The Eleanor Connell School of Dance of Annandale will be performing a version of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” on December 7 at 5 pm in Hunterdon Central’s theater. The ballet is produced by Miss Mimi Connell who also directed the production along with Miss Stacy Wilker.
Sophomore Keely Menezes is portraying Clara, a young girl who has an adventure in a magical Christmas world where she meets many people and attempts to defeat the evil Rat Queen. Menezes says, “It’s a privilege to be given this role, and I’m so excited and so terrified that I’m going to fall on my butt.”
Alex Puleo, senior, says that her favorite part is “being able to embody a character because we can’t do that during the spring recital. We get so much experience with other people in show business.” Puleo will be the Sugar Plum Fairy, one of the people who greet Clara when she arrives in the world.
“Each year, we put together a show that best features our dancer at the present moment” said Wilker. Another dancer, Emily Tevebaugh, talks about how“there are fewer dancers this year, so everyone has more time onstage.”
Wilker was a dancer at Connell and she participated in “The Nutcracker” when she was growing up. She says that she “looks at it now and remembers how magical it was when I was little. To still share in that tradition 20 years later and to see it has the same effect on the girls today makes me proud to keep the tradition going.”
All of the dancers agree that “The Nutcracker” is a spectacular production that adds a little more magic into the Christmas season. Tickets are $18 for adults and $14 for students, and may be purchased at the door on the day of the event.