'Nutcracker' Ushers In Holiday Season

Pulled up and with her hips turned out, Rose Kelly gracefully navigated her way through the sea of rag dolls, tiny mice, toy soldiers, snowflakes and Arabian dancers, not once tripping over her pink pointe shoes.

“Ooh, that’s a pretty tutu,” said a girl no older than 3—not yet in her costume—who stopped Rose, patting the white tulle with her palms. “Pretty, pretty, pretty.”

Rose smiled down at the blond-haired dancer, giving her head an affectionate rub.

As the ballerina continued through the crowd, all of the younger girls fixed their gazes on her, just for a second—the same way Rose had admired the dozen Sugar Plum Fairies who had come before her.

Now, it is her time in the spotlight. And she is just 15 years old—the first student of the Hampton Ballet Theatre School to dance the coveted role in “The Nutcracker,” staging this weekend at Guild Hall in East Hampton.

“I feel like I’ve really accomplished something,” she said, ducking into the supply room on Sunday afternoon and away from the dress rehearsal commotion inside the Bridgehampton studio. “When I was a little 3-year-old, I wanted to be the Sugar Plum one day. And now that it’s actually happening, I can’t believe that I’m actually this part. It’s overwhelming.”

The pas de deux between the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier—who will be performed by Nick Peregrino of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet in Washington, D.C., and BalletFleming in Philadelphia—is the pinnacle of the 19th century ballet, set to the famed score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and staging with three dance schools across the East End.

“‘The Nutcracker’ is such a classic,” according to choreographer Christiana Bitonti, whose 90 students from the Nancy & Frederick DeMatteis Arts Education Program and DanceCore Ballet will team up with five professional dancers on the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center stage this weekend. “It really gets people into the holiday spirit.”

The ballet tells the beloved tale of Clara, whose godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, gives her a wooden nutcracker at a family party on Christmas Eve that her brother, Fitz, swiftly breaks. After everyone has gone to bed, Clara checks on the nutcracker and, as she approaches, the clock strikes midnight. Mice fill the room. Suddenly, she’s caught in a battle between an army of gingerbread soldiers, led by her now life-sized Nutcracker, and the rodents, led by the Mouse King.

Except, in Studio 3’s interpretation, the story’s hero is actually fighting Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch—for this year, at least, during the fourth annual “Mixed Nuts,” a recreation of the classic tale by more than 50 students next weekend at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, set to a different theme every winter. The production incorporates not only ballet but tap, jazz, lyrical, musical theater and hip hop, according to mother-daughter team Diane and Meredith Shumway.

“We’re calling it ‘How the Grinch Stole The Nutcracker,’” Diane Shumway laughed during a telephone interview on Monday. “After the battle scene, which is a hip hop number, Cindy Lou Who—who is our Clara—goes on into the Land of Sweets. We decided, this year, to take out the Sugar Plum. Instead, we have 12 little Sugar Plums.”

Of the three studios, the Hampton Ballet Theatre School production keeps to the ballet most traditionally, as it has for the last five years. With 85 student dancers, 12 adults and a pair of professionals, this is the school’s biggest undertaking yet, according to director Sara Jo Strickland, as evidenced by her overflowing studio during dress rehearsal.

Rose peeked her head out of the supply closet and helped usher the younger dancers to the imaginary backstage wings. And when she took center stage, all attention was on her.

“Rose has been dancing with me, consistently, since she was 2½ years old. She’s grown up through the ranks, and she’s done just about every role in ‘Nutcracker’ she could do,” Ms. Strickland said. “I’m so proud of her. Two years ago, I said to myself, ‘I think in two years, she’ll be ready.’”

Next winter, Rose will pass her Sugar Plum Fairy tiara down to the next generation, the choreographer said, and Ms. Strickland already has someone in mind.

“I can’t say right now,” she said. “But, yes, I do know.”

Hampton Ballet Theatre School will present the sixth annual “The Nutcracker” on Friday, December 12, at 7 p.m., Saturday, December 13, at 1 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 14, at 2 p.m., at Guild Hall in East Hampton. Advance tickets are $25, and $20 for children under age 12. Orchestra seating tickets are $30 at the door, and $25 for children. Premium orchestra, box seats, balcony and group rates are also available. For more information, call (631) 237-4810, or email info@hamptonballettheatreschool.com.

Studio 3 will stage its fourth annual “Mixed Nuts” on Friday, December 19, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, December 20, at 1 and 7 p.m., at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. Advance tickets are $20, or $25 at the door, and $15 for seniors and children age 10 and under, or $20 at the door. For more information, call (631) 537-3008, or visit dancestudio3.com.

The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center will present the fifth annual “The Nutcracker Ballet” on Saturday, December 13, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. For more information, call (631) 288-1500, or visit whbpac.org.