A couple of weeks ago, I finally stopped putting off something I'd been meaning to do. In a fit of emotional nostalgia, I opened my laptop and responded to a request from Lauryn Johnson for "Nutcracker memories." Lauryn is a dancer herself, plus dance historian, archivist, ballet enthusiast, and New York State Theater usher. One of her latest projects has been to collect dancers' Nutcracker memories and anecdotes (specifically those connected with New York City Ballet), which she curates into Instagram posts. So far, she's shared the stories of former principals, soloists, corps de ballet members and even one of the company's conductors. At the end of each post, she urges others to submit their own stories to add to this brilliant archive that she's creating.
I hesitated for a couple of weeks, thinking I had no business sending
in anything of my own-- I was never in NYCB and couldn't think of any
noteworthy experience or revelation I could add-- but then, as Lauryn
warned she might cease her project due to lack of submissions, I decided
to weigh in anyway. Every ballet dancer's life is shaped significantly
by The Nutcracker, and mine was no different, so I thought at least I
could try to explain why that is the case. So, I tried. I thought about how to distill my nearly 40 years' worth of Nutcrackers into what this winter dance ritual means to us, and instinctively started writing about my very first Nutcrackers and how I am quite certain they flicked the proverbial light switch in my brain, setting me firmly on the road to a life in ballet. I stopped myself before rambling too long and sent in some recollections and thoughts to Lauryn. Below are links to Lauryn's two posts on Instagram about my Nutcracker memories, as well as her own profile page where you can find all the other dancers' tales she's collected (and keep scrolling for oodles of delicious posts and photographs relating to all sorts of ballet history, trivia, anecdotes, and more!).
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