ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220052
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE STAFF WRITER
Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Even when you're 7.
Last week the prize was a part in the Moscow State Ballet's production of ``The Nutcracker,'' which comes to the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium Dec.3-4.
For an hour, close to 50 of them - 7- to 9-year-olds in tights and slippers - tripped, skipped and danced their little hearts out for a pretty Russian ballerina. Another 35 older children auditioned afterward.
In the end, a few more than half of the little ones made the cut.
Amber Washburn, 7, made it.
Her pal and fellow second-grader at Stewartsville Elementary School, Carly Dearing, did not. Carly, who has brown hair and a wash of freckles across her nose, was inconsolable - her arms gripping her mother's waist tightly as she sobbed against her stomach.
Of course, 7-year-olds are nothing if not resilient. Contacted a day later, her mother, Lori Dearing, said Carly got over it by dinner time.
"She's ready to go see it," Dearing said.
It was a day of roller coaster emotions. All told, more than 80 girls auditioned Thursday for group parts in the Russian ballet troupe's upcoming performances of the holiday season classic.
The auditions in the Jefferson Center in Roanoke theoretically were for children ages 7-12, but "petite teen-agers" were invited, too.
And some did try out. "It's good to see what you're up against," said Emily Mlot, 15, of Martinsville, who has been dancing since she was 3. So has her sister, Elyse, now 10. (Both eventually were picked to be in the production). "I want to, like, dance when I grow up. I think it will help me prepare for real auditions," Emily said.
To some, this was real enough. Although none of the local dancers will be paid, and despite the fact that final decisions, ballet officials admitted, came down mostly to who would fit the costumes, the tension at the Jefferson Center Thursday afternoon was evident on some faces.
The auditions took place in groups of 15 or so in a rehearsal hall, while the others waited outside in corridors. Some of the younger children played or raced about. The older ones looked more serious, often loosening up or practicing alone.
Courtney Cabaniss, 12, of Lexington turned graceful practice circles on one leg in the Jefferson Center atrium. She found the mood among the dancers "stern."
"Emotionally, it's really intimidating," said Courtney, who previously performed in "The Nutcracker" with the Washington Ballet in Washington, D.C.
Inside the rehearsal hall, meanwhile, Russian ballerina Tatyana Eliseeva was showing the smaller children simple dance steps. Eliseeva speaks little English, but she had a big sister presence that seemed to put the children at ease.
Following her example, the tiny dancers, audition numbers stuck to their chests, spun in a circle and clapped their hands.
They jumped across the room, kicking up their heels behind them.
They skipped forward, and then sideways.
As Eliseeva led them through their paces, grown-up dancers sitting to one side sized up the children, whispering to each other. They made small piles of the little dancers' applications forms - one, presumably, for "yes," one for "no."
"A lot of it's size, " explained Jenefer Davies, executive director of the Roanoke Ballet Theatre, which was hired by the Russian ballet company to help with auditions and handle rehearsals after Eliseeva moves on to the next town.
"Then it's how fast they learn. And how well they pay attention. From what we've seen so far, it's not a question of ability."
So how do the Roanoke area's young dancers compare with children Eliseeva has worked with in other cities lately?
The ballerina laughed at the question during a break in the auditions.
Speaking through a translator, Eliseeva said, "All kids are the same."
The Moscow State Ballet, or at least its touring version, is 40 dancers and an orchestra of 20 or so, Eliseeva said. Eliseeva is auditioning and coaching children for ``The Nutcracker,'' but is not performing in the ballet herself.
The Moscow State Ballet is based at the Sats Theater in Moscow. The ballet company has toured the United States annually since 1994, and it performed ``The Nutcracker'' in the United States last year as well.
Reviewing a 1995 performance, the Providence (R.I.) Journal-Bulletin said the ballet company, "led by a superlative ballerina, Marina Alexandrova presents a Nutcracker that celebrates a feeling of Christmas and gives dance fans a treat."
The Memphis Commercial Appeal said the ballet "retains an old-fashioned storybook charm."
Not everyone was kind last year. A reviewer for The Washington Post, sounding as though she had seen one "Nutcracker" too many, complained that the performance at Constitution Hall "bore no spark of humor, no freshness. The Moscow Ballet remains a mediocre ensemble, and its Nutcracker is in many ways no better than the average amateur production."
In any event, buying a ticket to the Roanoke production aids a worthy cause. ``The Nutcracker'' is a fund-raiser for public radio station WVTF and Blue Ridge Public Television - which have paid for the show and are hoping to sell enough tickets to make money, said Blue Ridge Public Television's public relations manager, Margaret Crouse.
"We'd love to do a sellout both nights," Crouse said.
No doubt the kids would love that, too.
Robert Ferguson, for one, is clearly in it for the glory.
Asked why he was auditioning for ``The Nutcracker'' last week, the 8-year-old Salem resident said he hopes to get on television this way.
"Also," Ferguson said, "I just like to dance. And it's not just for girls. If you're the only boy, you're probably going to get a solo."
Immediately after his audition, Ferguson was unconcerned.
Was he in?
"Probably," said Ferguson, who is nobody's fool. "Because I think I'm the only boy."
He was, in fact, the only male to audition, ballet officials confirmed the following day.
Made it, too.
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART. 1. Russian ballerina Tatyana Eliseeva puts aby CNBgroup of hopeful dancers through their steps during a Moscow State
Ballet "Nutcracker" audition at Roanoke's Jefferson Center. 2.
Christina Lynn Sundt (No. 35) looks confident during her tryout.
Later she was picked by ballerina Tatyana Eliseeva to perform when
"The Nutcracker" comes to Roanoke.