The Nutcracker: Ballet gets you in a Christmas mood

Nov. 27—SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — The demanding lead role of Clara in "The Nutcracker" was performed by a 12-year-old Blue Mountain Middle School student when the classic Christmas ballet opened Friday night at Schuylkill Haven Area High School.

"When I'm performing, I'm thinking mostly of the acting and of making sure all the movements are correct," said Julia Korell, of Auburn, who's been studying dance since she was about four years old.

Set to music by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, "The Nutcracker" was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in December 1892.

Korell reprises the role danced by ballerina Stanislava Belinskaya, the first Clara, when the ballet premiered 130 years ago next month.

First presented in the United States in the 1940s, it became popular as a Christmas classic after George Balanchine's production in New York in 1954.

Widely performed by major ballet companies in the United States and the United Kingdom, it has been presented by the Schuylkill Ballet Theatre for 43 years.

Sarah A. Schimpf, assistant director/choreographer, said the theatre's presentation of "The Nutcracker" is synonymous with the beginning of the holiday season.

The ballet was choreographed by Schimpf and Vivian Connor, the theatre's artistic director.

It concludes with a third performance at 2 p.m. today in the school's Zwerling Auditorium. Tickets are available at schuylkillballet.com and at the door.

The story centers around Clara Stahlbaum, a German girl who is presented with a nutcracker at a Christmas party. Later, she falls asleep and enters a dream world inhabited by a magical nutcracker, warrior mice, marching wooden soldiers and a dancing Sugar Plum Fairy.

Amber Ulsh, 16, of Friedensburg, performs the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, one of the ballet's most recognizable roles.

Lasting about 10 minutes, Schimpf said, the physically-demanding dance requires intensive training.

A student at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts in Bethlehem, Ulsh has been studying dance since she was four years old. She plans for a career as a professional dancer.

"I tried other sports," she said, "but ballet is my favorite."

Other major roles in the two act ballet include: Brittany Schock as the Dewdrop Fairy; Greg Schuettler as the Prince; and Jenna Reber as the Snow Queen.

Bill and Bonnie Reber, Jenna's grandparents, brought a bouquet of flowers for their granddaughter.

Jenna, who lives in Wayne Twp., has been dancing since she was about five years old, according to the Rebers.

In past productions, she's played as Clara and the Dewdrop Fairy.

Bill Reber's most proud of her role as the Snow Queen.

"She's really special," Bill Reber said. "She gets better every year."

Dancers must audition before a panel of judges to be chosen for a part in "The Nutcracker," Schimpf said.

Schimpf, formerly a dancer with the theatre, has taken on the role of coach to the troupe's dancers.

"I try to push them a little; I always want them to grow," said Schimpf, 36, a speech and language therapist at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown.

Janet Bair, theatre president, theorized about why the ballet has become such an essential part of the Christmas season.

"It's fun; it's a great story; and it gets you in the mood for Christmas," she said.

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007