Community Corner
Venice & Mar Vista Students Perform in 50th Nutcracker Season
Sold-Out Performance available to watch on Vimeo & YouTube for a limited time during Holiday Season!
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Westside Ballet of Santa Monica’s 50th-anniversary celebration of "The Nutcracker” — Southern California's longest-running rendition — ran Nov. 25 - Dec. 3, for eight sold-out public performances at The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica and included many local student and pre-professional dancers.
FREE COMMUNITY VIEWING LINKS: As all eight public performances of Westside Ballet’s 50th Nutcracker were sold out to the public for over three weeks, the nonprofit performance company’s producers announced they will offer a free Vimeo and YouTube link for the community to watch the performance on their home entertainment systems for a limited time during the 2023 Holiday Season.
Three illustrious Westside Ballet alumni—special guest stars Tiler Peck, Lucia Connolly, and Lyrica Woodruff—each took center stage as the enchanting Sugar Plum Fairy. These extraordinary artists return to their roots, making these performances truly memorable.
Twenty-one Venice and Mar Vista residents were among the over 107 student and pre-professional dancers who performed. Westside Ballet’s “Nutcracker” retains the most memorable traditional characters and iconic moments—including a tree that grows, a firing cannon, Angels gliding on clouds, and falling snow over a stunning corps de ballet. Set to the majestic score of Tchaikovsky led by The Santa Monica College Symphony Orchestra, this year's milestone production amazed audiences with newly enhanced set designs and 225 costumes.
Kyler Sziraki, a seventh grader at Windward School in Mar Vista, shared in performing the main role of Clara who has a fantastical journey to magical realms after falling asleep on Christmas Eve.
Venice resident Heath Olvera (11)is in 6th grade at Ocean Charter School and has danced at Westside Ballet since he was 4 years old. This is his third Nutcracker performance at Westside Ballet and reprised the role of Fritz, Clara’s cheeky little brother.
Heath says, "My favorite part of taking part in the Nutcracker ballet each year is: spending time with my friends; watching my big sister dance; being up on stage in front of an audience; staying up late with everyone; and having fun doing it!" Besides taking dance classes, he also enjoys gaming, biking, and reading.
Red and Blue Soldiers included local student dancers Alix Weissbecker Kushner, Mackenzie Olesky, Mathilde Guay, Sophie Kuo, and Kaylee Barrow. Bridget Cooney, Ella Abramson, Alexandra Moccia, and Kali Solomon performed as the delightful Crystal Bells. The whimsical Chinese Tea dance included locals Archer Anderson and Sabine O’Brien.
Windward School Freshman Isabelle Choy (15) was excited to perform in her fifth Nutcracker Season including a solo as the Center Peppermint Candy and the featured role as Center in the Chinese Tea dance. Besides taking over 20 hours of ballet classes weekly, Isabelle keeps up a very demanding regiment in many other disciplines at the highest level: she participates in NCL, takes various art classes, received state honors for her piano playing accomplishments, is in Honors Society for Precalculus, Spanish, and Physics, has received recognition through the Continental Math League for competitions, tutors students through her school's peer tutoring program, and has worked with organizations such as Para Los Niños and My Play Foundation by Shane’s Inspiration to benefit the greater Los Angeles Community. Isabelle says she would like to attend a college with rigorous academics with a strong dance program.
"As a dancer, I have been so incredibly fortunate to have grown up with Westside’s Nutcracker as my ballet journey has progressed," says Isabelle. "The sheer magic that this production holds always astounds me, as the lights go up, the costumes glitter, and the beauty of our work is expressed... I have fallen in love with every role I’ve done, all the way from being a Party Boy to performing Center Candy Cane this year. This show holds so many lovely memories for those who come to watch it and those who have participated in it, and to be a small part of that history is something that I will always cherish as I continue forward in my dance career."
Local upper level dancers en pointe in “The Nutcracker” were Antonia Cytrynowicz, Charlotte Sachs, Olivia Moccia, and Ezra Galambos, who all performed in the mesmerizing Waltz of the Flowers, amongst other demanding roles. Venice resident Ezra Galambos also performed as the comedic Maid, as a Snowflake in the spellbinding Land of the Snow scene, and as a side Spanish dancer.
Charlotte Sachs is a newcomer to Westside Ballet and shared: “I have been dancing classical ballet since I was eight years old. Coming from a small studio in Coastal Delaware, I was able to perform many exciting lead roles at a young age, and Nutcracker season was always my favorite time of year. Although the practices are long and hard and the commitment all-encompassing, there is nothing I would rather be doing. Moving across the country at the age of fifteen to a new studio was both scary and thrilling. My fears were quickly eased within the amazing opportunity to be part of something so special. It’s such an honor to share the stage with Tiler Peck, Lucia Connolly, and Lyrica Woodruff. Westside School of Ballet’s production is so incredible, I feel like I’m performing the Nutcracker for the first time!”
Other local performers included Mar Vista resident Gabriella Calderon (performing Spanish, Mirliton and Snowflake) and twin sisters Francisca and Isabel Bugacov of Venice. The twins are part of Los Angeles Ballet’s Trainee Program in collaboration with Westside Ballet. Francisca performed as the Dew Drop Fairy in several shows, and both sisters shared the featured role of Demi Flower. Isabel reprised her role as Center Spanish.
A Los Angeles holiday tradition for all ages since 1973, Westside Ballet’s version of the classic preserves the spirit of choreographer George Balanchine as carried on by Westside’s co-founder Yvonne Mounsey, who pioneered the role of Center Spanish while a New York City Ballet principal dancer.
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