“There is no small part.” When I was first given the part of sergeant and soldier in the Nutcracker fight scene between the mice and the Nutcracker’s soldiers, I definitely felt this to be au contraire. Little did I know that as a sergeant, I would be able to shoot a mouse in the rear and “shove gunpowder” into the “cannon” to have my partner fire at the rodents.

However, this was not the only part I recieved. I also made the part of Spanish Corps, much to my shock. To me, there was always a firm line between what I could reach and what the older dancers in the company could achieve. The parts of Russians, Chinese, Arabians, Spanish, and Snowflake all were impossible parts that only the best and most experienced dancer could receive because they were amazing.

In my eyes, they were three things. Tall. They were deeply passionate about dance, easily feeling the music. They shone like stars on stage, their steps complex and extremely difficult to learn if possible at all. The fact that I was going to be one of them was miles beyond my philosophy.

The Spanish corps danced in character shoes. I had only had the opportunity to dance in character shoes during a summer intensive. Little did I know that taking this intensive would really be the turning point in my abilities as a dancer in the Nutcracker and other productions by Huntsville Ballet Company.

Weeks before I was cast into the Nutcracker, I learned that my audition near the beginning of the school year somehow landed me into my school’s junior dance company. This meant that I would be performing in the cast for Unplugged, a production that took place in the playhouse featuring Stagedoor Canteen.

When I was in the show, it dangerously tipped into my first rehearsal as sergeant. The same time of the first real Nutcracker rehearsal for sergeants was the rehearsal time for the junior company dancers for Unplugged. When the production was over, I had to work twice as hard to catch up.

Spanish Corps did not start rehearsal for learning the dance until after Unplugged. Yet, on the very first day of rehearsal, I arrive minutes late wearing the wrong kind of dance shoes. It was a horrible start, and for a while afterwards the beginning of the dance was my weakest point. My struggle brought back my philosophy.

As Christmas drew nearer, my schedule became more complex and difficult. A normal company dancer usually has at least three classes a week, while I had around the average of five. Soon, rehearsals even took place on Sundays, mixing into Church as well. Let’s just say I had gotten over my previous nerves of confessing to the Father.

As much as I wanted to have fun with friends, my new dance schedule allowed homework assignments to pile. While I never had a late assignment, that was probably only due to my sleep-cutting devotion to finish — but that did not assist my rehearsals in the least.

The last few rehearsals of Nutcracker at the ballet studio required the entire cast of Act one or Act two at a time. I was sergeant and soldier in Act one. When those rehearsals took place, I had to be present for the entire party scene before, which lasted forty-five minutes. Certain casts were only performing on specific days of the Nutcracker. I was casted for all shows, but I would perform as either a Sergeant or a soldier as I was only one position.

This was not the same for Spanish. Though I did have an understudy, I was expected to perform my specific part every show. As Spanish corps are a part of Act two and the finale, I would stay the entire production to do all of my parts. The entire schedule sounded exhausting from the moment I heard it, but hearing it was nothing until I actually performed.

The Nutcracker’s first production was on Thursday morning for local third graders coming to experience ballet for the first time. As school was running as usual, all dancers in the Nutcracker were given school excuse notes from the dance school but this did not mean that we had excuses for homework. Every second I had to spare before, after or in between performances I was working on my English homework and project. It was exhausting, but I knew my responsibilities to my schoolwork were as just as important as my role in the Nutcracker.

While the Sergeant and soldier costumes were comfortable enough, I fell in love with the Spanish Gypsy costumes. A new change from last year, the Spanish Corps were now all Spanish Gypsies and this meant new costumes. We kept the black character shoes, but on our arms and wrists we wore golden bangles and gold coins dangled from the waistbands of our skirts each different in color. If the audience paid close enough attention, they realized that every Gypsy in the Corps wore their accessories differently, just as we each danced with a different motive for our passion.

The Nutcracker performances ended on Saturday, but there was still a show that took place on Sunday — Nutty Nutcracker. Every two years, the Nutcracker features a special production of the original ballet which turns the original show into a night that audience will be able to look back on and still laugh afterwards. In this year’s Nutty, Clara was replaced by Princess Leia and the Nutcracker became Luke Skywalker.

The Mouse King’s army all wore stormtrooper masks and their monarch was none other than Darth Vader himself. However, this was not all that had changed. The wardrobe of the Spanish Corps also changed. For the final show, we were actually told to dance on stage in our pajamas as we danced to a choreography inspired by The Polar Express’ song Hot Chocolate.

During the finale, the Nutty Nutcracker featured dances from classics such as Grease, Risky Business, Flashdance, You Never Can Tell, Dirty Dancing, Center Stage, Singin’ in the Rain and Spanish performed the fight battle of West Side Story against the Russians.

Instead of the original finale, all of Act two and Clara and the Nutcracker who came out of nowhere dance the routine of Footloose. It was especially hard as I had to bolt it across the stage as I am one of the production’s tinier dancers but all the more rewarding when we crashed on the floor at the end of the show out of our jazz turn.

I did not regret participating in Nutcracker because I learned several things. For the first part, I had always been completely wrong in my philosophy. The dancers only looked tall to me because I was younger; there were other smaller girls in the production and size does not limit your capabilities.

Anyone can shine on stage when they have the confidence in themselves to take their steps to the next level. Myself included, dancers everywhere need to recognize that being an amazing performer on stage takes experience. The only way you can gain this is through trying things that you yourself believe are impossible.