The Christmas season has ended, but I’d like to make mention of the fact that many a young male dancer has gotten his start in the Nutcracker. I’ve been meaning to mention a nice article that was written on this topic and published in The Courier-Journal. I noticed it published on Boys and Ballet.
Some boys begin dancing because they first get acting roles in the Nutcracker. Julian was already dancing at Ballet San Jose when he first appeared as Fritz. He hardly danced those first three years, but he did act.
He went on to perform in the San Jose Dance Theatre Nutcracker. The first year he remained Fritz, but he did do some dancing; he even had a solo, if I recall correctly. The next year he was the Nutcracker and he danced a bit more.
This year with City Ballet School he had the “big” roles–the ones that we’ve always seen given to the professional dancers. In fact, he shared the role with a former professional dancer who performed in two shows. Julian had the honor of dancing the parts of the Snow King and the Cavalier. He did a ton of partnering and had a solo.
Out of his Cavalier role has come a new opportunity: Julian and his partner, a 14-year old girl with exceptional ability who learned the role in two weeks, will take the pas to the Youth American Grand Prix (YAGP) competition. He had previously been told he was not ready to go to YAGP this year, but his performance –and his increased level of technique–have earned him the chance to go. In fact, this week he was asked to partner another young girl as well; this ballerina is actually already auditioning for jobs in ballet companies and going to YAGP provides an opportunity for her to be seen and possibly receive job offers.
So, if you are looking for a way to get your son interested in dance or you want to expose your son to professional or pre-professional ballet companies, a Nutcracker performance might be just the ticket.
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