Sophomore Tim Hartshorn began dancing as a 5-year-old, dreaming of the day he would dance in winter’s most beloved ballet production, The Nutcracker. Little did he know that less than a decade later it would be yet another season of landing an important role in the production at The Brookline Ballet Studio.

Dancers at The Brookline Ballet School performed their much-anticipated annual production of The Nutcracker on Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13. Even though the time commitment can be stressful, The Nutcracker is a fun way for ballet students to showcase their skills, and is something they can look forward to each year.

For the past five years, freshman Clara Braun has danced in The Nutcracker, and currently has the role of an attendant to the Sugar Plum Fairy.

“In fifth grade I signed up because it just looked really fun. I’ve always wanted to do it since I was really little, and then every year I’ve just loved it so much, so I just sign up again,”  Braun said.

Throughout their years at the studio, the students progress into more difficult and important roles. This year, two of sophomore Andrea Wetzler’s roles are a snowflake and a flower.

“Last year I was also a snowflake and a flower, but this year there’s less people in flowers, and in snowflakes I have a bigger role. … I’m quite excited for it,” Wetzler said.

Sophomore Tim Hartshorn was only five when he first performed in The Nutcracker. Hartshorn was cast as one of the little kids and barely made an appearance on stage. Now, after performing nearly every year since, it is his eighth year in The Nutcracker, and his third year playing the Nutcracker itself, a main role.

“It’s nice to have security in knowing that I know everything, and that I can get better at it, by doing it every year,” said Hartshorn.

Braun said that she is thankful for the fact that there is no audition process, and that their roles are simply chosen instead.

“There’s no audition because the people who are in charge of putting on the performance already know us really well. They know our abilities because we’re such a small school, which is really nice,” Braun said.

According to Hartshorn, dancers only have one month to prepare for the show, and have longer rehearsals as the performance dates approach.

“They start off being like an hour long after class, but come dress rehearsals, they’re usually like four to six hours,” Hartshorn said.

Despite the length of some of the rehearsals, Braun said that they enable her to spend more time with her friends at the studio.

“The dress rehearsals the past couple of days were a bunch of hours, but it’s really fun because everyone just sits around talking and laughing. It’s really nice,” Braun said.

Even though having many dancers around can be fun, Hartshorn said that working with such a big group can also make the rehearsal process more difficult.

“When we rehearse on the stage, or like in a studio, there’s so many little kids and so many people. It can be kind of hard to focus, but I’ve gotten used to it,” Hartshorn said.

According to Braun, dancing in the production is a positive and fulfilling experience.

“Having this experience is really great; there’s nothing like it,” Braun said. “It’s a combination of performing, having that thrilling feeling, and also being around your best friends just having so much fun.”