"Moment after moment of sheer glee, excitement, hard work, accomplishment, camaraderie and applause."

Jenny Gilmore as Clara

The memory of Ron Cunningham yelling in my first Nutcracker audition "Run like you're a cockerspaniel  with your ears flapping in the wind behind you!!"  is one that to this day gives me butterflies in my stomach remembering just how FUN and absolutely free that felt.  I remember running as fast (and as gracefully as my 10 year old legs could) and throwing my head back and just LOVING that moment and not wanting it to end and hoping he saw just how much I loved it and how much I wanted to be the best cockerspaniel in the room!  I was very fortunate to not only be cast but to be cast as Clara that year.  I would never have been able to predict that I would be blessed with so many more moments like that over the 8 years of performing Ron's Nutcracker and that feeling of wanting the be the best in the room would never change as long as I was in the rehearsal studio with him. That  first audition was so appropriate because he made the little dancers put the peddle to the meddle- looking back I see what an appropriate introduction of what working for Ron would be like and that's what made my growing up years feel special, brilliant and full of incredible moments and memories.  Moment after moment of sheer glee, excitement, hard work, accomplishment, camaraderie and applause. I can't describe the impact Ron Cunningham's Nutcracker has had on my life- I grew up in The Nutcracker- from Clara to Snow Queen I went from a little girl to a mature dancer and loved every single moment of it.  Every prologue, party scene, battle scene, my first time in a tutu with Marzipan and dancing with my twin brother as Fritz and Clara- and that's just a handful of why it was so amazing. I wish every little girl could experience the feeling of being hoisted up on Drosselmeyer's shoulders and in front of an audience and live music make that tree grow! And to turn around to applause with your parents in the audience- that is an incredible experience for a little girl and Ron has blessed so many little dancers with moments like that of their own on stage.  I cheers to many many more years of his wonderful Nutcracker - 

Jenny Gilmore

Jenny Gilmore