A HOLIDAY TRADITION
Berks dancers perform ‘The Nutcracker’ at Fleetwood High
A holiday tradition continued with Berks dancers performing “The Nutcracker” Dec. 11 and 12 at Fleetwood High School.
“I hope it provides the community a chance to get together and celebrate the holidays. We’ve all been so isolated lately, I just hope that it provided a reason for people to get together and celebrate,” said Micaela Hulsebos, director of Kutztown Dance Center.
Every other year, the Kutztown Dance Center performs the ballet at one of the local high schools.
“I think The Nutcracker is probably one of the more long-standing holiday traditions there is. It was first performed in 1892 and has basically been playing every Christmas since,” said Hulsebos. “The music is recognized by everyone and is part of just about every holiday playlist there is.”
Often, a dancer’s first exposure to ballet is “The Nutcracker,” she said.
“Young kids see the Sugarplum Fairy and her pretty tutu, or watch Russian and their leaping and acrobatics, and they want to be those people. So, not only is it a fun start to the holidays that’s been around for over 100 years, it’s been getting kids interested in dance for just about as long!”
In that sense, “The Nutcracker” is an incredibly important tradition, she said.
“It’s so wide-spread that just about everyone can see a Nutcracker, or at least a piece of the Nutcracker, and it gets a lot of people interested in the arts.”
“It’s fun, it’s whimsical, and the music is so catchy that just one listen and it’s in your head forever,” she added.
A Local Production
A completely local production, Kutztown Dance Center does not hire in professional dancers. The entire community around the studio gets involved to organize, direct and run the show.
“I think quite a lot sets us apart from other productions of The Nutcracker. The quality of our costumes, sets and scenery, the creativity inherent in everything on that stage, our dancers’ skill and commitment despite not being professionals … I could go on and on,” said Hulsebos.
Almost every single costume was designed and created by the director of the show, Priscilla Knight.
“The colors are bold and vibrant, and each costume is unique with such an attention to detail that you just don’t get from store-bought costumes. You don’t see that outside of the major ballet companies,” Hulsebos said.
This year, new costumes for the entire Snow Scene were designed
and made by Knight, Alyssa Sitarik and Stacey Seidel, a dancer and parent of a dancer respectively; these costumes had not been replaced since the center’s first Nutcracker in 2000.
Kutztown Dance Center has many on staff that create the sets and scenery. Their most recent additions were the Party Scene and Snow Scene backdrops.
“Alyssa Sitarik designed the artwork and then a whole bunch of us got together one weekend and painted them on the driveway of one of our other parents,” she said. “They’re absolutely gorgeous and again, it isn’t something that you normally see outside of a major ballet company.”
From backstage to onstage and front of house, the entire production is made up of local dancers and their families.
“The Nutcracker” dancers are students of Kutztown Dance Center and other local studios in Berks County with students from Kutztown, Fleetwood, Brandywine Heights, Oley Valley, Hamburg and Macungie school districts.
“We do not hire in professional dancers, preferring to give the opportunity for the major leads to our own local students. They can handle it, so why not? They put their whole hearts into these roles and deserve to have their hard work recognized,” said Hulsebos.
This year’s production featured about 60 dancers in the cast. The youngest, about age 6, are little angels. Most of the cast range in age between 6 and 18, plus parents in the Party Scene. Many adult dancers also perform and have been students with Knight since they were kids.
One of the adult dancers, Jamie G., who has been performing with Kutztown Dance Center since she was little, performed the roles of Party Mom, Snowflake, and Marzipan Shepherdess.
“For a lot of people, dancing ends with graduation and going off to college so being able to do something I love past graduation and now being able to share this lifelong passion with my daughter makes it all the more worthwhile,” said Jamie.
Hulsebos believes the whole experience provides an outlet.
“It is a way to get out of your head and stop worrying about whatever else is on your mind. There’s no room for anything else except for dance when you’re in rehearsal and I think for a lot of our students it relieves a lot of the stress they are under,” she said.
The performance also provides something to look forward to.
“For about a year these kids were in a sort of limbo and were really afraid they’d never be able to go back to what they love,” she said. “Since August, this has been a defined goal they’ve been working towards and I think it’s provided a kind of confidence they can hold onto.”
The show provides a connection with other dancers.
“This is very definitely a team project and it’s such a joy to watch these kids, and their parents who’ve been just as integral to this performance, reaching out and making friends or deepening friendships they already had.”
A Performance to Remember
While the shows were not sold out, the auditorium was nearly full, more so than Hulsebos has seen in a while.
“We’ve gotten a very large response from the community,” said Hulsebos. “From what we can tell, a lot of people are choosing to go to a smaller local Nutcracker rather than try to go into a city (Philadelphia or NYC) to see a professional one.”
The center received a lot more calls and emails from people not directly affiliated with the studio than in the past.
Everyone involved was very eager and excited both to perform and watch, she said.
“I like the friendships that you develop,” said Sydney C., age 11, who performed the roles of Fritz, Pine, Icicle, and Flowers.
“I like seeing the progress everyone makes throughout the Nutcracker season,” said Helen Y., age 14, a Frost Fairy, Party Boy, Guardian Angel, Flowers, and Arabian.
Harper L., age 6, said her favorite part of being in The Nutcracker is being an angel and eating snacks backstage with her friends.
Elizabeth P., age 6, angel, said her favorite part is playing the bugle horn onstage. This was a special part that only two angels had the opportunity to do.
Kylie M., age 6, angel, said her favorite part is dancing with friends.
Ava B., age 13, who performed as Raggedy Ann, Arabian, and Soldier, said, “I enjoy watching the snow falling during the Snow Scene,” and enjoyed watching the dancers in the full cast warm-up before the show.
Ava M., age 11, a Mouse and Sprinkle, also likes the full cast warm-u.
“It’s fun to see everyone together and you can meet new people. I also like watching the sweets perform because they get me excited.”
Excitement was high for the shows.
“The atmosphere was very celebratory,” said Hulsebos. “Backstage, everyone was happy and energetic.”
The dancers cheered everyone on.
“There were a couple hold-your-breath moments when our dancers did a particularly hard stunt and it was great to see everyone gathered backstage cheering them on and congratulating them when they came offstage,” she said.
It was one of the most reactive audiences also.
“We have quite a few comedy moments, especially during the Party Scene, and hearing the audience laugh was very gratifying, especially since they don’t always react.”
The energy was different from previous years also.
“Everyone is just so excited to do something ‘normal’ that the energy from the cast, crew, and parents and families of dancers is so much more than usual,” she said.
There was a wonder and gratitude associated with this year’s show that had everyone lighting up and wanting to do as much as possible to make this show a success, Hulsebos said.