Meet some of the amazing dancers in Ballet Idaho’s The Nutcracker.

It’s a fair – could you say, fairytale? – Assumption that there are likely hundreds of productions of The Nutcracker taking place across North America on any given evening in December. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a Christmas season without classical ballet.

Beautiful score. Brilliant costumes. A bizarre story. But above all it is the dancing. For many people, “The Nutcracker” is their first encounter with ballet. and for young dancers it is usually their first opportunity to perform on a major stage.

“I was four…maybe five,” said Adrienne Kerr, director of Ballet Idaho and this year’s Sugarplum Fairy. “It’s probably the same for these girls.”

She smiled at 13-year-old Maria Bounds and 15-year-old Scarlett Fields.

“I was probably five or six,” said Bounds, who will perform at the iconic Children’s March this year. “It’s one of my favorites because we’ll be dancing with beautiful ribbons. I will also be with the cavalry in a battle scene. And a baker in the second act.”

“I was probably three or four years old when I first performed,” Fields said. “This year I will be a Saltwater Taffy Sailor and a Ribbon Candy Fairy.” I think this is my 10th^Th Year in the Nutcracker.”

Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren

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