Just as the children onstage in today’s performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® are students of the School of American Ballet, many New York City Ballet company members have been performing in productions of The Nutcracker since they were students. We asked five NYCB Principal Dancers to share their early Nutcracker memories, and how those experiences impact their performances today.

Isabella LaFreniere: My first role in The Nutcracker was a mermaid—our school’s production had mermaids instead of angels opening Act II. I must have been four. It was just waving my arms onstage, but I was so honored to be dancing with my older sister and the other older dancers, and to experience the energy backstage. Later I was a party girl, and I remember the excitement of being with my friends from class and having the parents help us do our makeup for the first time.

The first time I saw a professional performance of The Nutcracker was by The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. By that point, I was familiar with story and the music. My mom tells me that during the snow scene, I started singing along out loud. Everyone around me was laughing, and my mom was trying to get me to be quiet, but I just started singing louder—there was really no stopping me. And then after intermission, I was so excited that I literally fell down the stairs getting back to our seats. She still tells me that experiencing the magic of the Nutcracker at that performance through my eyes was the most special thing.

When I first got into the company, being a Party Scene parent, we tried to make each show a fun experience for the children. My Party Scene husband would always lift them really high to reach the top of tree, and we would do little things to make each show different from the next. And now, when I do Sugarplum, I remember how much I looked up to the older dancers, and knowing how much it means to the children, I try and make our time onstage an extra special experience. The children truly breathe fresh life into the production.

Emma Von Enck: You grow up in The Nutcracker—with the music and it returning every year, it becomes kind of a sacred tradition. At my small studio in Ohio, I began as a polichinelle, and worked up from there. When major ballet companies would tour, they would hire local kids, and I watched my two older sisters perform in those productions for years—I remember Pennsylvania Ballet came with the Balanchine version, and I wanted to be in it so badly. 

Finally, I must have been 8, Cincinnati Ballet came and I got to be a mouse—I was really small and the unitard was baggy on me, but I was very dramatic at that age, and I think my personality must have convinced them to cast me. As an adult, you have different responsibilities to the production, but seeing the kids, you do remember that this is the highlight of their year and how magical it is. It’s fun to share the stage with them – and they’re impressive, they’re way more professional than I was at that age!

Roman Mejia: Growing up in Texas, both of my parents taught ballet, so I was always at the theatre, and I always wanted to be onstage. I did my first Nutcracker with Metropolitan Classical Ballet when I was 3 years old. It wasn’t much—I was a polichinelle, and all I did was come on stage in a giant sled with a bunch of other children, and stand and clap, but I remember being so excited to finally be part of a production. And it’s crazy to think I’ve been doing it every year since.

Now, when I’m onstage with the kids, I do think about being in their shoes and what it was like being their age, and how excited and inspired I was. Whether they realize it or not, to be onstage at New York City Ballet—it’s something that’s always going to be a part of your life.

Emilie Gerrity: I danced in my first Nutcracker when I was 12—I was one of the Candy Canes, which at my studio were called Russian dancers. They would always hire someone from New York City Ballet to do the lead of Russian, and also Sugarplum and Cavalier. I remember Wendy Whelan had come at one point, Rachel Rutherford, Darci Kistler. I was so starstruck, being around these dancers, who were who I wanted to be.

Now as Sugarplum, in the role you are literally guiding the Angels onstage. I try and say hello to all of them beforehand. Being out there with them, seeing their smiling faces, is so sweet, and you just want them to do their best.

Mira Nadon: I vividly remember watching the film version of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® on VHS—Darci Kistler and Damian Woetzel in the Sugarplum Fairy pas de deux, and specifically Wendy Whelan in Coffee. I was probably four or five. I don’t think I had officially started ballet, but I remember watching the kids in the Party Scene and telling my mom, “Those kids are so young, I could do that.” I didn’t know what New York City Ballet was—it was only later that I put the pieces together.

At my studio in California, I was in the Party Scene and in what we perform at NYCB as Mother Ginger. And then I did Clara [called Marie at NYCB] for a few years, which was very fun. Lauren Collett and I went to school together and we shared the role of Clara with our friend Emily one year, and I remember the excitement of having all of our rehearsals together and the whole experience of being backstage.

Now, it’s a bit surreal to perform Sugarplum and Dewdrop. When all the angels are onstage, I try to smile at each angel and make sure they really feel like they’re seen. During my apprentice year, I was dancing Hot Chocolate, and I got a few letters from SAB kids who I think just wanted my purple shoes. But one girl wrote me a letter that I saved that says, “I’m the last girl in line, and you always smile at me in the finale.” I like to keep it as a reminder that the little things we do really make a difference.