(419) 289-358110 years of dancing The Nutcracker
December 2, 2014
Abigail (Plank) Carter remembers a childhood full of Nutcrackers.
My first Nutcracker was 1992 as the shortest party girl and the mouse that gets shot. I specifically remember my first rehearsal as a party girl when we learned our dance with Drosselmeir. Hellie asked me before we got started if I was afraid of heights and I replied, “Umm…I don’t think so.” And her reply was ok, good. I soon learned that I was the littlest party girl and that Drosselmeir lifted that party girl to his shoulder during our dance. And this year the Drosselmeir happened to be REALLY tall. (Photo above - I am pretty certain this is the only picture I have with Hellie)
As I was decorating my tree for Christmas this year I came across my Nutcracker ornament that sparked another memory. I don’t remember why they were selling ornaments but of course I wanted one, but for some reason there was not an ornament for me. The prince came to the rescue. Bob Beech who played the Nutcracker graciously gave me his ornament. The little girls always want to dance with the prince and it was that Nutcracker that I hoped someday I would get to dance with Bob Beech, Barty as he was known by the dancers. (I did get my chance to dance with Barty in the Spring Concert of 1998 dancing as The Little Mermaid)
Since my friends and I were only in Act I of the Nutcracker, we would lay down in the aisle of the Renaissance Theatre and watch Act II. My absolute favorite was Trepak, which at the time was danced by all the guys. It was so much fun to watch them jumping over each other and it is also when my obsession with being able to do several Russian jumps in a row began.
(Photo - Nutcracker 1997 - Abigail as Clara with Jeremy Lemme) I don’t know how you can have just one Nutcracker memory when you danced it for 10 years. I got a chance to dance a little bit of everything. Party girl, mouse, Ballerina Doll, Snow, Little Candy Cane, Big Candy Cane, Flower Attendant Understudy that actually had to dance the role, Sugar Plum, Clara and even Fritz! My favorite Nutcracker role is definitely Clara. I even got to dance with my dad on stage, he played Dr. Stahlbaum (Clara’s dad). It was my first leading role and the first time I got to dance with a partner…a professional! I was terrified at my first rehearsal but the professional that played The Nutcracker Prince, Jeremy Lemme, was an amazing dance partner. He made all of the rehearsals fun. When dancing Clara, there was something magical about dancing in the snow scene. And for Clara that dance was not technically as difficult as dancing as a snowflake like I had done the previous year. I got to mostly run and jete through the snow and the fog being lifted by my prince. It really did feel like the most magical dream.
One last memory…During the most challenging role I danced, Sugar Plum Fairy. At the Renaissance we danced with a live orchestra which was awesome but sometimes you just never knew what tempo the conductor was going to go. During the pas de deux I was supposed to run and jump onto the shoulder of the Cavalier but the tempo seemed to be a little slow so my run turned into more of a jog but without enough Umph to get on his shoulder…It was terrible there was no way to save that one. Thankfully during the final scene where everyone dances I got to do the running and jumping on the shoulder thing again. Well this time I was not going to miss and I think I about knocked over my cavalier but I made it to his shoulder. The other fun tempo memory was at the end of the Sugar Plum solo there was a sequence of turns in a circle around the stage and right before you start the turns the music pauses….and then it starts, sometimes fast and sometimes even faster! This particular night I think the conductor might have had too much caffeine or he was ready for the end of the show. I was turning so fast I remember thinking, “Am I going to be able to stop and am I even going in a circle or am I just spinning in the same place?” Well I made it around the circle and I was able to stop. It was a memorable year for me since it was my last before I was sidelined by injury. The music from the Nutcracker will forever be in my memory. Even to this day if I am in the mall and I hear the music from the Flowers variation I still get butterflies in my stomach, if I close my eyes just for a minute I am back in that moment getting ready to go on stage. (Photo - Gabs & Abs Nutcracker 1999 - Clara & Sugarplum)
