“Nutcracker” Debuts in Boston

The Boston Ballet's "Nutcracker" had its opening night last week

It is a beloved holiday tradition for many families and a rite of passage for a ballet dancer. The Boston Ballet's "Nutcracker" had its opening night last week.

Among the more-than 300 performers who will grace the stage is a Massachusetts teen who is part of an elite group of dancers.

You know the music and the story. A little girl named Clara is given a Nutcracker as a Christmas gift and later dreams he turns into a prince and battles a Mouse King.

The dream evolves with dancing snowflakes and sugar plum fairies.

It is a ballet that launches the dreams of many young dancers, including 19-year-old Lauren Herfindahl, who grew up on the South Shore in Kingston.

Herfindahl said, "I was 8-years-old and saw the Nutcracker here for the first time here and it was the first time I saw the company, great experience to see the company."

Lauren enrolled in the Boston Ballet School and the next year made her debut in the Nutcracker as a mouse. The following year she earned the coveted role of Clara.

She said, "I remember being so excited when I got cast to do it."

It was Lauren's first experience working side by side with the professional dancers and she knew this is where she wanted to be.

She said, "This feels like my home, this is my second family. I know everyone. I know the building. I know the theater. I've known the ballet from when I was very little."

Lauren is part of a small, but elite club of dancers who have worked their way up through the Boston Ballet School to now be part of the company. She will dance several roles in this year's Nutcracker.

She said, "This year I will be performing “Party Mom,” “Snowflake Corp Flower,” “Lead Flower” and “Pastoral."

On this day she was a flower and took time at intermission to meet with members of the audience and take photos with younger dancers. She remembers what it was like to be them.

"It’s cool to have a hometown feel and see the little girls in the school from Boston Ballet and being encouraging to them, ‘You can do it, it's possible.’"

Possible yes, easy no. It takes years of hard work to rise through the ranks in ballet. Lauren did online high school to accommodate her demanding dance schedule.

At 19, she is a professional dancer, but says this not a job, it's a lifestyle she chose happily and when it comes to the Nutcracker, she still has dreams.

"Definitely Sugar Plum Fairy. Every dancer wants to be the Sugar Plum Fairy."

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