CENTRE WELLINGTON – Two young dancers from Centre Wellington have earned the chance to dance with Ballet Jörgen in its production of The Nutcracker next month.
Ballet Jörgen is a dance company co-founded by Bengt Jörgen and has exclusively danced works created for the company by Canadian and Canada-based choreographers.
Since 2003 Ballet Jörgen has been bringing the production to Guelph with the help of Live at the Hippo Pool Events co-founder Carolynn Clark and her partner.
Every year auditions open to local young dancers for the opportunity to dance as the characters of a beloved Christmas story.
Local young dancers
Amelia Bauman, 11, from Fergus and Kira O’Connor, 9, from Elora both dance at the Fergus-based Stage Presence School of Dance. The two dancers excelled during the Sept.7 audition process ultimately earning themselves performance roles.
“I’m really happy that I get to do [the production]; I hope that I can do it for more years because it’s really fun,” Bauman told the Advertiser.
In her third year of the production Bauman is set to play the role of the squirrel and the dragonfly, which are new roles for her.
The Nutcracker tells the story of a little girl named Clara who befriends a nutcracker toy that comes to life on Christmas Eve; the two join forces to battle the fierce Mouse King.
Eventually Bauman hopes to play the role of Clara but must be over 12 years old and be a Ballet Jörgen touring cast member.
“It’s just been an amazing opportunity for her; she’s gotten to see a whole side to dance that she would have never seen before,” noted Amelia’s mother Bonnie Bauman.
The young dancers went through two rounds of auditions before the final cast was decided.
“I thought the chipmunk and squirrel were pretty cool but they thought I was good at the frog,” stated O’Connor referring to The Nutcracker roles.
She noted the frog choreography makes her legs tired from all the jumping.
“It was good to see her go through the audition process,” stated Kira’s mother Kristina O’Connor. “We were excited she made it through.”
Behind the scenes
Clark works as a presenter and consultant in the performing arts. She works with her partner to arrange advertising, publicity and organizes auditions between dance companies and local dancers.
“The local rehearsal director at the Royal City School of Ballet and Jazz and I make sure the young dancers who are appearing in the Guelph performances have all of the information and all of the materials they need to be ready for the show,” Clark told the Advertiser.
“I think for adults and maybe especially in our current world the appeal of The Nutcracker is the comfort of a kind, gentle and hopeful story,” noted Clark. “I think it sort of offers the possibility of connection to our inner child for whom all things are possible.”
She believes the story appeals across generations and has become a Christmas tradition in the Guelph community.
“This year we had approximately 50 young dancers come out to audition,” she said.
Thirteen roles are available in the production but the two Guelph performance dates provided an opportunity to involve more dancers.
The audition judges accepted 19 dancers in total.
“Some of the roles we have two dancers; one does one night and one does the other,” she explained.
Clark said enjoys watching young dancers progress through the different roles as they get older and gain more experience.
“Auditioning in The Nutcracker in their home community like Guelph can be the beginning of a career journey for young dancers and it’s so exciting to watch that happen,” she said.
“It’s a lovely tradition for everyone.”
Those interested in seeing the show can buy tickets at the River Run Centre Box Office at 519-763-3000 or go to the River Run website at riverrun.ca.
The performance will be presented on Dec. 19 and 20, both at 7:30pm, at the River Run Centre in Guelph.
Ticket prices vary for seniors, adults and youth, ranging from $38 to $85 for gold seating.
