the role,” said Roosaare, a 25-year-old Cincinnati native.
For example, Miguel Anaya appeared as the Cavalier on opening night and throughout the month (and will do so again on Saturday), but Newton has his own take on the character, who serves as the guide in Act II’s Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
“I try to be half as exciting as Miguel is onstage — he has an energy, just a motor that never stops,” Newton said. “I’m trying to present a commanding but very approachable and warm character.”
Liang is familiar with playing multiple roles in “The Nutcracker”: During his performing career, he said that he appeared in “every single part” for male dancers. His favorite?
“I loved being Mouse King,” he said. “I loved how dramatic it was, and I just loved being so bombastic.”