A young girl and the Nutcracker, transformed into her prince, defeat the evil Mouse King and begin their joyful pas de deux. As the magic deepens, snow falls gently. One by one, more than 20 snowflake dancers appear on the stage, as if carried in on a soft breeze. The stage soon fills with whirling motion, the tempo quickening into a blur of spinning white. It is one of the most iconic scenes in ballet that seals the magic of “The Nutcracker,” a winter fantasy that audiences return to year after year.
Inside the snowfall, dancers say the scene feels very different. It is a succession of challenges, one after another.
At the Korean National Ballet, performing Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography, snowflake dancers enter en pointe. Their steps dart and cross, echoing the way real snowflakes scatter and swirl in shifting wind. The paper confetti that falls like snow only heightens the difficulty.
“The turns come right from the entrance, all done on the tips of our toes,” said Lee Ha-yeon, a corps de ballet dancer with the Korean National Ballet since 2019. “The snow falls from two different points to create a three-dimensional effect, but it covers the floor markings we rely on to know where to go. When the snow piles up unevenly, it can be very slippery.”
Universal Ballet, meanwhile, stages the Mariinsky Ballet version choreographed by Vasily Vainonen. In this adaptation, the snowflakes enter in jumps, each new dancer added to the stage in perfect unison.
“Honestly, there’s no time to think. The lines and spacing are marked on the floor, but once the snow starts to fall, you can’t see any of it,” said Arika Ota, a Japanese dancer with Universal Ballet who joined the company in 2014 and is now performing her 11th season of “The Nutcracker.”
“It sticks to your eyelashes and gets into your mouth,” Ota said. “Part of me wishes the snow would fall just a little less. But I also know that the heavier it falls, the more beautiful it looks.”
Costumes pose challenges, too.
The KNB dancers have long metal rods slipped over their fingers like rings, each adorned with two delicate mesh snowflake ornaments. At Universal Ballet, strands threaded with 10 small cotton puffs wrap around the dancers’ arms, fluttering as they move. Either can tangle with one another or with other dancers' props.
“For dancers, 'Waltz of the Snowflakes' is full of risks,” Lee said. She knows firsthand: in 2023, she had to sit out after suffering a serious ankle injury slipping on the paper snow. “To me, it feels like a game. You clear one quest, then move on to the next. You survive it, then another challenge comes. But in a way, it’s fun.”
That sense of survival depends on instinct forged through repetition. “I think instinct takes over once you’ve rehearsed so much,” Ota said. “During rehearsals and onstage, we constantly exchange signals, adjusting distances and details. That’s what keeps the ensemble together.”
Dancers lock eyes as they cross paths, constantly aware of one another. “Sometimes I imagine how beautiful it must look from the audience,” Lee said. “Even while dancing the sequence, I can see how beautiful it is. It really feels like dancing inside the snow.”
While interviewed separately, both dancers said that if the corps de ballet does not hold the scene together, the magic just does not happen.
“Corps work isn’t about doing well alone,” Ota said. “You have to do well together. That’s why it’s more satisfying and why we become so precise with angles and lines. If you’re only trying to stand out individually, it doesn’t work.”
With regional touring included, the run often exceeds 20 performances — a marathon that tests endurance as much as technique.
“In a way, it feels like a gift you’ve been waiting for,” Lee said. “You want to fully enjoy it, stay injury-free and have fun. We know each performance is new for the people who come to see it, so we give everything, every single time.”
For Ota, this "Nutcracker" will be her farewell performance before retirement. “I’ve danced corps roles and soloist roles. But I believe I gave 100 percent, even 120 percent, to every role,” she said. "That’s what I’m most proud of."
KNB’s “The Nutcracker” is running at the Seoul Arts Center through Dec. 25, while Universal Ballet’s production runs at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul through Dec. 28.
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
