Has Anyone's Child Participated in Washington Ballet Nutcracker?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Long time WB parent here. My kid has been a snow angel, soldier, clown and butterfly. She loves it all, it's her thing, she gladly gives her time to WB. Now that she is a teenager, she has dance solid friends from WB separate from her school friends. Never a party girl, but coveted that role for years. Even the kids know something is fishy with those parts.

My DD is in Pre-ballet 2, and your description sounds like what we're aspiring to for her, but I wonder how intense and how much time and energy would be left for academics and another extra. Does your daughter now have time for another time-intensive extracurricular and does she have the bandwidth to do well in school?

[Anonymous]

I have a party kid a few levels higher (old enough for school to be more demanding). No strong connection or involvement with TWSB, but kid is serious about ballet, focused and probably has some talent.

From looking at the rehearsal schedule from now until early November, it seems manageable, though your weekend afternoons are gone, at least partially. I’d expect November and December to become busier with stage rehearsals and performances, but we’re talking about a few weeks of intensity, not months on end. I think the key is to be very organized and recognize that this will be the child’s, and family’s, main commitment other than school for a couple of months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole thing is adorable and every kid has a blast!

The roles for the little kids are supposedly all comparable except for the party kids. Those are the most elite roles, but as a PP stated go to the political kids, who's-who kids, and donor kids. After that, I would say for the 1A-1B kids best roles are soldiers and mice bc have more stage time. The mice tend to be smaller kids. Next come the cherry blossoms bc there are fewer (only 4) per show, along with mushrooms and bees. Those are the itty bitties. Snow angels are probably the most kids bc there are 12 per show. I wish the snow angels danced more.
Since it's the role with the most kids.

The kids recognize the stronger dancers in some of the main roles, including Clara and some party girls. Rightly or wrongly, the kids also make assumptions about the roles (particularly party girls) and cast decisions for the visibly wealthier families, the donors listed in the playbill (which kids understand) and one lovely girl whose last name unfortunately gives her away as extraordinarily wealthy. There certainly does seem to be a much closer connection between wealth and donations than with talent and attention span, at least for some roles/casts. The kids recognize it, talk about it, and there's very little respect for the kids who are thought to have gotten their parts not based on merit (not that there is so much of a merit difference in 8-12 year old ballet). I don't think this preferential casting helps the kids who are selected in the long run. Instead, it seems to undermine their accomplishments. n the scheme of things, though, the nutcracker is a terrific experience, and a few bumps are to be expected with anything.

[Anonymous]

Hi I am a current student of the Washington ballet school. Nutcracker has been my favorite part of the Christmas season. I highly encourage it for everyone but it is a big commitment of time and work. I was a snow angel, party girl, Betsy Ross (doll), clown, and butterfly. My favorite part was being a party girl of course but it is the hardest role for the children so people should never get their hopes up. When I wasn’t asked again the following year I was heart broken, but that’s the way it goes and any role in the production is so much fun.

[Anonymous]

Wow, TWSB’s marketing people have been out in force.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, TWSB’s marketing people have been out in force.

The place is a mess. FWIW, my daughters did not enjoy last year’s Nutrcracker experience at all. To make up the shortfall in their finances, TWBS added a bunch of extra shows in late December. So most kids had to do 14 plus shows! With so many leaving for other studios this year, I wonder how they will handle the Nutcracker this year. I will certainly not be spending my $1000 on nutcracker tickets (and I bet other parents feel the same way).

[Anonymous]

Same here. 20+ shows in 5 weeks, never again. We’re leaving with our two Nutcracker veterans for another studio. This year’s Nutcracker- running for just over 5 weeks - will be interesting..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole thing is adorable and every kid has a blast!

The roles for the little kids are supposedly all comparable except for the party kids. Those are the most elite roles, but as a PP stated go to the political kids, who's-who kids, and donor kids. After that, I would say for the 1A-1B kids best roles are soldiers and mice bc have more stage time. The mice tend to be smaller kids. Next come the cherry blossoms bc there are fewer (only 4) per show, along with mushrooms and bees. Those are the itty bitties. Snow angels are probably the most kids bc there are 12 per show. I wish the snow angels danced more.
Since it's the role with the most kids.

Responding to this post and the one after it about whether any "normal" kids are cast as party girls. My DD has been a party girl the last two years. Our family is nothing special; we don't donate, we aren't important, and we aren't big presences. There is nothing "political" about us, and our only collection to TWB is our daughter doing dance classes there for the past several years. And when I volunteer backstage for Nutcracker, I see other party girls and their moms. Most of them seem pretty normal and nothing special; not rich or prestigious. Maybe in the other cast there are "who's who" kids, but there are definitely many party girls who are just lucky and get this part. It makes me sad that a PP suggested some other dancers are saying the party girls get the roles for unfair reasons.

As far as the expanded schedule for Nutcracker performances, this is a HUGE pain. We already cannot travel over Thanksgiving (or indeed, over any weekend in the fall). Now with the extra days of performances after Christmas, it means that traveling over the holidays is seriously difficult if not impossible. DD goes to public school and we only get a week and a couple of days off for winter break. This may be a deal-breaker as far as participating in Nutcracker this year, which is kind of sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole thing is adorable and every kid has a blast!

The roles for the little kids are supposedly all comparable except for the party kids. Those are the most elite roles, but as a PP stated go to the political kids, who's-who kids, and donor kids. After that, I would say for the 1A-1B kids best roles are soldiers and mice bc have more stage time. The mice tend to be smaller kids. Next come the cherry blossoms bc there are fewer (only 4) per show, along with mushrooms and bees. Those are the itty bitties. Snow angels are probably the most kids bc there are 12 per show. I wish the snow angels danced more.
Since it's the role with the most kids.

Responding to this post and the one after it about whether any "normal" kids are cast as party girls. My DD has been a party girl the last two years. Our family is nothing special; we don't donate, we aren't important, and we aren't big presences. There is nothing "political" about us, and our only collection to TWB is our daughter doing dance classes there for the past several years. And when I volunteer backstage for Nutcracker, I see other party girls and their moms. Most of them seem pretty normal and nothing special; not rich or prestigious. Maybe in the other cast there are "who's who" kids, but there are definitely many party girls who are just lucky and get this part. It makes me sad that a PP suggested some other dancers are saying the party girls get the roles for unfair reasons.

As far as the expanded schedule for Nutcracker performances, this is a HUGE pain. We already cannot travel over Thanksgiving (or indeed, over any weekend in the fall). Now with the extra days of performances after Christmas, it means that traveling over the holidays is seriously difficult if not impossible. DD goes to public school and we only get a week and a couple of days off for winter break. This may be a deal-breaker as far as participating in Nutcracker this year, which is kind of sad.

By this I mean that I do not know the other party girls in the other casts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am curious whether anyone on this thread -- has or knows of a "normal" girl who was cast in the party scene as a young child. A lot of people read this... surely there is some supremely talented youngster who was cast on the basis of talent alone. Anyone?

{Not counting boys... there are so few boy ballet dancers that it seems like if they get a part, they are in the party scene. Also not counting the upper levels - Clara etc. - since I assume those roles are so crucial that they are cast by merit.}

My daughter was cast as a party girl. We were new to TWBS (had only been there a few weeks) and she was cast as a party girl. I think the politics are more around what cast you are in and less about role. All of the party girls were very good.

[Anonymous]

My DD has been a party girl in the past. We are your average family.

[Anonymous]

We are nobodies and DD was a party girl when in Level 1B and 2. What does the PP mean about politics connected to which cast?

[Anonymous]

Its not paid because people don't value the arts. If your child wants to dance they should get used to not being paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn't a dancer, but an actor. I find this all fascinating bc my kid gets paid to appear in commercials and other theater shows after auditioning and getting selected. So this is odd to me, that it's a professional production with 1000s of people who attend, and brings in a ton of money (the tickets are expensive and it costs a family of 4 about $300+ to seentjr show). And yet these kids aren't getting compensated in any way. Parents don't even get free tickets to a show and have to pay several hundreds or dollars along with bringing their kids to rehearsals 3 days per week. And paying for the ballet classes.

What is the appeal here? My kid works and gets paid!

Your situation is pretty unusual. I'm sure you know there are hundreds of kids who edition and don't get any kind of part and might be doing some kind of community or acting classes where parents are paying for their kids to take a class and then perform in the show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its not paid because people don't value the arts. If your child wants to dance they should get used to not being paid.

Those tickets aren't cheap!