Many OU School of Dance students have been cast in “The Nutcracker” ballet performances across the nation this holiday season.
Between Alabama, California and Arkansas, three OU students will be performing away from home as they dance professionally. Andalusia Ballet Association and Western Arkansas Ballet will host their annual production of “The Nutcracker,” a holiday classic, with professional dancers from across the country.
Michael Bearden, director of the OU School of Dance, said “The Nutcracker” is a popular choice for guestings, when dancers are hired to perform for a company.
“It's related to the fact that so many schools and companies across the country do it,” Bearden said. “It's a very popular holiday ballet, and so, there are many guesting opportunities that pop up in the months of November and December.”
Bearden said guestings provide an opportunity for dancers to gain professional experience in the industry.
“The process of participating in a guesting allows them to get a feel for what it would be like to dance in a professional company or be on tour, where you're going into different theaters and working with different people that you're not used to working with,” Bearden said. “It provides a learning experience for them that only enhances their work in our school.”
Bearden said his students Julian Cottrell and Oscar Miller are “highly capable, talented dancers” which has contributed to their offers for the ‘Nutcracker’ guestings.
Julian Cottrell, a ballet performance and pre-veterinary sophomore, said juggling school and rehearsals has been tough but rewarding.
“My favorite part of guesting is always getting to meet the other dancers … specifically the other professional dancers,” Cottrell said. “It's really nice to get intimate, quality time with these dancers because we're working on the show together and because there's only a couple of us, we really spend time together working on the show and outside of it.”
For Andalusia Ballet Association’s “The Nutcracker,” Cottrell will be performing in the Christmas party scene and the Spanish and Marzipan dances. In addition to “The Nutcracker,” Cottrell will perform in California for Bayer Ballet Academy’s production of “The Snow Queen,” starring as a prince, a skater and a butterfly catcher. In managing these roles, Cottrell said the OU School of Dance has been a great pre-professional experience.
“I feel very well prepared from my time at OU and just in dance in general,” Cottrell said. “I feel very comfortable and confident and it's a lot of fun to meet new people. We are all very prepared for the real world, despite the stigma around college dancers.”
Photo of Julian Cottrell, OU ballet performance and pre-veterinary sophomore starring in "The Nutcracker."
Oscar Miller, a ballet performance freshman, will be playing the role of the nutcracker prince for Western Arkansas Ballet, the same role Cottrell played last year.
Miller said this is his first guesting performance and while he has done “The Nutcracker” in the past, he has never traveled away from home for a role.
“The director of the school and the two girls who are learning the role of Clara have come up for every rehearsal because it's mostly a partnering role,” Miller said. “I'm dancing with Clara most of the time that I'm on stage. She's been in every rehearsal so far, so we've had chances to work on it together. I haven't been learning it without a partner, but it'll still be a bit of an adjustment because there'll be lots more people on stage and it'll be a different space.”
Bearden said that while traveling performances can be challenging, the dancers learn how to adjust to a changing environment.
“Being a part of a professional company, you go on these tours occasionally and so it prepares them for not sleeping in their own bed before performances and adjusting to a new stage with maybe different light configuration or different elements,” Bearden said. “It’s a learning opportunity to have performances in multiple venues where you're learning how to be as consistent as possible despite the environment that you're performing in.”
Guestings often take time out of students’ class schedules, but the dance department remains flexible because the opportunities are related to their coursework.
Miller said that the rehearsal process is relatively shorter than what he is used to.
“It's been a lot fewer rehearsals overall,” Miller said. “It's a lot more of learning this stuff on my own time. Simply because the (choreographers) have to drive from a different state to teach it to me.”
Cottrell said each year he travels for a show, he benefits from making connections, meeting older dancers and hearing what their journeys have been like in the industry.
“It's weird because I remember being a kid and having guests come and do roles for dance,” Cottrell said. “But now, being on the other side of it, it's nice to see the youth, and I get flashbacks when I see them. I'm like: ‘Dang, this is where I started, and now it might be the other way around (with) these kids seeing me like that.’”
