MOUNT VERNON — Searching high and low for a prince is common in fairy tales.
Shelly Lowe-Whan found hers in Florida.
Well, not her prince, but a prince for the Skagit Valley Academy of Dance’s annual production of the classic holiday ballet “The Nutcracker.”
Lowe-Whan searched for months and checked with sources in six states before finding a prince for the ballet. Who knew it was going to be so difficult?
Amanda Hull, 17, plays Clara. She said her favorite part of the ballet is after the Nutcracker Prince has just battled the Mouse King, and Clara meets him for the first time.
“He’s very strong and handsome and just, everything she’s ever wanted,” Hull said.
But Hull is nervous and perhaps a trifle intimidated. After all, the chosen prince, John Sheaffer, 40, danced with the internationally renowned Joffrey Ballet School in New York City in the 1980s. Hull only has six rehearsals with Sheaffer before the curtain rises on the academy’s 18th annual production Friday and Saturday at McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon. This year, the academy added a third show to the traditional two sellout performances.
“I won’t lie, I was very distraught. It’s something I’ve been working for and then it turned out to be something that’s not going to go as smoothly as possible,” Hull said. “But then I found out that he (Sheaffer) danced at Joffrey ... I just know things are going to work out.”
Lowe-Whan said that in the past, the group has hired someone from Washington state for the role, including dancers from the Pacific Northwest Ballet. This is the first year that Lowe-Whan has had to look farther for someone to fill the all-important role.
Peter Boal, artistic director for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, said there’s definitely a shortage of male dancers.
“When I started out as a little boy in the party scene in the New York City Ballet, my ‘brothers’ were female and they wore hats to hide their hair,” Boal said.
Boal said his ballet is sending about a dozen dancers — most of them men — to perform in Nutcrackers across the country, including Hawaii, Connecticut and Maryland, to name a few locations.
“We get a lot of calls to see if we can spare some dancers, especially male dancers,” he said. “But I can only spare so many.”
Lowe-Whan said her academy is trying to groom some younger boys for the role of the prince. But they’re not yet tall or strong enough to perform the difficult moves required.
Trevor Hansen, 11, is playing a Russian and Herr Drosselmeyer’s protégé. He started dancing when he was 7 years old just to be better than his sister. But through the years, dancing has grown on him, and he said he sticks with it because he loves it.
“It would be really fun to be the prince, because I’ve been watching them for a long time,” he said. “His dances are really cool, and it would be really fun to be the lead role.”
While Hull may be a wreck in the days before the shows, the pre-production jitters die down once the curtain rises.
“They always do,” she said.
• Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at .
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Christmas is the time for many local dance and theatre groups to perform Tchaikovsky’s beloved classic “The Nutcracker.” Here’s a list of shows throughout the region:
NORTHWEST BALLET will present its version of “The Nutcracker” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial Ave., Bellingham; and at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14-15, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16, at McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. Come watch as the guest ballerina, Christina Stockdale of Virginia, lights the stage as Clara, along with the rest of the cast of the Northwest Ballet. $15-$25. 360-714-1246 or http://www.northwestballet.org.
OLYMPIC BALLET THEATRE will perform “The Nutcracker” at various locations throughout December. Tickets for the Bothell, Edmonds and Arlington locations also available through Ticketmaster or 206-292-ARTS. For ticket prices, visit http://www.olympicballet.com.
• Performance with the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, at Northshore Performing Arts Center, 18125 92nd Ave. N., Bothell. Tickets available at 425-774-7570 or http://www.olympicballet.com.
• Performance with the Everett Symphony Orchestra at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Everett Civic Auditorium, 2415 Colby Ave., Everett. Tickets at 425-258-1605 or http://www.everettsymphony.com.
• Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 Fourth Ave N., at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16. Tickets available at 425-774-7570 or http://www.olympicballet.com.
• Byrnes Performing Arts Center, 18821 Crown Ridge Blvd., Arlington, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22. Tickets available at 425-774-7570 or http://www.olympicballet.com.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET will present “The Nutcracker” through Dec. 29, at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., Seattle. $20-$125 at the box office, 206-441-2424 or http://www.pnb.org. Discount tickets available for ages 12 and younger. For discount groups tickets, call 206-441-2416. For performance schedule, visit http://www.pnb.org.
WHIDBEY ISLAND DANCE THEATRE presents the 15th season of its production of “The Nutcracker” at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 7-8 and 14-15, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 8-9 and 15-16, at the South Whidbey High School Theatre, 5675 S. Maxwelton Road, Langley. Advanced tickets are $20 adults, $15 ages 17 and younger, $18 seniors. All seats at the door are $20. 360-341-2221 or http://www.whidbeydancetheatre.org.
MOUNT BAKER BALLET presents “The Nutcracker,” featuring Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers Chalnessa Eames and Banjamin Griffiths in lead roles and students from the Nancy Whyte School of Ballet, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, at 104 Commercial St., Bellingham. $20 adults, $15 seniors, youth, students. 360-734-6080, 360-734-9141 or http://www.mountbakertheatre.com.
