UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) -- It’s that time of year for Nutcracker dreams and ballet wishes.
It’s a time when thousands of children and adults across the tri-state area are busy rehearsing or performing in the holiday classic, The Nutcracker Suite.
From the youngest ballet dancers playing the reindeer to the boys and girls in the battle scene between soldiers and mice, Francis Patrelle’s Yorkville Nutcracker has an all-inclusive cast.
Practically every child who auditions gets a part. That is one of the distinguishing features of this nutcracker set in New York City in 1895.
“We make it so there is a place for everyone,” Justin Allen, managing director of Dances Patrelle, told PIX11 News.
For some dancers like Hayley Clark, who started as a reindeer 20 years ago, this is a labor of love.
Now she is a professional dancer, at age 26, dancing the part of the snow queen.
“Such a fulfilling experience every year, especially having grown up here,” Hayley Clark, Yorkville Nutcracker dancer, told PIX11 News.
For the parents and all the young dancers, it is 10 weeks of a grueling rehearsal schedule to enter this dream world of opening night and dancing in the Nutcracker.
“He gets to socialize with so many kids,” Ruth Garcia, parent, told PIX11 News.
Andrew Skafidas, her son, who dances in the party scene and is a soldier, agreed.
“I get to meet all these new kids and get to do this wonderful choreography,” he said.
And the 12-year-old girl who is dancing the lead is thrilled beyond words.
“I’m nervous, but I’m also excited,” Scarlett Lion, who is a seventh grader playing Mary, told PIX11 News. “I have been watching other people dance for six years, and now I am doing it. I am excited about it."
The Yorkville Nutcracker opens on Dec. 14 at Hunter College’s Danny Kaye playhouse, with student rush tickets starting at $10 and going up to $80. The last performance is Dec. 17, with two matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
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