‘Nutcracker’ holds special memories for ballet dancers

Audiences consider "The Nutcracker" a holiday tradition — for good reason.

But it's at least as much of a tradition — if not more — for those who bring the ballet to life.

After all, many of them discovered dancing thanks to "The Nutcracker."

Take Nevada Ballet Theatre's artistic director, James Canfield, who choreographed NBT's "Nutcracker," returning Saturday to The Smith Center's Reynolds Hall for an eight-performance run.

Canfield first discovered "The Nutcracker" at age 10, in Richmond, Va., when the local ballet company recruited the boys in his tap-dancing class to play Mother Ginger's children, the Polichinelles, who emerge from beneath her giant hoop skirt and go into their acrobatic dance.

"I was in it before I saw it," Canfield says of his first "Nutcracker."

In that first production, " 'All you need to do is act like a little boy,' " Canfield remembers being told. "And in the party scene, you get a toy — and you march."

Even more than his own participation, however, Canfield remembers being "profoundly just in awe" of the production's guest artist, New York City Ballet star Edward Villella.

Soon afterward, Canfield saw "An Evening With the Royal Ballet," witnessing the legendary partners Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn and "I wanted to be a ballet dancer," he says. "That was it."

By 13, he had a scholarship to study at the Washington (D.C.) School of Ballet.

A year later, Canfield played his favorite "Nutcracker" role: the Nutcracker Prince, receiving his first audience applause, "my first review and everything." (Canfield's subsequent career generated numerous reviews — and plenty of applause — as a principal dancer with the legendary Joffrey Ballet.)

Dancer Steven Goforth, who's in his fourth season with NBT, began his ballet studies at age 7 — and remembers watching a videocassette of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's "Nutcracker," with costumes and sets by renowned children's author Maurice Sendak.

He and his siblings "wore that tape out," Goforth says. And after they watched it, they would "dance in the living room," he adds. "We just loved dancing."

Goforth, who made his "Nutcracker" debut as "a party boy and a soldier," has played a variety of roles in NBT's "Nutcracker," from the Snow Prince to Mother Ginger. ("And a rat," he adds.)

For this year's NBT production, Goforth will portray Drosselmeyer, the world-traveling, wizardlike toymaker who captivates Clara (danced by Betsy Lucas) with the title nutcracker.

Canfield himself played Drosselmeyer in last year's NBT "Nutcracker" and Goforth wants to "see how I can incorporate things he did" playing a character who's "totally unlike myself."

But "I love all the parts" in "The Nutcracker," Goforth adds. "I think each one poses its own challenge. Every year I've done something different."

That's one of the things he enjoys most.

"One of my favorite parts about being a dancer is storytelling," he explains. As he tells students, "the best part of being a ballet dancer is you get to play pretend."

Playing pretend, of course, is one of the principal charms of "The Nutcracker," which transports Clara — and, by extension, audience members — through a series of fanciful scenes depicting everything from an amazing, expanding Christmas tree to a Land of Sweets ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Add Tchaikovsky's magical musical score and "The Nutcracker" ranks as "a holiday tradition — it wouldn't be Christmas without it," according to 16-year-old Chandler Ornstein, a Faith Lutheran High School student who's a member of the NBT Academy's pre-professional ballet program.

A ballet student since age 4 ("my mom said, from the moment I walked, I walked on tippy-toes"), Ornstein has never seen "The Nutcracker" — live. (She did watch a videocassette version, starring Barbie, when she first auditioned for the ballet, at age 6.)

With NBT Academy, Ornstein has danced roles in such classic ballets as "Don Quixote" and "La Bayadere." (This season, she's dancing "Coppelia's" lead role, Swanilda.)

Someday, Ornstein says, she'd love to dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy and perform the "magical, beautiful" pas de deux with her Cavalier.

In this year's "Nutcracker," however, she's a (literal) doll in the battle scene, following roles as a party guest and a toy soldier.

It's a big commitment; auditions were in August and rehearsals began in early September. During "Nutcracker's" Reynolds Hall run, she'll be coming from — and studying for — final exams.

Still, Ornstein can't imagine spending "Nutcracker" season any other way than performing alongside her Academy classmates and NBT's professional company.

"You feel like you're a part of the company," she says, noting the excitement of checking out Reynolds Hall's backstage dressing rooms — and watching members of the professional company rehearse on the stage.

"I can't put into words seeing this amazing theater," she says of The Smith Center auditorium, "and thinking, 'Wow — I get to perform on that stage."

— Read more from Carol Cling at reviewjournal.com. Contact her at ccling@reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.