By Kaitlyn Esposito
 | With the holiday season around the corner, NJDTE touched base with Level 5 dancers Chloe Muir and Peyton Gin who both played the role of Clara for two past productions NJDTE’s The Nutcracker. Looking towards this year’s production in December, Peyton and Chloe pass the torch to the younger dancers learning the role. Chloe and Peyton shared, “we are so ready to teach the younger dancers, and we hope they feel inspired to do this role. We are excited for them to learn.” This past weekend, Chloe and Peyton worked with NJDTE’s Level 3 and Level 4 dancers to learn one of solos from the role. |
Chloe described the role of Clara as very imaginative and graceful, and that she is in her own magical world most of the time in the classic story. From her experience as Clara, Chloe believes the Nutcracker is about Clara and her connection with the Nutcracker doll which she loves.
Peyton described the role technically, saying that the first act of the show includes a lot of jumps, turns, balances, and suspensions. The jumps made the role feel “child-like” for her. Chloe shared that the role also has difficult steps yet the easy flow of movement that enabled her able to pick it up quickly.
Chloe said, “Clara is such an amazing role to play and you feel connected to her in a way”. Peyton shares, “it’s a lot of hard work too.” Learning the role requires a lot of rehearsal and the dancer has to work on it on their own time.
Chloe and Peyton both dreamed about the role for a long time before they were of age to audition for it, like many other young dancers do. They described the opportunity to play Clara as “amazing and incredible”, and they are both “so lucky and so grateful to NJDTE and to everyone who helped [them] achieve that goal.”
Watch Passing the Torch: The Role of Clara in NJDTE’s The Nutcracker today on:
@njdte IGTV & Vimeo https://vimeo.com/465568382
Contact info@njdte.org or visit www.njdte.org for more information.
Peyton described the role technically, saying that the first act of the show includes a lot of jumps, turns, balances, and suspensions. The jumps made the role feel “child-like” for her. Chloe shared that the role also has difficult steps yet the easy flow of movement that enabled her able to pick it up quickly.
Chloe said, “Clara is such an amazing role to play and you feel connected to her in a way”. Peyton shares, “it’s a lot of hard work too.” Learning the role requires a lot of rehearsal and the dancer has to work on it on their own time.
Chloe and Peyton both dreamed about the role for a long time before they were of age to audition for it, like many other young dancers do. They described the opportunity to play Clara as “amazing and incredible”, and they are both “so lucky and so grateful to NJDTE and to everyone who helped [them] achieve that goal.”
Watch Passing the Torch: The Role of Clara in NJDTE’s The Nutcracker today on:
@njdte IGTV & Vimeo https://vimeo.com/465568382
Contact info@njdte.org or visit www.njdte.org for more information.
