NYCB Vol. 13 No. 16 - Nutcracker

[16/52] Counting down 52 NYCB Nutcrackers this year with stories from NYCB dancers past and present! Today we hear from Dana Hanson who danced in the company from 1990-2006:

Photo by Paul Kolnik

“My favorite Nutcracker role to dance was Coffee. I remember after Rosemary taught it to us, we had to do a kind of audition for Peter, and I was the first to be cast. That was such a boost to my confidence! Rosemary also taught me how to knot the bells that went around the ankles. Her father had been in the Navy and she said this was to make sure they would not come loose in the performance. I went to Suzy Pilarre to coach me, as I did with all my featured parts. I had done some thinking about how I wanted to portray this character and I told Suzy how I wanted to dance “her.” She said, ‘It’s not her, it’s YOU!’ One of my greatest lessons in Balanchine dancing. 

“Another role I danced a lot was a Demi Flower. It was a love/dread situation. I always struggled with stamina and at the start of the season it was a killer. I could always use it as a gauge of my strength and it got easier as the season progressed. Dancing to that music was always so exhilarating. After a short break offstage, the Demis come running back on and do a big sauté arabesque. Refreshed, I loved that moment! 

Photo by Paul Kolnik

“Balanchine’s Waltz of the Flowers has got to be one of the most beautiful dances ever choreographed. I remember one year during a school show I was dancing Coffee and the kids broke into ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as I went down into the split, but it was for the ‘Roxy’ section of Flowers [when the dancers développé their legs in succession in lines of 4], that they broke into rapturous applause. Pure, simple genius.”