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Backstage at The Nutcracker it’s about more than dancing

By Alison Grande
By Alison Grande

SEATTLE — This holiday season there are more than 140 local children in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at Pacific Northwest Ballet.

It is the experience of a lifetime for these young dancers from Pacific Northwest Ballet School. They started rehearsing in October.

There are 70 students from Pacific Northwest Ballet School in each performance and two casts, three casts of mice, which cover the 40 performances. It is an intense three-month commitment.

"I would say this is one of the best times of my life," said Piper Begley,10,  who is a party girl in The Nutcracker this year.

The dancers are excited to be on stage and to be a part of something that's become a Seattle tradition.

When they're not dancing, they're busy doing something to help children in need.

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"They're knitting hats for kids in the hospital", explained dancer Sarah Hiciano, 10. "It feels really good, the fact that you're helping kids in need. It's really fun."

So far the students have finished more than 60 hats,  which they're making for sick children at Seattle Children's Hospital.

"I feel really bad for them and I want to give them joy, "said dancer Enrique Feu, who is 11 years old and has the role of the Nutcracker this year.

"It's great perspective. I think we all need to work to give kids perspective about our own situations versus what others are going through," said Jennifer Faul, a parent volunteer who is helping the children make the hats.

The hats will be wrapped up and delivered to Seattle Children's Hospital on Christmas Eve.

"That is really teaching them a way to give back to the community," said Lauren Kirchner, the student cast and parent volunteer coordinator at Pacific Northwest Ballet. "They have some down time here, so when they're knitting a hat, they're knitting it for someone else and they're knitting it to give to somebody who is going through a hard time."

"We want to make them feel better, to make sure everything's OK," said Dorje Houseworth-Barba, 10.

It is a chance for these students who have so much to be thankful for to bring smiles to children they won't ever meet.

"It feels really good," said Rachael Young, 11, who is in The Nutcracker for the fourth year in a row.

The Nutcracker runs through Dec. 28th at McCaw Hall.

Cox Media Group

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