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What’s the right age to introduce a child to ‘The Nutcracker’?

(Courtesy Ballet West | Luke Isley) A party scene in Ballet West's redesigned "Nutcracker," with performances through Dec. 30 at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City.


As a Utah family tradition, Ballet West’s “Nutcracker” has deep roots. But just what is the right age to introduce a child to this classic ballet?

It varies with a child’s attention span, of course. “I have seen 4-year-olds sit transfixed and older kids get restless,” says Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute. “My general opinion is if a kid can sit and enjoy a Disney-type movie in the movie theater, then a kid can enjoy ‘The Nutcracker.’”

Sara M.K. Neal, the company’s interim marketing director, says she first took her twin daughters at age 3, but they only saw the first act. Age 6 seems like a good sweet spot, as kids at that age are likely to be “curious enough, and they can sit still and they can just marvel,” Neal says.

“I have a 5-year-old niece who was on the edge of her seat” at her first “Nutcracker,” says Heather Thackeray, Ballet West’s student ballet mistress and academy artistic liaison. In contrast, she also knows parents who have found their 10-year-olds weren’t able to sit still.

Thackeray, a Layton native, first watched the show herself as a 5-year-old. She walked out of that Ballet West performance in Ogden knowing just what she wanted to do.

“That beautiful picture” fueled her through the work of endless dance classes and rehearsals, she says. She danced with Ballet West for 19 years before joining the artistic staff in 2010.

We talked to a handful of Salt Lake Tribune readers about their memories of their — or their children’s — first “Nutcrackers.”

Kate Handley, of Salt Lake City, says she first took her children to the ballet when they were 5, 6 and 9 years old, and they particularly remembered the comic antics of Mother Buffoon.

Provo native Rue Lynn Galbraith was 10 when he first attended Ballet West’s “Nutcracker,” after having just begun studying dance. He remembers the Russian dance in Act II, but it was the duets that made him aspire to be a ballet dancer.

He performed with Ballet West as a mouse and then as a parent in the party scene, remembering rehearsals under the watchful eye of company founder and “Nutcracker” choreographer Willam Christensen.

Galbraith, 59, who now lives in Florida, went on to attend London’s Royal Academy of Dance. For his thesis, Galbraith interviewed Christensen — known fondly as Mr. C — about the ballet’s roots. Galbraith says he has seen many productions of “The Nutcracker,” and danced and staged other versions, but Mr. C’s “choreography and staging is the most musical,” possibly because of the choreographer’s experience as a vaudeville performer with his brothers.

Lisa Liddell, of Draper, says she asked her mom for dance lessons after first attending “The Nutcracker” at age 3. She performed with Ballet West for four years in child roles and studied under Mr. C for several years as a teenager. At 46, she is still dancing, says Liddell, who teaches at Kaleidoscope Dance Studio in Sandy.

“I’m so happy that Ballet West has continued with Mr. C’s choreography; it wouldn’t be the same without it,” Liddell says. “The moment the overture starts, I get chills.”

Claire Hogue, of Salt Lake City, said her child was 3 years old when they went to see the “Nutty Nutcracker” version of the show. The child was “absolutely obsessed,” Hogue says, wanting to listen to the Tchaikovsky score over and over again, “re-enacting what we remembered.”

KSL anchor Nadine Wimmer remembers seeing “The Nutcracker” as a seventh-grader and performed for several years in the children’s roles. “It was magical,” she says. “We tried to learn every part in the ballet through watching at rehearsals. I can still remember many of the parts.”

This story was informed by sources in the Utah Public Insight Network. To become a news source for The Salt Lake Tribune, go to bit.ly/PINTribune.

(Courtesy photo by Beau Pearson) | Ballet West dancers in newl costumes for the snow scene in "The Nutcracker."

Ballet West’s ‘The Nutcracker’<br>A must-see for its dramatic and theatrical intelligence in Act I and exquisite dancing in Act II, says dance critic Kathy Adams, adding that the new sets and costumes alone are worth a trip to the Capitol Theatre.<br>When • Continues through Dec. 30; evening showtimes at 7 p.m., with additional matinees; check balletwest.org/events/nutcracker2017 for showtimes<br>Where • Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City <br>Tickets • $20-$88, at ArtTix outlets, 801-869-6920 or balletwest.org<br>Sugar Plum Party • Through Dec. 30 after most matinee performances; join the Sugar Plum Fairy and friends onstage for cookies and punch, an ornament and photo; $11.