The Magic of Nutcracker

An Interview with Christine Juarez, Vashon Allied Arts Director of Dance.

VAA: This is your fifteenth year producing and directing Nutcracker with VAA Center for Dance. Is this a labor of love?
Christine Juarez: Over the years, Nutcracker has become our marquee program and a rite of passage for our students. They are so excited about getting their little mouse ears and tails on. I love how happy it makes them. It’s not lost on me that we’re creating childhood memories that will last a lifetime. That’s what keeps me juiced up.

VAA: Do you see your dancers grow from year to year?
CJ: This is what I love about Nutcracker. It is a really solid educational tool for these kids and everyone looks forward to graduating into next year’s roles. Students already have a vision of what the performance should be from previous years, and can work toward that image in their heads. Six-year-olds start as Mice, then move up to Little Dolls at seven, then Petite Chefs, and so on. Casting starts when they’re older for the parts of Arabian Dancers, Flowers, Spanish Dancers.

VAA: What is the casting process?
CJ: We cast by technical ability. Some years it’s clear, and some it’s more difficult. Clara, in particular, is very hard to cast. By having every kid watch the auditions, it is completely transparent. The students themselves can see the subtle differences in each audition, so they understand why I choose certain dancers for certain roles. In class I say, ‘Okay, everybody, listen up. As of right now, you are auditioning for Nutcracker. I’m watching your technique, how you memorize sequencing. I’m watching how you express yourselves artistically.’ That way they’re always auditioning for the next part. I tell them to combine technical ability with self-expression. Millions of people can do a triple pirouette, but can they move the audience?

VAA: What’s new and exciting this year?
CJ: We are excited to present Nutcracker in the new Vashon High School Theater for the first time. Our spring Original Works production at VHS was a lot smaller, so we are eager to get in there with our cast of about 80 dancers and explore the space.

The top of the show starts off with a seasonal tap number choreographed by Crissy Baker, one of our VAA Dance staff. She has designed it to be in the same time period as Nutcracker.
I have reintroduced a section where Clara and the Nutcracker meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and tell her about their adventures through the party scene, battle scene and Land of Sweets. The Sugar Plum Fairy is so impressed that she calls forth a festival of dance, which reprises choreography from the second act. Instructor Vanesa Wylie has choreographed a transition interlude that is new this year.
Nutcracker

Friday, December 5, 1-2 pm (Narrated Children’s Matinee)
Friday, December 5, 7 pm
Saturday, December 6, 1 pm & 7 pm
Sunday, December 7, 1 pm
Vashon High School Theater
$12 Member/Student/Senior, $16 General
$5 Children’s Matinee
Tickets: VAA, Heron’s Nest, VashonAlliedArts.org