Auditions for the Greater Niagara Ballet Company’s 2023 production of The Nutcracker will be held on Sunday, September 17th! The audition will be held at the Niagara Arts & Cultural Center.
2023 Nutcracker Audition Schedule*
Sunday, September 17th
9:30am – Registration opens.
10:00 am – 10:30 am Girls & Boys Ages 6 – 7
Dancers needed. Some dance experience encouraged but not required.
Roles Available: Party Scene, Bon-Bons, Angels
10:30 am – 11:00 am Girls & Boys Ages 8 – 9
Dancers needed. Some dance &/or gymnastics experience encouraged.
Roles Available: Party Scene, Bon-Bons, Battle Scene, Angels
11:00 am – 11:45 am Girls & Boys Ages 10 – 12
Dancers needed. Some dance experience encouraged.
Roles Available: Party Scene, Battle Scene, Angels
11:45am – 12:00pm: Jesters – Ages 10+
Must have at least 2 years of gymnastics, acro dance, or other formal acrobatic training – no exceptions. Dancers who are self-taught should not attend this audition. All dancers attending this audition should attend one other earlier or later audition based on age and experience.
12:00pm – 12:30 pm: Teens 13+/Adults*
Dancers Needed, Some dance experience encouraged.
Roles Available: Party Scene, Battle Scene, Various Character Roles, non-pointe 2nd act roles**
12:30-1:00pm Break
1:00pm – 1:30pm: Clara auditions. Ages 12 – 14; must be 12 by December 1st
Several years of ballet training required. Former Claras from the GNBC production of the Nutcracker are not eligible. All dancers attending this audition must attend one other audition before or after to be considered for the role.
1:30pm -2:15pm: Jr. corps. Ages 11-16
Several years of ballet training required (about 3+ years post primary/creative movement classes). Those currently training in pointe shoes should bring their shoes into the studio but wear regular ballet slippers into the audition.
2:15pm-3:00pm – Sr. corps and solos. Ages 14 – Adults
1+ years of Pointe training required (pointe shoes should be worn into audition) plus about 4+ years of ballet training or boys/men with several years of ballet/dance training. Last section may be off-pointe and regular ballet slippers should be carried in.
*PARTY SCENE PARENTS do not need to audition unless also interested in other dancing roles. Those only interested in Party Scene Parent roles should sign up on a list at auditions or email us at greaterniagaraballet@gmail.com prior to auditions. We will send out an online signup after auditions to those who indicated interest to find out availability.
**Non-pointe 2nd act roles and character roles will also be auditioned at the 1:30 and 2:15 auditions.
Important Information:
- Everyone auditioning should arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled audition times (i.e. for an 11am audition, you should arrive no later than 10:30am).
- The audition will be held at the Niagara Arts & Cultural Center (NACC), 1201 Pine Avenue, Niagara Falls, NY 14301 (use purple door entrance on Porter Avenue side of the building).
- Dancers will be expected to be fully warmed up prior to their audition times. There will be no time during the audition for warming up.
- Contact us at greaterniagaraballet@gmail.com at least 24 hours before the audition if you or your dancer do not know which audition to attend.
- If you cannot make the audition date, you MUST contact us BEFORE auditions and this must be done through emailing us at greaterniagaraballet@gmail.com to make arrangements. This policy is in place for both new and returning dancers. The company strongly prefers that dancers who cannot make auditions try out via one of our ballet classes the week prior to auditions.
- With the exceptions of the Jester and Clara auditions, no one should attend more than one audition time. Some dancers in the Jr. corp audition may be asked to stay for Sr. corps audition after the Jr. corp audition concludes. We ask that no dancers attend auditions at a higher age range or level due to safety/injury concerns and casting requirements.
- Audition fees are $15 per dancer are due the day of the audition.
- Most regular rehearsals will be on Sunday mornings and afternoons. A few rehearsals may be on Saturday. Please indicate weekend availability on the registration form. We encourage your child to audition even if they are generally available for only Saturday or only Sunday rehearsals as they will still be able to participate. Junior and senior corps de ballet and soloists must be available for Sunday rehearsals.
- Performance dates are December 8th and 9th.