It's A Family Thing: "We Thought It Would Be a Good Experience For Them"

Laura Westerman ~ Mother to Nutcracker participants Andrew, Claire, Luke, Patrick, and Jack Westerman

     Six years ago, we were brand new to the Sacramento area.  Michele Stomick worked with my husband at the time and mentioned to him about The Nutcracker audition.  We had a baby at the time, so my husband agreed to take three of our children to the audition.   We had no idea what this was all about (my son wore sweats and tennis shoes to audition), and we for sure didn't think any of our children would get a part.  We were simply doing this because we thought it would be a good experience for them.

The many faces of the hopeful young dancers at
The Nutcracker Children's Cast Auditions

Well, each of them came home with parts!  We were shocked and overjoyed.

  

The next five years, we were fortunate enough to participate in The Nutcracker.  It became a huge part of our lives.  We would look forward to auditions (and all of us would have butterflies in our tummy's :), we learned about the ballet world, we invited our extended family to a Nutcracker performance and would host our "Nutcracker Party" before or after the show.  We started our collection of Nutcrackers (big ones, small ones, chocolate ones,  Nutcrackers on plates, towels,  we have a nutcracker nightlight, cookie cutters, doormat, etc......) 

After performing in their second Nutcracker, our children (three sons and one daughter) asked for ballet lessons.  I said no.  I tried (in vain) to explain to them that "being part of a professional production is great fun, but ballet technique class is not fun~ it's boring".

  

They were persistent.  

I saw a coupon for a free trial class in Roseville (where we lived). They attended ballet class.  

They loved it.  

They LOVED TECHNIQUE CLASS!!!!

  

It turns out they have pretty good bodies and feet, they have a passion for dance, and they enjoy it more than anything else.

Sacramento Ballet's Nutcracker was the introduction of ballet into our family's life....we now own several books on ballet, we own several ballet's on DVD.  My husband and I had never heard of Flames of Paris, Le Corsaire,  or Paquita!!!!  

Ultimately, Sacramento Ballet and Mr. Cunningham changed our whole life course...... we NEVER thought we would have dancing children....especially four boys that love ballet.  

Our children were recently accepted into Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy......so we decided to move to Houston.  We never thought we would be living in Houston.  

We cannot imagine what our lives would be like now without dance....without ballet.  Our lives have become richer and we owe this to Mr. Cunningham.  Thank you for introducing children to this beautiful art form.  Thank you for personally touching our lives.  

Andrew Westerman  (age 15)

My Thoughts About Sacramento Ballet's Nutcracker

     The Nutcracker was my first time seeing real dance.  It made me want to dance when I saw all the male dancers and all the tricks and partnering that they got to do.  I had a lot of fun learning the party scene with all the dancing, acting, and pantomime. I really liked wearing all the costumes and stage makeup. It was really cool to see what it was like backstage with all the lights and props.  I also made some good friends through nutcracker.  The Nutcracker was the starting point for my dance training.  I have been dancing for almost 4 years now, and just got back from my first summer intensive with Ballet West, where I got a full scholarship to their 8 week program. I am now in Houston where I am going to begin training with the Ben Stevenson Academy this year.

Claire Westerman (age 13)

        I totally loved all the different roles I had in the Nutcracker~Baby Mouse, Mother Ginger Child, Party Girl but most especially, Clara! First of all, I didn't even know what a ballet audition was like until I went to one at Sac. Ballet. During the shows I had lots of new experiences: I had my first quick change, I got to take a bow up front at the end of the show, I saw what it was like to give out autographs. I especially loved seeing all the 'Special Effects' for the ballet. The Nutcracker was my favorite show that I've ever performed!

Luke Westerman (age 11) 

Patrick Westerman as "Kilt Boy" (L)
Luke Westerman as "Fritz" (R)
The Nutcracker, 2011

I really enjoyed being able to play so many different roles every time I made The Nutcracker auditions.  My favorite role to play was Fritz!  I loved doing all of the acting for him.  My favorite part of doing The Nutcracker was performing onstage  with the live orchestra and all of the lights.  After dancing in The Nutcracker, I loved dance and now I watch famous ballet dancers on YouTube all the time.  I was so excited to be able to dance at Lincoln Center in April.  Some of my favorite ballet dancers have performed there like Angel Corella, Ivan Vasiliev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

I never would have known about dance and ballet if I didn't audition for the Sacramento Nutcracker and get a part.

Patrick Westerman (age 10)

The little "Cooks" wait their turn to go onstage

The things I liked about The Nutcracker were the costumes, the dancing, being with other boys my age, using props on stage and partnering.  My favorite costume I wore was the cook costume with the chef hat. I was so happy when I was kilt boy because there were extra dancing parts for me.  I liked meeting other boys that dance, especially the party boys. I'm going to miss being in the Nutcracker this year.

Jack Westerman (age 8)

I was a cook the first year and liked going on stage carrying a HUGE plum pudding.  The second year I was a Mother Ginger child and loved crawling under the big skirt.  I thought it was cool that I did a cartwheel.  I never knew how to do one before.