“It’s going to be awesome,” Kathleen Holmes assures us.
When it comes to local productions of The Nutcracker, Holmes knows awesome. This is her seventh season mounting productions of the classic Christmas ballet on the Sunshine Coast, as artistic director of the Coasting Along Theatre Society. Things looked a little less auspicious when the company started picking the cast in early September, but it often does, Holmes admitted.
“It looks so scary when we do the auditions,” said Holmes at a Dec. 2 rehearsal. “I wondered, how are we ever going to do it this year?”
Those jitters are long gone and now confidence is building weekly as Holmes, the cast of some 75 players and her small staff and backstage volunteers bring it all together. Most of the cast are from the Sunshine Coast, with seven brought in from Vancouver, plus the two lead dancers, who this year will be on loan from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. They are Chenxin Liu, as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Yue Shi as the Prince.
Holmes noted that those two starring roles are often performed by up and coming dancers from big-city ballet companies, giving them a chance to take the spotlight.
“They leave their home company and they guest star all over,” she said. “It’s just the greatest opportunity for them.”
Many of the local dancers have been in the show before. Bronte Hansen, 18, of Langdale, who plays Dew Drop, has been in every production of the ballet since Holmes and her late husband, dancer and teacher David Holmes, started them in 2012.
“I’ve played a lot of roles,” Hansen said. “I played Clara my first two years, I’ve been a girl in the party scene, I’ve been a doll in the party scene, as well. I’ve done Snowflakes and Flowers.”
The role of Clara this year is once again played by Natalie Martin, of Gibsons, who at just 12 years old is appearing in her fifth Nutcracker. When she was much younger, Martin watched Hansen play the role of Clara, an experience that motivated her to take up dancing.
“It keeps inspiring,” Holmes said. “And who knows who will see these little girls and then want to start ballet?”
There will be six performances at Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt this year, from Saturday, Dec. 15 through Tuesday, Dec. 18, but the Sunday matinée is already sold out. The box office is located at the Sechelt branch of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union, or tickets can be ordered by phone at 604-989-6050. Prices are $29 for adults, $19 for children 10 and under, and $25 for seniors attending the Monday and Tuesday matinées.
