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Christmas B Section Inside
Your LOCAL Media since 1918! Volume 106 Issue 17
www.tofieldmerc.com
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Local girl cast in Alberta Ballet’s The Nutcracker Kari Janzen Staff Reporter
Breanna Anderson, 13, was cast in Alberta Ballet's The Nutcracker this year. She was cast as a rat, after having auditioned with 140 children of whom 40 were selected. She danced in four of the eight performances in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton from Dec. 6-10.
Breanna Anderson, 13, was cast in The Nutcracker ballet by Alberta Ballet this year and danced in four of the eight performances during December 6-10 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. Breanna started taking dance classes at the age of two, and has been dancing for 11 years. She dances with Niko’s Dance Team in Ryley and she not only takes ballet, but contemporary, jazz, lyrical, and Ukrainian dance. The requirements in order for a dancer to be accepted to participate in The Nutcracker include currently being enrolled in a ballet class, completing a questionnaire, and achieving a successful audition. “If Alberta Ballet was happy with her responses, she would get to audition. They wanted to
know who her ballet teacher is (Miss Alexis), what level of dance she’s in, and how often she trains. We completed the questionnaire in late August and Breanna got notified that she had been selected to audition in mid September,” said Breanna’s mother, Lesley. Breanna auditioned at the Alberta Ballet School in Edmonton on Sunday, September 17 with more than 140 kids. Her mother said the audition lasted over four hours. Of those 140 children who auditioned, 40 were cast in The Nutcracker. Breanna was cast as a rat. “She was given the role as a rat. She was excited. She didn’t have any particular role in mind, she just wanted to be selected,” Lesley said. The main cast consisted of 30 professional ballet dancers, as Alberta Ballet puts on multiple shows every year, with their next ballet being Hansel and Gretel.
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“Breanna wants to audition for Alberta Ballet again, and she said she learned a lot but that it was also really hard work,” Lesley said. Rehearsals were once a week in one to two hour blocks, but the days before opening night they had all-day rehearsals. “Just before the production they did a lot of prep and dress rehearsals all day Tuesday and Wednesday. The first show was Wednesday night, December 6,” said Mom. Breanna’s favourite part was the fighting, although the costume made it quite a challenge. “Breanna said it was really hard with the heads on because you can’t really see, so she had to rely on remembering the counts and spacing,” Lesley said. “I just had a lot of fun, and the teachers were so much fun and nice,” said Breanna.
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