By Emma Ferguson, For Clay Today<\/p>\n
ORANGE PARK \u2014\u00a0Nutcracker season is almost here.<\/p>\n
And for weeks, performers have been working hard on rehearsals and practices before they go on stage the weekend of Dec. 18 at the Times Union Performing Arts Center.<\/p>\n
At All-Starz Dance Studio in Orange Park, Cathy Finne coaches a group of five girls who will appear in the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went as a group before anyone auditioned when I first became their teacher,\u201d Finne said.<\/p>\n
The girls Amelia, 11, Isabella, 13, Layla, 13, Olivia, 10, and Peyton, 9, have all secured roles in the Nutcracker. Amelia, Olivia and Peyton will be an angels, while Isabella will be a “bon bon” and Layla will be a rat.<\/p>\n
Being a part of this special holiday tradition means the world to the dancers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a Christmas tradition for our family to go see the Nutcracker, and I\u2019ve always wanted to be in it,\u201d Olivia said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne year, my mom took my friend and me to watch it, and I thought it was really cool and wanted to be in it,\u201d Isabella said.<\/p>\n
Seeing the young girls put in the work in practice and dedicate the time for grueling rehearsals to achieve their dream is something truly special, and something that Kathy has helped nurture.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the lead roles are high school kids, and some of them are even professional dancers that do a lot of work through the performing arts high school in Jacksonville, so they bring some of the graduates back to do certain roles,\u201d Finne said.<\/p>\n
Being a part of the Nutcracker is a very meaningful opportunity for these girls, and it\u2019s not just being a part of an established holiday tradition. Being able to dance alongside professionals and make meaningful connections with them is the greatest holiday joy of all.<\/p>\n
However, with such an important performance, the girls face challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried out last year, and I didn\u2019t get it. And then I turned out this year, and it really stuck to me because I made it. I\u2019m really proud of that,\u201d Olivia said.<\/p>\n
Instead of giving up, Olivia persevered and worked hard in the dance studio to hone her skills and earn her special role as an angel. This performance is one that is so personal to so many dancers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFocusing on how to present our emotions on the stage can be challenging,\u201d Layla said.<\/p>\n
For young girls, balancing an advanced performance like the Nutcracker and acting in front of a large crowd can be difficult. But the dancers don\u2019t back down from a challenge. They work hard and show up to do what they love.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most special part is being able to perform and to be a part of something we\u2019ve seen professional dancers do and thinking \u2018that could be us one day\u2019,\u201d Isabella said.<\/p>\n
Each of the young girls experienced the Nutcracker performance and set their sights on being on stage. And years later, through hard work and dedication, they have achieved their dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Emma Ferguson, For Clay Today ORANGE PARK \u2014\u00a0Nutcracker season is almost here. And for weeks, performers have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3496,3487,3495,3498,3488,3493,116,118,117,3492,3494,3499,3490,3489,3497,3491],"class_list":["post-428641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-argyle","tag-clay-county","tag-doctors-inlet","tag-eagle-harbor","tag-fleming-island","tag-green-cove-springs","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-keystone-heights","tag-lake-asbury","tag-margaret","tag-middleburg","tag-orange-park","tag-pace-island","tag-penney-farms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}