Salt Creek Ballet's production of 'The Nutcracker' will open Thanksgiving weekend
Hinsdale's Briana Zitkevicius rehearses with fellow Salt Creek Ballet members for upcoming performances of "The Nutcracker." She said she enjoys the different roles she dances and the beautiful costumes she gets to wear. (photo courtesy of Salt Creek Ballet)
Briana Zitkevicius has spent more time studying hip hop and ballroom dancing than ballet. But the Hinsdale resident and Hinsdale Central sophomore is excited to be performing for the second year in Salt Creek Ballet's "The Nutcracker."
She made the switch to ballet three years ago.
"I was watching other girls do it at my old studio and I just thought it was so beautiful and I really wanted to try it," she said. "Now I really love it and I think it was a good decision."
Making the transition to a completely different form of dance was challenging, Zitkevicius said.
"It was pretty hard because I started a little bit later than everybody else," she said. "Everybody at Salt Creek was welcoming and kind."
In this year's "Nutcracker," she dances the roles of the soldier doll and a mom, and is in the Chinese dance, Dance of the Mirlitons, Waltz of the Snowflakes and Waltz of the Flowers.
"I just love how many different roles there are and how they all have a different back story, and you have to have different emotions and character for it. It's very fun and you can express yourself in so many different ways," she said.
Her favorite number is the Waltz of the Snowflakes, where the dancers' movements imitate the falling snow.
"I just think there is so much going on and it just really shows how a snowflake is," she said.
The connection between movement and the music will be the topic of a pre-show talk between Salt Creek Ballet artistic director Erica De La O and maestro Benjamin Nadel, a classically trained conductor, pianist and violiist based in the Chicago area. The talk begins at 6 p.m. before the 7 p.m. Dec. 1 performance (see sidebar for show details) at Hinsdale Central.
"We're trying to always engage and connect with audiences of different ages," De La O said. "I'm really excited about that. We've already had a few conversations and it opens your eyes and ears to see it with more depth."
In addition to Sunday's Sugar Plum Party, children are invited to take part in an on-stage experience after the Saturday matinée. Santa Claus will be stopping by as well.
Discipline is the key to keeping the annual production fresh, De La O said.
"I've been doing 'Nutcracker' since I was 8 officially and for probably 25 years as a professional, and every year you treat it as if it's the first year. You have to teach that back to the students. Nothing is taken for granted - every bar hook in the costume, every tendu or plié between steps or musicality or arms. That's the discipline ballet teaches you that you are adamant about taking care of it."
The host of volunteers and families who help with costumes, props and sets are key as well, De La O said.
All the while, the fact that the dancers are children and not professionals remains at the forefront.
"The expectation and the standard is there, but at the same time we have to meet them where they are or have them step up," De La O said. "Adjustments, within reason, are happening."
As those students grow and mature, their relationship to the ballet changes.
"As a director/mom/teacher, I love seeing kids - even including my 4-year-old - kind of grow into the story or understanding different roles," she said.
Moving on to larger roles each year are true milestones for the dancers, De La O said.
"It's not linear," she added. "Everybody creates their own journey. I was never Clara. I was not Clara until 35 years old."
In addition to the Hinsdale shows, Salt Creek Ballet will have additional performances Dec. 6-7 at the North Shore Center for Performing Arts in Skokie and Dec. 14-15 at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. Between rehearsals, performances and the end of the semester before winter break, it's been a busy time of year, Zitkevicius said.
"It's been kind of stressful," she admitted, adding that she makes a point to put school first.
"I make it work," she said.
And the performances make it all worth it.
"It's such a good feeling going on that stage and performing after all the months of hard work that it takes," she said. "I love doing it and I hope everybody could be able to see 'The Nutcracker' at some point in their lives."
De La O said it's a show that she never tires of.
"It just offers so many opportunities to grow as a person, have a growth mindset, grow was a dancer, grow artistically, grow musically," she said. "There's so much room for growth with one story and one score. It doesn't get old."
