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53 °F 5 Day Forecast Saturday, November 29, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend October 13, 2003 Instructor Nina Berdyugin leads a group of young dancers practicing to take on the roles of mice in a professional production of �The Nutcracker.� Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Preparing for ‘The Nutcracker’ Local dancers participating in a Nov. 29 Craterian performance learn their steps during an intense 90-minute workshop with a Russian professional By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune Hanna Jentzi and Karlie Bigham are pictures of concentration as Nina Berdyugin explains the dance they are to do. At a key moment, each girl must wind up facing an imaginary partner, put her hands on the phantom’s shoulders, then jump and turn as if being spun about. Karlie has a question. "Do we turn half-way?" she asks, demonstrating. The answer is affirmative. The turn is about the only thing here that’s half-way. Advertisement Berdyugin is showing Hanna, 9, Karlie, 10, and 14 other young ballet dancers what they’ll be doing next month in the Russian Festival Ballet’s production of "The Nutcracker." The company managed by Berdyugin and her husband, Aleksey, is touring Western states in a series of performances featuring local dance students in the roles of snowflakes, mice, soldiers and angels. The show here is at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in Medford (779-3000). The 16 young dancers are students of longtime dancer and ballet teacher Kathy Eck, who runs the Ballet Workshop in Jacksonville. The girls range from age 7 through 16. They auditioned for roles on Tuesday. Their only contact with the professional dancers until a short session just before the show is this day’s 90-minute workshop with Berdyugin. The process began with Berdyugin telling the little girls, who will dance the parts of baby mice, not to be nervous. "You’re going to get every step you need today," she said. The segment began with the mice running onto the stage. "Run in place," Berdyugin called. "Pli�! Jump! Turn around!" The girls in Hanna and Karlie’s group are older, the blocking more complicated. Moving quickly, Berdyugin tells them they have a lot to learn. They skip in a circle one way, then reverse, run one way, then the other, add the music. "I have bad news," Berdyugin says. A hush descends. "Some of you are going to be boys." "Not me!" "Eww." Berdyugin, who danced in the Sacramento Ballet, acknowledges the difficulties of putting young amateurs into a show featuring 22 Russian dancers from the Bolshoi, the Stanslavsky Ballet, the Moscow Classical and Kirov ballets. "You don’t know what they’re capable of," she says. "It’s hard," says Hanna, who has been dancing since the age of 3. "You go fast." "It’s good discipline," says Karlie, who has also danced since 3. "If you mess up, you just get back up like nothing happened." Eck says the experience will be a confidence builder for her dancers. "This," she says, "is so good for them." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times