Principal dancers in ‘The Nutcracker’ include, first row: Julia Godfrey, Lucy Lew, and Jordan Medley. Second row: Melina Ospina-Wiese, Mckenna Granahan and Hallie Dixon.
Photo courtesy Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre
Show time is 3 p.m. Saturday at Wyoming Seminary’s Kirby Center for Creative Arts
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‘Nutcracker’ characters Clara and her younger brother, Fritz, portrayed by dancers Jordan Medley and Sierra Scott, show a little bit of sibling rivalry as they fight over Clara’s Christmas present.
Photo courtesy Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre
Giving a preview of their upcoming performance of ‘The Nutcracker Ballet’ during a recent appearance at the West Pittston Library are Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre dancers Lucy Lew, Jordan Medley, Mckenna Granahan and Julia Godfrey.
Times Leader File Photo
“When I was here at 3 years old I’d look at the older dancers and I wanted to be like them,” 17-year-old Julia Godfrey of Forty Fort said. “Now I look back at my 3-year-old self and feel she’s proud of me.”
Many holiday seasons, and many productions of “The Nutcracker” have come and gone since Godfrey was a beginner, and now new beginners look up to the older dancers at the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre — and no doubt want to be like them.
This year the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre has four senior dancers — as in 12th-grade, high school seniors — and artistic director Gina Malsky has given each one several principal roles in this year’s “Nutcracker,” which is set for 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Kirby Center for Creative Arts on the campus of Wyoming Seminary in Kingston.
Godfrey will be the dewdrop fairy, a ballerina doll in the party scene, and will appear as a soloist Sugar Plum Fairy.
Lucy Lew, 18, of Dallas, will appear as the Nutcracker Doll, in the angel variation, and dance as the Sugar Plum Fairy in a pas de deux with a partner.
Mckenna Granahan, 18, of Exeter will dance as a jester doll, a snow princess and as a soloist in the flower scene.
And 17-year-old Jordan Medley will appear as both Clara, the little girl who receives the Nutcracker doll as a Christmas present, and the snow queen.
While the snow queen seems “kind of magical,” Medley said, Clara is like any 9 or 10 year old at holiday time.
“She just wants to open presents and start the party,” the dancer said.
Oh, yes, there’s one other way Clara is a typical kid. She fights with her little brother Fritz — and that’s how the Nutcracker will get broken.
“They have a love/hate relationship,” Medley said of the fictional siblings. “They fight a lot but there are sweet moments between them, like when they dance together at the end.”
If you attend the show, you can look for many other sweet moments as the 51-member cast showcases Clara’s visit to a magical land filled with dances that represent various treats, such as flowers and sugar plums, and different cultures.
“It’s very pretty,” said Melina Ospina-Wiese, 14, of Kingston, who will dance in the Spanish variation after appearing as a snowflake and a maid in earlier scenes.
Before Clara visits the magical land, she’ll help the come-to-life Nutcracker triumph in battle over mouse queen.
“It is very fun,” 15-year-old Hallie Dixon of Exeter said of her role as the mouse queen, which is very fast-paced, especially when compared to the slow stretches she performs in the Arabian variation.
As for that mouse queen, is she a villain?
Dixon considered the question for a moment. “Yes, I think she is a villain,” she said.
The cast is filled with dancers, but one performer considers himself an actor first. King’s College student Matt Carr will appear as Drosselmeyer, the party guest who gives Clara the Nutcracker doll.
Reflecting on the mystery and magic that surrounds that somewhat eccentric character, Carr said, “I think they invited him, but I also think everybody is surprised he showed up.”
Tickets to Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre’s “Nutcracker” are $20 for adults, $10 for children younger than 8 and for Wyoming Seminary students. For reservations call 570-332-7817. For more info, email missgina@dtwb@gmail.com/.