WELLINGTON COUNTY – For Fergus dancer Madi Kitching the second time was the charm for making her professional dancing dreams a reality.
The 11-year-old dancer from Grand River Dance Academy in Fergus landed a role in the touring cast of this year’s instalment of Ballet Jörgen’s The Nutcracker – a Canadian Tradition.
Each year Canada’s Ballet Jörgen puts on The Nutcracker, which features as backdrops, three works by Canada’s 20th Century landscape artists – Franklin Carmichael’s Church and Houses at Bisset (1931), Tom Thomson’s Snow in the Woods (1916) and L.L. FitzGerald’s Trees and Wildflowers (1922).
The ballet features local talent in each of the cities the tour visits through the
company’s Nutcracker Youth Program. Young dancers can audition to perform with the professional dance company and experience a ballet company.
Kitching aspires to one day be a professional dancer.
She has been dancing since she was three years old and while she does contemporary, jazz, tap, hip hop and acro, it’s ballet that’s her favourite.
“It’s just really fun to do,” Kitching said.
When she was nine years old, she auditioned for a local role in The Nutcracker but was not given a part. This year she decided to audition for the touring cast.
Her auditions took place in both Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto.
“We just learned part of The Nutcracker and then we danced them in partners,” Kitching said.
Her audition was successful and she received a part as a young girl at the party scene in the first half and a deer in the second half of the ballet.
“It’s really fun and I’m just really happy to be part of the experience,” Kitching said.
Although she said the choreography isn’t too difficult to pick up, she did need to learn to act more in her dancing.
Kitching’s mom, Jennifer, said Kitching had to learn a lot of different facial expressions and be overly dramatic to help convey the story through more than just the dancing.
So far, Kitching has travelled to Saskatchewan for 10 days to perform.
She will be performing in Hamilton, Guelph, Kitchener and St. Catharines before Christmas.
In the Guelph shows she will be joined by a number of local dancers.
One of those dancers is Elisa Napier of Puslinch.
This was the 12-year-old dancer’s first time auditioning for The Nutcracker.
“My dance teacher actually told us to audition and try,” said Napier, who has danced for eight years at the Guelph Academy of Dance.
Napier will be performing as a chipmunk during the first Guelph performance.
While she takes classes in ballet, tap and contemporary, ballet is her passion.
“It’s … fun,” she said. “It’s more elegant than jazz and it’s hard work because I get pushed in the recital to do better.”
After rehearsing every Sunday for much of the fall, Napier will be performing on Dec. 20 at the River Run Centre in Guelph.
She said she’s most looking forward to “wearing the costumes and being on stage.”
Kitching and Napier will be joined by six other dancers from Wellington County and 10 dancers from Guelph:
– Emma Cozzarin, Elora;
– Abby Graham, Fergus;
– Mikayla Hummel, Fergus;
– Hayley Watson, Fergus;
– Emma Hahn, Fergus;
– Aliyah Schleen, Fergus;
– Jadienne Sarong, Guelph;
– Miranda Hennick, Guelph;
– Megan Rabe, Guelph;
– Ava Daly, Guelph;
– Jessica Marshall, Guelph;
– Isabella vanMilligen, Guelph;
– Sophie Billing, Guelph;
– Paige Amiro, Guelph;
– Kaylee de Vos, Guelph; and
– Aisling Booker, Guelph.
For dancers considering auditioning for The Nutcracker – a Canadian Tradition Kitching says, “just work hard and have fun.”
The Nutcracker – a Canadian Tradition, will be in Guelph at the River Run Centre on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 at 7:30pm.
Adult tickets are $52/$47, senior tickets are $49/$44 and student tickets are $36/$31. The premier seating price is $72. Tickets are available at the River Run Centre Box Office at 519-763-3000 or 1-877-520-2408 or www.riverrun.ca.
