The Nutcracker Set to Return to Thunder Bay This December”
Ava Paterson-French and Audrey Harrison had no idea their dance lives were about to change.
Eleven-year-old Ava and nine-year-old Audrey believed they were invited on Friday for costume measurements, as part of the audition process for the return of The Nutcracker to Thunder Bay, marking the first performance of the ballet in the city since 2019.
Instead, they were surprised to learn they had landed the most coveted role of all.
The girls were cast as Clara, each set to perform in two separate shows when The Nutcracker is presented at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium in December.
Ava, a Grade 6 student, said she was shocked to learn she had been chosen.
The production marks the first fully local presentation of the Tchaikovsky ballet in nearly 30 years, although out-of-town groups have brought the show to the city as recently as 2019.
Created in 1892, the two-act ballet, based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” opens on Christmas Eve in Nuremberg, Germany. At a family gathering, Clara is given a nutcracker by her godfather, Drosselmeyer.
Ultimately, after finding herself in the midst of a battle between an army of gingerbread soldiers and the mice and their king, the Nutcracker, now transformed into a prince, leads Clara to the Land of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy.
The group had the help of Thunder Bay’s Abigail Sheppard, the principal dancer with the Finnish National Ballet, in making the final decision on who would play Clara. The majority of the remaining roles have yet to be cast, though Alexandra Knudsen will play the coveted role of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Dates for The Nutcracker have yet to be announced. More auditions will take place throughout the summer. For more information, visit www.northernballet.ca.
