The most magical time of the year can be encapsulated in one production: The NutCracker. The original ballet premiered a week before Christmas in 1892. Since then, it has been recreated and modernized while remaining elegant and classical. Multiple recreations premiere in Omaha each December, including Renae’s Dance Studio’s production.
There are four main leads in the Nutcracker production: Clara, the Nutcracker, the Enchantress, and the Sugar Plum Fairy. The role of Clara is typically played by a younger dancer around ages 11-12, while the other roles are performed by more experienced and mature dancers.
Junior Lydia Pruch stars as the Sugar Plum fairy lead in Renae’s Dance Studio’s production of The Nutcracker. This is her studio’s sixth year performing The Nutcracker, and Pruch’s fifth year in the ballet. In previous years, she has taken on various roles, but this is her first year being a lead in addition to her other parts.
“Last year I was the snow queen and there was a big scene called The Walls of the Snow,” Pruch said. “There were 30 dancers on the stage and I was in the middle of those dancers, so I was a lead in that scene, but not a lead in the ballet as a whole.”
Pruch is used to the responsibility and pressure of larger roles, but this year was a significant jump. This year she took on a lead and multiple smaller roles including: the Sugar Plum Fairy, a WoodLand Fairy, and a peppermint. In addition to the detailed scenes of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Pruchs’ role as the Woodland Fairy consists of a scene in which only three ballerinas dance on stage, and their routine is detailed and intricate.
Pruch auditioned and received her roles in August. Since then, she has spent hours in the studio each day rehearsing for her esteemed roles. To compensate for the sophisticated routines that the Nutcracker requires, Pruch on average spends around 17 hours in the studio each week.
“I was shocked when I found out I got the role,” Pruch said. “It’s the first year that they had given the role to a student instead of a professional dancer.”
The other dancers in the ballet range from ages four to seventeen, however the opening scene includes some parents and older adults. Pruch’s dad is even in the ballet and has the role of a Party Parent. The younger dancers play less substantial roles, but their costumes and characters help fill the stage and illustrate the Nutcracker.
The time and effort Pruch puts in pay off on performance day, but leading up to that a lot of time and effort are put in, despite her busy high school schedule. A normal dance day is around two to three hours for Pruch, but in Nutcracker season there is often an additional half an hour to an hour added to the beginning or end of rehearsals. Pruch considered doing the school musical this year, but knew due to the demanding hours in the dance studio, it wouldn’t be possible.
“Weekends are a thing,” Pruch said. “You can’t have anything planned for Friday nights or Saturday mornings. Sundays even used to be a thing, but that has mainly stopped.”
For each role, Pruchs’ hair, makeup, and costume change. At the beginning of the performance, her hair is slicked back into a low bun and later in the woodland fairy scene, it is down. Each look is tailored to fit the scene and illustrate the personality of her roles and her makeup consisted of stage makeup with colored glitter to fit each role.
“I have three minutes to completely change my whole look,” Pruch said. “Which
is horrifying, but I always get there.”
Quick costume changes lead to high stress behind the stage. Due to her silk and cardboard pointe shoes, Pruch was worried about the slickness of the stage, but knew after warming up she would be ok.
“When I hear the music it’s immediate nerves,” Pruch said. “But once I get going I’m ok because I know I know it.”
On December 9th and 10th, Pruch performed in front of the Elkhorn community. Her family friends, and school members attended, including: Juniors Malorie Rohe and Sara Nguyen.
“”It was exciting to watch her hard work pay off and watch her perform on a big stage,” Rohe said. “I was excited to see it all come together after she’s been talking about it.”
While neither juniors Rohe or Ngyuen have seen the Nutcracker ballet at the Orpheum, this is their second year going to Reanes Dance Studios’ production to watch Lydia. They have enjoyed both years and were more excited this year to see her in a lead role.
“Just knowing someone who had a big role in a ballet like that,” Nguyen said. “Was really cool.”
