Youth Auditions for THE NUTCRACKER are July 25 & 26
Registrations are accepted through 5pm on July 23.
American Midwest Ballet will hold youth auditions this weekend for the company’s production of The Nutcracker. Performances at Orpheum Theater in Omaha are Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2 pm and 7:30 pm, and Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 pm. A special early performance takes place Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7:30pm at Arts Center at Iowa Western.
Online pre-registration is required and has concluded.
Over 150 students are pre-registered for this year’s auditions.
Artistic director Erika Overturff personally auditions dance students from throughout the Omaha area and surrounding communities with the help of the company’s professional dancers, staff, costume designer and volunteers.
“Nutcracker auditions are always such a fun time,” she says. “The magic of this holiday classic endures, even in the heat of July.”
Students arrive this weekend at scheduled times, resplendent in their required ballet attire. From seven-year-old bunheads in their black leotards and pink tights to advanced student dancers toting their pointe shoes to an ever-increasing number of boys, American Midwest Ballet is prepared for all of it.
“It is always a pleasure to welcome our young dancers,” Overturff adds. “It is definitely a time commitment with required attendance policies similar to high-level sports, music lessons, or other activities. We rehearse every weekend beginning in October and our student dancers are expected to attend every rehearsal and even sign a ‘contract’ of sorts; it is more of an agreement.”
Youth dancers initially rehearse together with those cast in similar roles. Several weeks later, they rehearse alongside the professional dancers who perform within their scene, and then eventually with the entire company and crew during two separate production weeks at each theater.
“It is a change from what most young dancers may be used to,” says Overturff. “It is a special experience to participate in The Nutcracker alongside professionals who do this for a living — from the lighting, stage and production crews to our beautiful company of professional dancers in amazing theaters such as the iconic Orpheum Theater in Omaha and the Arts Center at Iowa Western.”
Student dancers from Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota have previously participated in American Midwest Ballet productions of The Nutcracker (on tour in Spirit Lake, IA and throughout Nebraska), Swing Swing Swing!, Momentum (Prince Igor, Cleopatra, Sadako, Party Animals), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dracula, Alice in Wonderland and Snow White.
In addition to yearly auditions for The Nutcracker, American Midwest Ballet also offers auditions (concluded for Season 5) for talented young dancers to be part of American Midwest Ballet II (the ballet’s official student company) as well as Junior and Senior level Repertory Ensembles,