Washington Ballet Nutcracker

[Anonymous]

We're Tea Party donors, but have only done it after roles have been announced. Wouldn't donate if DD wasnt cast for whatever reason. Never gotten Party role either, but have been happy with all roles DD has played. My DD has always gotten high marks in her evaluation, I'm not sure why she'd be overlooked except I'm not sure anyone there knows who we are. We're a quiet family, head to class, rehearsals and leave. DD is enjoying it, so we'll continue as long as she does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were Snow angel, Soldier, virtual Soldier and Soldier again....I get that DD is just an average dancer....but the same boring role year after year gets old. None of the lower level parts require **that much** skill...the kids can all roughly pull off the same basic stuff. In the mean time, has anyone ever found a good makeup remover for that damn soldier face make up?

Haha, wish I could help. But that's the trade-off with a professional company like the Washington Ballet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were Snow angel, Soldier, virtual Soldier and Soldier again....I get that DD is just an average dancer....but the same boring role year after year gets old. None of the lower level parts require **that much** skill...the kids can all roughly pull off the same basic stuff. In the mean time, has anyone ever found a good makeup remover for that damn soldier face make up?

Have you tried Ponds? Worked for us.

Playing a Soldier for 3 years in a row would have frustrated our daughter as well. The different roles also keeps it fresh for families and friends to come out every year to buy tickets, if WSB wanted to view giving some variety in casting as a financial incentive for themselves, also more likely to keep their students coming back.

[Anonymous]

PP, that actually makes a lot of sense. I guess there are a few things that factor in, maybe even messaging toward the kids they want to enroll in the higher levels?

[Anonymous]

If my daughter played the same role two years in a row, it would be near impossible to get anyone to come out and see her. The tickets are expensive and it's a struggle to get them out already when they know she's only up there for two minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my daughter played the same role two years in a row, it would be near impossible to get anyone to come out and see her. The tickets are expensive and it's a struggle to get them out already when they know she's only up there for two minutes.

Yeah, we usually buy tickets to every performance.
Not happening this year. The family reaction is "oh that's nice, I hope she has fun"

DD is being a fine enough sport over it, but shes not super excited this time around.
Fingers crossed there is something better next year...if she still wants to stick it out again next year. After this I would not blame her if she doesn't want to do it again.

[Anonymous]

My daughter always longs for the party girl role as well and I agree it's disappointing to see kids double-cast and getting it several years in a row, but it is a professional production and people are paying a lot for the tickets, so it makes sense to me that TWB chooses the best performers for the roles. I'm sure just about anyone who gets a key role learns a lot from it, but I think the dancers also learn a lot from being part of the production, being on stage with professional dancers, etc, even if they're just a small part of the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, to me this illustrates the difference between a real professional performance (strictly merit based) and a "recital" (everyone gets closer to equal billing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my daughter played the same role two years in a row, it would be near impossible to get anyone to come out and see her. The tickets are expensive and it's a struggle to get them out already when they know she's only up there for two minutes.

We have family that fly in to watch our DD perform in the Nutcracker. When our DD was cast in the same role, we told our family to not bother flying in to see her performing in the same role. Also we had over 20 neighbors and friends who came to see our DD perform but the following year when she was cast in the same role, we didn’t even reach out to anyone to encourage them to come.

[Anonymous]

They're a professional company and a school. Their Nutcracker is both a professional and student production, the excuse of best performer is fine and dandy for the youngest who will then be more familiar with the role the next year and again the year after. It's not like outside students can audition to take part like when Ballet West or Miami Ballet rolls into town. The way they've structured this requires them to treat it as both, but they the PPs are right, they don't.

[Anonymous]

Former TWSB mom and have worked in a casting office for over a decade now and wow, what a great thread!

It's very easy to be ruthless when casting and at times it can feel almost irrelevant, but on the other side, it can feel very life and death. To give someone another look or to make note of who has played what role and how many times is very time consuming and when decisions have to be made quickly, it might not be feasible. You'd be surprised how often decisions are made on the spot in the minds of an artistic team. But they do work with their students, who are unpaid and there for the experience instead of as child professionals, so I expect the development of their students as performers is important to them... And a young performer playing the same role for three years in a row, even a coveted role, isn't doing their student performers justice. I believe they're doing their best, but it sounds like they're lacking an outspoken advocate on their casting team to slow them out and cut through the ruthless mindset.

My daughter did move on from TWSB because she wanted to play Clara/Marie and did at another studio. We do not regret the move, but I do think the administration at TWSB is caring and open to change.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what qualities they're looking for for the party scene? Dancing ability? Acting? Smile? Height?

There was a thread about this a couple years ago (preCOVID) where it was intimated that being the kid of a big donor was the best way to get the coveted party girl role.

My daughter was a party girl three years in a row. She is an excellent dancer. She was the best in her level. And I am a single mom making 56k a year.

My daughter was a party girl as a 1A. She is a strong dancer and takes direction well but we definitely are not donors. This year she was cast as little clown/party boy.

If your daughter is littlest clown, she’s more than a strong dancer. That role is a show favorite and is in the finale. Your daughter must be a strong dancer, but also acrobatic and she clearly has great stage personality. Congrats.

They do get a chance to audition. But they choose the best ones every year. If my daughter was the best in her class last year, she will probably be the best in her class the next year. It’s rigged when kids get the part just to give others a chance or to make it fair. That’s not how the professional ballet world works

Thanks! We are really proud of her. She is over the moon at being cast as little clown. She is Level 2. She is really acrobatic and spent the last year watching/rewatching the Nutcracker that streamed last year learning the little clown part.

Congratulations! She should be so proud. This is a shining example of a non-“rigged” casting result from a combination of talent, dedication, and hard work. She will have so much fun with this role.

Do you really think its ever been "rigged"?

I’m the PP. I put rigged in quotations because that’s the prevalent accusation. We were with Washington ballet for 4 years and, aside from Julie Kent’s daughter, I haven’t seen any casting “rigging” at all. In fact, I’ve only seen the opposite. Situations like the little clown poster above. TWBS has a lot of issues and we had our problems with the school, but nutcracker casting was never one of our grievances.

I think like with Julie's daughter, the Party Girls being the same girls for 2 and 3 years in a row, it does make it FEEL "rigged" and all the more elusive and exclusive. They're not giving other dancers a chance at the role like other schools do, it's not like the students are given notes as to what they can work on, and I understand they're treating it like a professional production for everyone involved... But they're also a school and nurturing the kids' performance abilities or giving them some hard truth is also part of the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my daughter played the same role two years in a row, it would be near impossible to get anyone to come out and see her. The tickets are expensive and it's a struggle to get them out already when they know she's only up there for two minutes.

Yeah, we usually buy tickets to every performance.
Not happening this year. The family reaction is "oh that's nice, I hope she has fun"

DD is being a fine enough sport over it, but shes not super excited this time around.
Fingers crossed there is something better next year...if she still wants to stick it out again next year. After this I would not blame her if she doesn't want to do it again.

If it's any comfort, she's probably aged out of the Soldier role next year and will definitely play a different part!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's fair to call Julie's daughter rigging. She's the child of a professional ballerina and been around world class performances her entire life. I don't doubt she came into the school with a stronger baseline than the average child and it's also not fair to ask her, who is also just a child, to be a Snow Angel just so the other parents arent jealous of her. I don't think any of the kids see her that way, my daughter certainly doesn't.

Yes, just like how Tori Spelling made a fine Donna Martin. Everything you say is valid, and I don’t disagree. I have never had a firsthand issue with casting. Ever. But from an optics standpoint, it has a whiff of nepotism. Just saying.

I don’t think my daughter is jealous but it is obvious. My daughter wants to play Clara when she’s older and mentioned that it would be harder to get the part because Julie’s daughter will automatically get the role. No resentment from her she was just stating a fact. It isn’t just Nutcracker, she is chosen for every kids role. In 2020 they chose a few kids to be interviewed by the Washington Post. They chose one older, one middle, one young. Guess who they chose for the young one. It is absolutely nepotism.

That said I don’t think I’ve seen it with anyone else.

[Anonymous]

That's a tough one b/c assuming Julie's daughter is a very strong dancer (perhaps a safe assumption based on genetics and presumed extra practice/instruction at home) then it would also be unfair to give her roles beneath her skill level just to avoid any potential hurt feelings. Now, the WaPo anecdote is a different story and I agree there seems to be no other reason for her to be chosen for that aside from her familial connections!