Marco dancers to perform in The Nutcracker

Three classical ballet dancers, Briana Donaghy, Maya Roux, and Breana Wielgos, who train with Island Dance Academy, have scored parts in the Miami City Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker on Nov. 24 and 25 at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples.

"Well, we had to audition for The Nutcracker, and we made it," said Maya, 10, who has been dancing since she was a toddler. "And all of us got a part as a soldier, and I am in all the shows."

"We actually have to go to rehearsal right now," Maya said Tuesday afternoon. "We usually rehearse at a dance school up in Naples. Today we’re dancing at the Phil just to get a feel for the stage."

"It’s a pretty big stage. And it’s a little bit nerve-wracking sometimes, but it’s really fun," Maya said. "We go over and over and over and over the dance, and we count it out. And then Miss Caroline, one of the persons who does the choreography, makes corrections. And we practice with our wooden guns."

"First they put a number on your leotard to tell what number you were at The Philharmonic. And they split us up into two groups, and they let us do steps across the floor," Breana, 9, said of the auditions. "And they would call you out into the middle of the stage with like four people."

"Rehearsals are going good, it’s just hard work. I think me and all the other girls know the routine pretty well, but it’s just good to practice," Breana said.

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Breana Wielgos, Maya Roux and Briana Donaghy are three members of the Island Dance Academy who have landed parts in The Nutcracker, and upcoming presentation by the Miami Ballet Company at the Naples Philharmonic.

"I first started out here at the Island Dance Academy," Breana, who has been dancing she was a toddler, said. "I was watching TV, and I saw a ballerina, and I told my mother I wanted to do that. And a year later she got me into ballet."

"I was at a dance class here at Island Dance Academy, and Miss Natalie, our teacher, told

us about the auditions and I decided to try out," said Briana, 12, who has been dancing at Island Dance Academy for six months, and trained in Ireland for seven years.

"I’ve been doing ballet for seven years, and I do jazz, tap and hip hop," Briana said.

"The dance we’re doing for The Nutcracker is ballet."

"It’s good, but we’re soldiers, so it’s not like really free ballet, it’s more wooden and stiff. It’s a bit different," Briana said. "When it gets close to the show, they’ll be longer hours, but now it’s going good, but it gets really hot during the rehearsals."

Briana, Maya and Breana are the only three dancers from Marco Island to be performing in this year’s The Nutcracker at the Phil.

"Some studios don’t encourage it because rehearsals for The Nutcracker take a lot of time out of their regular dance classes, but I think it’s a nice compliment to all their hard work," said Natalie Strafford, who has owned the Island Dance Academy for five years and has been teaching dance for 10 years.

"There are height and age requirements, and they have to have a certain technical ability. And they have to be enrolled in classical ballet at a studio," Strafford said of the Miami City Ballet’s requirements for The Nutcracker.

This is the first time any of Strafford’s students have tried out for The Nutcracker.

"Rehearsals used to start in September, and they had just gotten back to school, so they never really had time," Strafford said. "But this year three of them took me up on the idea, and the three who tried out got parts. And I’m very proud of them and so pleased.

I think now that they’ve done it, others will want to try out, too."

Strafford encourages her students to perform for audiences throughout the year.

Island Dance Academy students will be performing in this year’s Macy’s Parade on Thanksgiving Day, the Orange Bowl Half-time Show, Christmas and Fourth of July parades and a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony.

For tickets to The Nutcracker, call 597-1900.

For a schedule of Island Dance Academy’s children and adult classes, call 289-1698.