SALT LAKE CITY — Out of practically 500 dancers, only a couple get to make that phone call.
“I’m Clara! Mommy, yes!” exclaimed Lauren Hildebrand on the phone to her mom when she got the part.
Ballet West is already preparing for another season of The Nutcracker, a tradition that many Utahns look forward to every year.
“The Nutcracker is such a part of the Salt Lake City community,” said artistic director Adam Sklute. "We have the very first full-length version of The Nutcracker ever created in America, and it's something we're very proud of, and something all Utahns should be.”
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The company held auditions on Saturday, looking to find their dancers — especially ones for the leading role of Clara.
Lauren Hildebrand and Lily Dibb were just two of the four lucky girls to get the part.
“When they were having us stand, I was super nervous, but I'm so excited right now. I don't even know how to express my excitement!” Hildebrand said.
Hildebrand has been dancing since she was two years old and has been waiting for this moment ever since.
“My mom used to take me to The Nutcracker all the time, and I would see Clara and be like, 'I want to be her,' and now I have the opportunity to,” she said.
Dibb, who has also been dancing since she was two, said it’s a part she would watch from the wings.
“When I was six years old, I was in the Nutcracker as an angel, and I watched the Clara, and I really wanted to be her,” Dibb said.
Ever since, she was determined to make that dream a reality.
“I've gotten called back three times, and so it was a really great accomplishment for me,” Dibb said.
Sklute said they start in September and rehearse all the way up until December, in hopes of keeping the holiday tradition alive and to be able to revisit childhood memories.
“The Nutcracker has played such a big part of so many of our childhoods, mine included, so when I'm there watching these young dancers work and audition for these parts, I remember what it felt like,” Sklute said.
