Nutcracker roles 2021 and 2022

*What I have learned from each role*

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I truly hope everyone has an amazing holiday and finds everything you are grateful for:)

This weeks blog is about all of my Nutcracker roles played and what I have learned from them in 2021-2022. In 2021, I performed in my first Nutcracker with my new studio and because it was new, not many dancers came into the class I was placed in. Only 2 dancers in my class and therefore that led to myself and the other student doing almost over half of the second act in Nutcracker. So what roles did I perform my first year? I did Snow Cor De Ballet, Mouse King, Spanish, Chinese tea, Marzipan, and Flowers. Roles for this year are Snow Queen, Russian, Marzipan, and Flowers.

These roles played last year have a huge difference compared to this years due to having more students and the fact that everyone basically has moved up. This is very interesting because you get to see the growth everyone makes and you see the many things that are being made differently. Most of the roles I played last year are not the same for this year.

What have you learned from these roles?

Spanish– this role is very sassy and fun. You want to make your dance as confident as you can be and sharp even with the arms to the head. There’s lot of details in the choreography to make it beautiful.

Snow– snow corps is super fun but you want to show that you are snowflakes and not flowers, there’s a difference. The difference can be from the hands/arms and what you do with your head. In snow, everything needs to be sharp and show the smiles within your dance. This goes along for the cast playing Snow Queen. I have learned that the footwork and if you have a partner, the way you look at your partner in the pa de deux is important to do that the audience sees.

Mouse king– playing the mouse king is a thrill. From the time you come out on stage to the end of the battle. This part is really fun even though the ending is sad. The mouse king is a character and you have to step out of your comfort zone and become a silly character. You do not want to be stiff, challenge yourself and move around, jump, run, and just have fun. The little kiddos will enjoy your character!

Chinese– this scene is really cool because it shows lots of your technique and within the scene there are specific details of handwork or footwork incorporated throughout. Usually there’s plenty of jumps of turns and gorgeous detailed costumes. Pay attention to what your teacher gives for your choreography if you are in this piece because it will give you lots of credit.

Russian– Russian is another fun dance. I’m learning this dance and as we continue to clean things here and there, I’m starting to witness the amount of 1-2 minute energy needed for this dance. There are quick movements all throughout and it needs to be sharp. I feel like Russian is a small break from the other scenes of nutcracker and it gives time away from straight classical ballet. Instead of pirouettes, glissadès, arabesque’s , you get butt kicks, split jumps, and running in a circle.

Marzipan– this is an interesting one. Marzipan is usually danced with a flute or something that goes in the dancers hands and is placed a certain way. Dancing with a prop is different and it does take time to get right especially if your not used to it. Doing this dance a second time with a prop and different choreography has taught me how to grow as a dancer with using a prop and not just dancing.

Flowers– flowers is more flowers and we use lots of waltzing which makes this really fun despite the dancing for 7 minutes. I enjoy the energy it gives. What I’ve learned from this scene is that even when your energy is limited at the end, you have to give the last little 30% of your heart and sole into this, it’s the last one and you can’t make it seem like your tired. The arms need to be big and use the head to make everything coordinate with each other. Feel like a flower and be the flower.

Hope this has been a help to anyone performing in Nutcracker soon and wanted some insight in these roles and how you can make it even better. Have a great rest of your week!