'Nutcracker' performances this weekend
Ballet Coeur d'Alene will honor a long-standing holiday tradition this weekend.
The ballet school will present "The Nutcracker" at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1700 Pennsylvania Ave., Coeur d'Alene.
There will be performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, and one performance at 7 p.m. Sunday.
"Don't let these dancers' ages fool you," said Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, general director of Opera Coeur d'Alene and husband of Brooke Nicholson, general and artistic director of Ballet Coeur d'Alene. "This is not a watered-down 'Nutcracker.' You will see everything that you would see in a big theater except here it will be shown through the artistry of world-class youth, sailing and spinning across the stage, up close and very, very personal. It is a magic you might not experience any place else."
Isaac Sanders, 15, recently returned from a year of study at the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russia. He will perform as the leaping and twirling nutcracker/prince. Sanders has been a finalist for the last two years at the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition, and studies now at Ballet Coeur d'Alene.
Klaire Mitchell, 14, and another Ballet Coeur d'Alene pre-professional student will perform as the doll princess. Mitchell was New York City Dance Alliance's overall high score soloist three years in a row. She is a consistent winner of Spokane's Musicfest Northwest.
Ballet Coeur d'Alene's "Nutcracker" will also feature these students who attend the school:
* Chelsea Thronson is one of eight young women in the country chosen for the 2014 Prix de Lausanne ballet competition in Switzerland.
* Isabelle Grimsey, 13, is a 4.0 student at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy and will be dancing in her third "Nutcracker."
* Dana Nichol, 13, is an award-winning figure skater, robotics team member and is proficient in several musical instruments.
* Alicia Katori Tanaka, an award-winning gymnast and young musician, studied ballet in Spokane for four years and is now in her fifth year at Ballet Coeur d'Alene.
* Young violinist Maggie Hurst is an honor student and a scholar at the Pacific Northwest Ballet summer internship.
* Sophia Cruzando-Wagner, a Lake City High School sophomore, is a cellist in Coeur d'Alene Youth Orchestra.
* Home-schooled Madi Whittemore is in the seventh grade, and is a recognized pianist and gymnast.
Viewers will also recognize a few local adults in this production of "Nutcracker." Aaron St. Clair Nicholson will cast his spell as Drosselmeyer, the quirky godfather magician whose toys and gifts set the stage for all that follows. Nicholson, nationally reviewed for his timing and stage presence at New York's Metropolitan Opera, is helping his wife produce the show.
Tickets for "The Nutcracker" are $10 for all seats, all ages.
Tickets are selling quickly, so organizers are encouraging attendees to purchase seats in advance from the ballet school's website, balletcda.com.
For additional information about the school, visit the website or call (208) 209-4169.