The lights shine in your eyes, you squint out past the edge of the scuffed wooden stage and can see the first row. Although you’re temporarily blinded you can sense the thousands of eyes watching you, waiting for you to begin. In the instant before the music plays, time stands still.

   For most young dancers performing with a professional company is merely a dream, but for those lucky enough it is an amazing opportunity to mature as a dancer. Like the football quarterback who dreams of playing in the superbowl, or the trumpet player who imagines playing at Carnegie Hall, I was chasing my childhood dream. As a student of the Boston Ballet School, I was given the chance to audition for a small role in Mikko Nissinen The Nutcracker at the Opera House. At age nine, I was accepted into the production as the part of an angel and was ecstatic to be dancing in the show I had grown up watching.

  Unlike the average dance studio, Boston Ballet specializes in only ballet, and according to the website, “provides unparalleled dance education and ballet training for over 5,000 students annually.” I was thankful for the chance to dance at a school that not only valued the principles of dance, but also provided students with opportunities to further their experience professionally.

   Junior Maria D’Ambrosia also performed in The Nutcracker and said “performing before a live audience teaches stage decorum, instills confidence, and facilitates the transition from student to professional.” Dance class prepares its students for the tedious hours the cast must spend while preparing for the production

     The time commitment and dedication it took for me to be prepared to perform introduced me to a new side of ballet that I had never known. I no longer saw the older girls as beautiful and graceful, I now regarded them as strong and tough and had gained a new level of respect for all professional dancers.

     The experience is exhausting, but along the way I discovered  my own personal strengths. D’Ambrosia said, “Rehearsals were intense and drove me to my own  personal level of perfection. The Nutcracker represents long training hours, three months of rehearsals, and days of multiple performances to sold out venues, all requiring extreme dedication, willingness to work hard and a love of dance. It was an honor to be a part of this beloved holiday family tradition”.

   Although I no longer dance, I will always cherish the winters I spent as a member of the cast for The Nutcracker and will continue to look back fondly upon my participation in such a heartwarming holiday tradition.