TWSB Nutcracker 2023!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, my kid was one of a handful of kids told they were soldiers when they were actually flower pages. It was not a good weekend in our house.

. Hang on, so they posted the wrong role on the portal???

My guess is they didn’t post the wrong role, but some immature parents and dancers pulled out after roles were posted and there was some last minute shuffling

[Anonymous]

This feels like a lot more role switching than typical years...unless I was just oblivious before because it didn't affect my kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, my kid was one of a handful of kids told they were soldiers when they were actually flower pages. It was not a good weekend in our house.

. Hang on, so they posted the wrong role on the portal???

My guess is they didn’t post the wrong role, but some immature parents and dancers pulled out after roles were posted and there was some last minute shuffling

That's exactly what happened. But soldier is a great role. Always big claps at the end of their routine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, my kid was one of a handful of kids told they were soldiers when they were actually flower pages. It was not a good weekend in our house.

. Hang on, so they posted the wrong role on the portal???

That’s what I heard. 6 students were accidentally assigned as soldiers and then switched to flower pages.

The SE portal was glitchy all week, maybe that was a contributing factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, my kid was one of a handful of kids told they were soldiers when they were actually flower pages. It was not a good weekend in our house.

. Hang on, so they posted the wrong role on the portal???

My guess is they didn’t post the wrong role, but some immature parents and dancers pulled out after roles were posted and there was some last minute shuffling

That's exactly what happened. But soldier is a great role. Always big claps at the end of their routine.

Love the barn door!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, my kid was one of a handful of kids told they were soldiers when they were actually flower pages. It was not a good weekend in our house.

. Hang on, so they posted the wrong role on the portal???

That’s what I heard. 6 students were accidentally assigned as soldiers and then switched to flower pages.

The SE portal was glitchy all week, maybe that was a contributing factor.

This is what happened. Totally separate from the kids pulling out. They told 6 kids who dance at the SE location that they were soldiers by accident (posted wrong in the portal) when they were really flower pages. It was corrected immediately on arrival, so way before any shuffling. But soldiers are obviously much better roles than flower pages, so this is a pretty big oops.

[Anonymous]

I can imagine how it would feel to be assigned a soldier and then end up a page. Or be a page three years in a row! Being part of the Nutcracker is exciting, but at a certain point... Our DD stopped dancing at WSB a few years ago because of their inflexible schedule for older girls. I can say in retrospect that all of this seems like such a big deal in the moment but isn't. On the other hand, there should be respect for the girls involved. Three years as a page is just wrong. And switching someone from soldier to page is, for a young girl, a pretty big blow. These roles do have varying levels of desirability, and young girls will take something like this hard. There should be more respect for the girls or a clear warning about what could happen so families don't sign up for a possible humiliation of this order without being aware of what could happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, my kid was one of a handful of kids told they were soldiers when they were actually flower pages. It was not a good weekend in our house.

. Hang on, so they posted the wrong role on the portal???

Yes, posted wrong in the portal for 6 kids. Honestly, I'd thought my kid was one level too young for soldier, but they're tall, so I didn't assume it was just a total goof. I also see someone asking a similar question in this thread (not me) and can't help but wonder if their kid is another one of the 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can imagine how it would feel to be assigned a soldier and then end up a page. Or be a page three years in a row! Being part of the Nutcracker is exciting, but at a certain point... Our DD stopped dancing at WSB a few years ago because of their inflexible schedule for older girls. I can say in retrospect that all of this seems like such a big deal in the moment but isn't. On the other hand, there should be respect for the girls involved. Three years as a page is just wrong. And switching someone from soldier to page is, for a young girl, a pretty big blow. These roles do have varying levels of desirability, and young girls will take something like this hard. There should be more respect for the girls or a clear warning about what could happen so families don't sign up for a possible humiliation of this order without being aware of what could happen.

If my kid were assigned as a page for the third year in a row and didn't want to do it, I would 100% pull them out. I don't give a crap what I signed earlier. It's so totally disrespectful to the girls. This is especially true because one kid who I knew who got stuck in that role for two years was more or less told that it's because they were an excellent babysitter for the younger kids. It's especially crappy to get the worst role because you're a nice kid. 3 years in a row? No way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can imagine how it would feel to be assigned a soldier and then end up a page. Or be a page three years in a row! Being part of the Nutcracker is exciting, but at a certain point... Our DD stopped dancing at WSB a few years ago because of their inflexible schedule for older girls. I can say in retrospect that all of this seems like such a big deal in the moment but isn't. On the other hand, there should be respect for the girls involved. Three years as a page is just wrong. And switching someone from soldier to page is, for a young girl, a pretty big blow. These roles do have varying levels of desirability, and young girls will take something like this hard. There should be more respect for the girls or a clear warning about what could happen so families don't sign up for a possible humiliation of this order without being aware of what could happen.

If my kid were assigned as a page for the third year in a row and didn't want to do it, I would 100% pull them out. I don't give a crap what I signed earlier. It's so totally disrespectful to the girls. This is especially true because one kid who I knew who got stuck in that role for two years was more or less told that it's because they were an excellent babysitter for the younger kids. It's especially crappy to get the worst role because you're a nice kid. 3 years in a row? No way.

This is such a poor attitude. This is a company production, not a school production. The casting is about filling the needs of the production, and not necessarily about showcasing each student. This is going to vary on the number of kids who show up to the audition at each level.

[Anonymous]

The reality is that most of these roles for young girls are not difficult. I am not PP, but if there is a chance my kid could be stuck as a page for three years, I would want to know that in advance. The Nutcracker is a huge time commitment, and the girls do it because they get excitement from it. Casting someone as a page for three years is using them with almost no upside for the kid. If that is the reality of a company production, so be it. Just be honest about it. With the distance we have from WSB and now a much older girl dancing at a much higher level, that is how I see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can imagine how it would feel to be assigned a soldier and then end up a page. Or be a page three years in a row! Being part of the Nutcracker is exciting, but at a certain point... Our DD stopped dancing at WSB a few years ago because of their inflexible schedule for older girls. I can say in retrospect that all of this seems like such a big deal in the moment but isn't. On the other hand, there should be respect for the girls involved. Three years as a page is just wrong. And switching someone from soldier to page is, for a young girl, a pretty big blow. These roles do have varying levels of desirability, and young girls will take something like this hard. There should be more respect for the girls or a clear warning about what could happen so families don't sign up for a possible humiliation of this order without being aware of what could happen.

If my kid were assigned as a page for the third year in a row and didn't want to do it, I would 100% pull them out. I don't give a crap what I signed earlier. It's so totally disrespectful to the girls. This is especially true because one kid who I knew who got stuck in that role for two years was more or less told that it's because they were an excellent babysitter for the younger kids. It's especially crappy to get the worst role because you're a nice kid. 3 years in a row? No way.

This is such a poor attitude. This is a company production, not a school production. The casting is about filling the needs of the production, and not necessarily about showcasing each student. This is going to vary on the number of kids who show up to the audition at each level.

It's a bit more nuanced than that--the Company uses ONLY students from the School, and works closely with the school for auditions. It is in the long-term best interest of the Company to ensure that students continue to audition. If the TWB reputation for the Nutcracker is that the girls from SE end up as flower pages year after year--and that the girls from NW end up as clowns and party girls, then very few girls from SE will audition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can imagine how it would feel to be assigned a soldier and then end up a page. Or be a page three years in a row! Being part of the Nutcracker is exciting, but at a certain point... Our DD stopped dancing at WSB a few years ago because of their inflexible schedule for older girls. I can say in retrospect that all of this seems like such a big deal in the moment but isn't. On the other hand, there should be respect for the girls involved. Three years as a page is just wrong. And switching someone from soldier to page is, for a young girl, a pretty big blow. These roles do have varying levels of desirability, and young girls will take something like this hard. There should be more respect for the girls or a clear warning about what could happen so families don't sign up for a possible humiliation of this order without being aware of what could happen.

If my kid were assigned as a page for the third year in a row and didn't want to do it, I would 100% pull them out. I don't give a crap what I signed earlier. It's so totally disrespectful to the girls. This is especially true because one kid who I knew who got stuck in that role for two years was more or less told that it's because they were an excellent babysitter for the younger kids. It's especially crappy to get the worst role because you're a nice kid. 3 years in a row? No way.

This is such a poor attitude. This is a company production, not a school production. The casting is about filling the needs of the production, and not necessarily about showcasing each student. This is going to vary on the number of kids who show up to the audition at each level.

It's a bit more nuanced than that--the Company uses ONLY students from the School, and works closely with the school for auditions. It is in the long-term best interest of the Company to ensure that students continue to audition. If the TWB reputation for the Nutcracker is that the girls from SE end up as flower pages year after year--and that the girls from NW end up as clowns and party girls, then very few girls from SE will audition.

The black and brown students from NW gets stuck in certain roles. DD is black was a page last year, her casting group all black and brown girls. This year, all the same page girls are bunnies. I haven't said anything to my daughter about this or to the other parents, but it's something I'm keeping an eye on. Party Girls, Little Butterflies and other "prized" roles will cast very few students of color, especially ones who are not pale or white-passing. It's alarming that given how few black and brown students they have and why they're consistently being grouped in the same roles together.

[Anonymous]

I wish there was a spot on their audition form for previous roles! It can't be that hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish there was a spot on their audition form for previous roles! It can't be that hard.

They do already keep track of what roles kids have had, and they ask them at the auditions too.
If kids are not going to be okay doing a role multiple times, they should probably sit out honestly.
And I'm a parent of a chronic soldier, but she gets it and is just determined to be her best. if your kids can't have that attitude, let Donna know.